Technology Marketing in the Digital Age: Using Social Media? Even MORE ways to get immediate value for your business

Social media is critical to a business’s marketing activities and a key strategy for growth. Last month, I offered three actionable ways you can use social media to “opportunize” engagement with customers, prospects and partners. But the value-add doesn’t end there. The power of social media is far-reaching—and so are your opportunities to leverage the medium to drive even more value for your business. 

Today, I will discuss three additional ways you can use social media to connect, build relationships and drive a deeper level of engagement.

1.      You’re recruiting talent for your tech firm, but you don’t have the LinkedIn Recruiter feature for your company home page. No problem. You can still leverage all your social media platforms to post your job openings. Simply put a link in your own LinkedIn Status Update, your Twitter feed and on your Facebook page. Facebook, in particular, is an extremely powerful tool for showcasing your company’s employee culture. Where’s the first place recruiting candidates will go to research your company? That’s right, Facebook. Use it to your advantage. Talk about recent happenings and post photos of key events—anything from Friday Bagel Day to that highly successful customer demo event. With a culture like that, who wouldn’t want to work for you?

2.      Encourage employees in your organization to use social media for their business efforts. Start by encouraging all of your current employees to follow the company social media sites. When new hires come in, put them through a digital platform orientation session that introduces them to each of the company digital and social properties, then ask them to Follow/Like each. With that, company content will automatically appear in employees’ news feeds, which allows for easy sharing, amplifying the reach of your posts. Another effective strategy: create a bi-monthly email for employees that highlights top social posts for them to can share. Include key happenings such as press releases or live events. If you have the budget, use amplification tools like GaggleAmp. Employees who join will have your company posts automatically posted to their social followers as well.

3.      Got expertise? Write a blog. This is top-shelf content marketing, as it offers unbiased expertise. Enroll as many people as you can and write a company blog. Then promote it; ask people in the industry for backlinks, have your employees post the link and post it on micro blogging sites like Tumbler and Quora. 

Use these tips and join the ranks of the growing number of forward-thinking companies who are using social media to make meaningful connections that deliver real value for the business. But remember: Never, ever sell. It’s all about driving engagement and enhancing your brand presence.

[Leadarati helps IT firms drive value and increase opportunities through social, digital and online communications. To subscribe to Anita O’Malley’s monthly social business tips news, SocialBiz 411, visit this website.]