Social Media Training Basics

Create awareness by creating compelling content that is:

Trustworthy: This means being vendor agnostic. If your product doesn’t best meet the needs of your potential customers, introduce them to those that do
Communicate in the language of your audience: Be engaging and encourage dialog
Help people to make the best decisions possible: Reviews can help.
People respect reviews first from family, friends and then industry experts. Too much self-promotion can backfire. 39% ofpeople unfriend people on Facebook who try to sell them something

Look at your potential customers as dear friends that you want to help. Provide them the solutions that can best meet their most important needs.

Learn to listen and find those who have a want or need that your product or service can address. Listening on the social web involves searching and finding those who have needs
Discover where your target audience goes. In the online world, this would include popular blogs, social networks, groups, forums, listservs, etc., that pertain to your target niche. For instance, you may want to get published on a big blog. Start by finding out what the most influential blogs are in your niche. Instead of sending mass emails to blog owners, study the blogs and send the owner a personal note asking to post your article
Don’t just establish a large network of followers. What applies in real life also applies in social media. Become genuinely interested in and care about other people. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves. Talk in terms of the other person’s interest. Build the other people and do so sincerely
Some of things you can do in the online world include:Share information about yourself
Re-tweet their tweets
Comment on their facebook status
Mention them in posts
Introduce them warmly to others
Create links to their content
Provide valuable resources that help your connections. Establish yourself as the go-to resource for answers
If your product or service can best help your customer, introduce it as you would to a dear friend. Provide reviews of the product and related products so your friend can make the best decision

Highlights by David Willden