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Thanks to Jon Evans (@bigjonevans) and Glenn Bourquin (@DDMotors) for throwing this info out into the universe for us to soak up. And thanks to Greer Chamber for holding the Community Commerce Convention, and giving these two guys a place to launch the ideas from.

We are at the Greer Community Commerce Convention, and just finished our first session: Tweet Your Marketing with Social Networking. Jon Evans and Glenn Bourquin enlightened us on social media and how we should use it. So what is social media? Its building those connections and communicating through social networks and media like Facebook, LinkedIn, Youtube, Twitter, etc. Sharing conversation and content to build communities, engage your consumer, build credibility, educate, inform, and be found (yes, Googleable is a word!) Social media is biggest shift since the industrial revolution. Here’s what Jon had to say, and did he begin with some shocking statistics:

- Facebook added 100 million users in less than 9 months when it first began, currently has over 400 million.
- Wikipedia is more accurate than Britannica
- There are 200 million blogs online.
- 78 percent of consumers trust peer recommendations while only 14 percent of consumers trust advertisements.

So now that you know how important social media is, why should you use it?

1. Branding—branding yourself and your product to move ahead of your competitors. Creating a buzz about your product—finding a way to excite people about what you do.
2. Online reputation management—see what others are saying about you, and control what is said.
3. To establish yourself as an expert—use forums and blogs to establish yourself, get your name out there, and showcase your skills.
4. To build relationships, and become more personal—This one is a no brainer. Social media allows you build relationships and move forward with your business—and it’s cheap!

Things to avoid
Creating profiles everywhere!
—Pick 1 or 2 to actively be a part of and be consistent with it. People will give you one chance, and if its not intriguing, they’re done.

Selling to everyone immediately
—Your initial goal is to build relationships. Too much sales will turn people off. You don’t want to take it from a personal thing to a television commercial.

A few notes:
Define your target market, your objective, your capabilities, and your policy on who can edit, respond, and interact with your social media channels. Answer questions that are asked of you and turn negative posts and comments into something positive. Measure your results, and refine your strategy to create the most value for your customer.

Social media isn’t the magic bullet but it provides a world of opportunities. People go online for two reasons: to be entertained and to find information. TiVo and things like Pandora and satellite radio has eliminated commercials. Traditional advertising is more push push push; social media is push, and then pull in. Social media is there for you to captivate your consumer. Keep it relevant. Listen. Have a goal. Make it personal!