10 ways our most successful clients use social media

29666372_s With help from Axia PR, you can use these tips to increase your own profitability

At Axia PR, our clients come from numerous industries and various states. There are medium-sized companies, large corporations and franchises. The most successful ones share several common traits, such as using social media to its full potential.

Social media for business is ... well, big business. Those who use it correctly for consumer engagement, reputation management and connecting with customers can experience an increase in visibility and profits. You can, too, if you know how; PR can show you the way.

Use social media for all it’s worth

Your company is probably using social media, but you may not be aware of ways to take advantage of its reach for greatest effect. For example:

1. If you want people to share your information, make sure they can do so effortlessly. Including the right buttons where readers will see them for +1 and retweets on blog posts and emails can make all the difference.

2. Attract more social media followers. You can do this by sending emails to customers, key stakeholders and even friends and family, reminding them to visit your pages and like your information. Remember to have quality content in your pages and posts worth liking. When they realize you have something of value to add to their lives, they’ll be more likely to seek out what you have to say and become a follower. Additionally, now that social media posts can appear in Google searches, they can also improve your page rankings.

3. Make social media a part of your reputation management strategy. Many consumers are quick to take to social media to level complaints and trash a company. Thousands can see this in an instant, which can do serious damage to the brand you’ve worked so hard to build. You can combat this by using the same medium to solve their problems and answer concerns. When others see that you are caring and responsive, it can improve your reputation. Also, remember to encourage satisfied customers to share their experiences on social media, as well.

4. Maximize the possibilities for networking. Don’t be afraid to ask your professional connections and personal friends to link to your pages – and you can do the same for them. You never know where or how you’ll attract your next big customer.

5. Put links to your social media pages everywhere, making it easy for people to connect with you on various platforms. For example, you can put your Twitter handle beneath your signature in emails and make sure social media logos are visible on every page of your website.

6. Understand the right (and wrong) ways to utilize the various social media channels. For example, if you’re posting on Facebook, you’ll get more responses if you include photos. Use Twitter for more targeted communication and be aware that most retweets are sent at night, so you should design and schedule your posts with these things in mind.

7. Use offline resources to generate traffic for your online social media platforms. With so many people using smart devices, you can put reminders to check out your pages (or even QR codes) on packaging and in publications. Most often, they’re carrying their devices all the time, so they may as well use them to connect with your company.

8. Pay attention to what’s being said about your company on social media. They say the only real problems are the ones you don’t know exist. Your reputation could be taking a major hit, but if you’re not monitoring social media, you might never know it. By managing your online reputation, you can prevent surprises and potential profit losses.

9. Make sure your company social media accounts are used only for company communication. Create a thorough social media policy for your business to avoid offensive or misguided posts.

10. Hire a PR firm to help you. At Axia, we can help you implement innovative social media campaigns that get results. For more information, contact us today or download our e-book The Essential Social Media Management Guide.

Lisa Goldsberry is a writer for Axia Public Relations with more than 15 years of public relations experience. She specializes in business, higher education and technology PR. Connect with Axia Public Relations on Twitter @axiapr.