What Do Your Social Media Channels Offer?

Marni Weinberg - April 8, 2011

It used to be that you had to have a Facebook Company page, you must have a Twitter Company page and you really ought to have a LinkedIn Company page, too.

Fast forward to April 2011 where you should consider the mere presence on those main channels, as just the very first step in your social media initiatives. While maintaining your social media channels with ongoing dialog, updates, responses, etc. is certainly mission critical to long term success, it is no longer about just being “active”.

Consumers are savvier than ever before and Janet Jackson’s “What Have You Done for Me Lately” is at the forefront of everyone’s mind. It is now about who is offering the best coupons, promotions, discounts, incentives and also how often. If you are not constantly promoting a special offer or giving your fans, followers and connections a reason to “like” you, “follow” you or “connect” with you, then they are onto the next.

So are your channels living up to consumer expectations? I encourage you to reevaluate your efforts and strategy, perhaps even snoop a little on some of your competitors to see if you are up to snuff.  Below are some ideas to ponder…

For Facebook – what (if anything) are you offering as an incentive for people to like your page? Some examples could include, Like Our Page and…

Receive Free Shipping
Receive This Month’s Special Promotion
Receive an Exclusive Facebook Discount
Receive a Free Product Sampling
Be Entered into Our Monthly Contest

The same goes for Twitter. What are you offering as an incentive for people to follow your page? A few examples could include, Follow us and…

The 1000th Follower will receive a special fill in the blank (promotion, prize or gift)
Every time we gain fill in a number new followers, all of our followers will be automatically entered into a drawing to win a special fill in the blank (promotion, prize or gift)

For LinkedIn, the more you can beef up your company page, the more people will want to follow your company to see what you’re up to. LinkedIn now has some really cool options & features. One is the ability to add products/services to your page. Another is the ability to add recommendations of companies you’ve worked with. Take a look at a screenshot of our page:

Take the time to make your channels enticing. You won’t be sorry!