How to Use Social Media for
Business Communications
Social media are an integral part of life of a modern and active person. More often social networks are used not only as a personal space, but also as an effective tool for many professional tasks - search for potential partners, communications with clients, promotional campaigns and sales. We will tell you about how to use social media for business communications in this article.
Let's be friends
Today, social media are no longer exclusively a personal space for communicating their vision of the world and communicating with friends. Brands actively maintain pages offering entertaining or useful content. Many users add unfamiliar people to their friend zone hoping to increase the reach of their publications, and entrepreneurs make connections using the huge social media base as a boundless address book.
In a matter of minutes, you can find all the information on the person you're interested in - their preferences, hobbies, birthday, place of work, etc. Business communications on Facebook are markedly different from a phone conversation or live chat. There are no clear rules of etiquette that guarantee you feedback from the recipient and his loyal attitude to your question. But, of course, if you have the upbringing and understanding of the basic rules of constructing a dialogue, there should be no problem with the address.
Practice shows that it is better to begin with a message in person, and then add a stranger as a friend. Some people prefer to knock on closed doors right away, at the risk of causing a possible negative reaction from a potential interlocutor. Perhaps the person is watching the purity of his base and prefers to limit himself to messenger communication with newcomers. Sometimes such an approach works, but often simply goes unanswered, because the addressee does not yet understand why he is being padded as a friend. Adding en masse, even if the request is confirmed, does not guarantee feedback or loyalty.
Everyone pursues their own goals - not always clear and sometimes selfish. All work issues can be quietly resolved via Messenger or WhatsApp, and tracking personal information is left for subscribing to updates.
To address a stranger, it's best to choose a simple greeting message format that follows the general rules of business etiquette in social media:
- Personalization. No formulaic options with a generic introduction and a monologue from a promotional booklet.
- Short and clear. You should get rid of intricate turns of phrase, complex constructions and long summaries of the letter.
- Content. Only substantive and specific, concluding with a call to action or an interesting question.
- Familiarity. All requests, favors, offers of cooperation or barter should be left for later.
Your account is your fortress
But what if you're on the other side of the barricades, defending your wall of "real friends" from regular raids by feral PR specialists, journalists, event managers, and just random people with a silly purpose? In this situation, a lot depends on your account objectives and social media activity.
If you frequently publish content, interact with your audience, and want to become an opinion leader in a certain segment, then you need to add him. If you use your account to search for information and occasionally delight your friends with content from your "personal" folder, then just keep him as a subscriber. You might offend the person with your refusal and miss an interesting offer, but this rarely happens.
How to say no to a potential friend on social media so as not to hurt his delicate feelings and leave a good impression of you:
- Question. Ask the person you're talking to why they're doing this, or ask, "Do I know you?"
- Assertion. Five words will not take much time, so you can quickly reply: “Come on, it’s better here, what’s the point?”
- Polite ignoring. If there are no cross-points with the person at all, you can leave him in the subscribers of the page, adding: "I only add personal acquaintances to friends."
- Pause. Suitable for cases where you are not sure of the prospects for further communication and the level of adequacy of the person.
If your work is related to communications, involves public speaking and using social media as an entry point for sales - then you have to accept the availability of your account and leave your personal life for other channels. Try combining content and looking for crossovers between different audiences.
Conclusion
You don't have to readjust to the demands and trends of social media because business communications are always built on generally accepted norms of etiquette and rules of conduct. You can open almost any door by choosing the right recipient and using specificity in polite messages. The right presentation of information will provide you with feedback from the interlocutor, and then the individual approach comes into play. Statistically, 70% of people respond to business messages on social media within 24 hours - that's all you need to know before sending.
Author’s Bio:
Jean Hartley is a content writer for the essay service. Jean is the right person if you are looking for someone to do my homework.