Just like traditional media, such as the newspaper or television, is a tool for communication, social media is also a tool for communication, customer engagement and brand building.

Social media is a platform that not only informs, but also interacts with you while giving you that information.

This interaction can be as simple as asking for your comments on a platform like Twitter, clicking ‘like’ on a fan page or letting you “pin” an image.

This interactive medium of communication is what is popularly called ‘social media’.

Like any other media form ‘social media’ is a great way to reach out to existing and prospective customers and to market your product at the same time.

I’ve seen a lot of businesses start social media campaigns with a lot of vigour but then finding it hard to sustain it. Maybe they get lost in all the ‘technology’ or just don’t have the time to maintain everything or maybe didn’t get any results.

Some of the best people in every sphere focus on their ‘core ‘or ‘niche’. You don’t have to do every aspect of your business yourself.

Enter the person who can do it all for you – a Social Media Manager.

You can just focus on your core activities and still reap the rewards of your social media presence.

Let’s take a look at how social media provides YOU, the small business owner with the opportunity to build your brand equity and create a community of engaged, interested customers.

Social media provides the opportunity to grow a marketing strategy that can create long-term customer and brand loyalty, and increase your sales. A qualified social media manager can work with you and help you to create, execute, and manage your marketing strategy while building brand loyalty.

Create

A Social Media Manager can help you define what your marketing objectives are and will recommend the best platforms to fit your needs. She/he can help you clean up and maintain your social media platforms and even actively listen, respond, engaging, and write in your online style.

Execute

After evaluating the best platforms for your business needs, it’s time to set up your online identities and link them together. These can include setting up pages on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and/ or Google+, starting a blog, etc. Once your online presence is established then your social media manager and you can focus on marketing your product to your niche audience. Remember, the more you engage and connect with your users the more they would connect to your brand on a personal level.

Manage

Everything is set up, you’ve got some followers/fans, joined some groups, made some connections, put up a few blog posts – now what?

This is where engaging with your users and routine maintenance is required for your on-going success.

A dedicated resource is of paramount importance for you to achieve this. She/he will make sure your online voices are kept up-to-date, and relevant. This can include posting tweets, blog posts, status updates, on a consistent basis as well as monitoring what is being said about your business and responding to those customer questions and comments for you, or,informing you so that you may address them yourself.

Social platforms are communities which if used wisely can help your business grow rapidly without spending astronomical figures on your businesses marketing plan.

Have you tried using social media for your business? Has it helped you build a community around your brand?