Inglewood Business Magazine Jan 2017

IBM
Business Marketing
related to your business that is actually
useful or interesting to other users. This
increases your credibility and promotes
your business by building long-term
relationships with other users. For
example, a veterinarian could post tips for
looking after pets, timing them according
to when particular health issues arise (e.g.
ticks in summer).
You should also listen as much as you
talk. Paying attention to what the market
thinks about your business, your industry,
a product or a marketing campaign can
provide valuable insights.
to promote your business. For example, a
tour operator could post a photo on their
page of a group going whitewater rafting,
then invite each participant to tag their
image in the photo. Each tagged image will
show up as an update on the participant’s
Facebook account, where their friends will
see it too. This increases the level of interest
in the picture, and your business. If you
do decide to use tagging, be careful. It can
be a privacy issue, and some Facebook
users are sensitive about being tagged in
photographs. For this reason, it is better to
ask participants to do the tagging, rather
than doing it on their behalf.
TALK TO EXISTING AND POTENTIAL
CUSTOMERS
You can use Facebook to ‘talk’ to existing
and potential customers by posting
and receiving messages. But don’t use
Facebook to aggressively promote your
products or services. You’ll have much
greater success if you share information
PROVIDE CUSTOMER SUPPORT
Customers can post after-sales questions
on your Facebook wall, and your staff
can answer them there. This is often
more efficient than staff answering phone
calls, and allows other customers to read
common questions and answers without
having to approach you individually.
RAISE BRAND AWARENESS AND
PROMOTE POSITIVE WORD-OF-
MOUTH
You can increase your business’s profile
on Facebook by encouraging existing
and potential customers to click the ‘Like’
button on your Facebook page. Once they
like your page, your customers will receive
your updates on their wall, where their
friends will also see them. This helps to
build awareness of your business, and to
associate your friends with your brand.
Customers can also post positive messages
about your products or services, shared on
their walls for all their friends to see.
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Inglewood Business Magazine January - March 2017
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