Most professionals have joined LinkedIn. It’s a very ‘safe’ social media 
channel largely because of the audience you find there. It is where professionals can connect with their business partners, professional networks and clients.
So should you have a Linked in business page? And should you limit your business to LinkedIn, or should you consider other social media channels like facebook and twitter?
I was recently invited to speak at Social Media Down Under where I shared some thoughts about this for professional services and advice businesses. Using the principles within Service 7, here are the questions I believe you should be asking yourself before making the decision to enter the realm of social media marketing.
- Does it add value – to both clients and the business?
- Does it help us understand our clients better?
- Does it help us tell our story better?
- Can it help us attract new clients?
- Will it help us deliver better customer service?
- Can it enhance our service design?
- Will it help us create the future or is it just a change for the sake of change?
If it makes sense to go social, you really need to spend some time and effort to thinking about the content you will share with your connections and who will share it and how often it will be shared. If you don’t get the implementation right, it will be like a television station broadcasting a test signal – no one will want to watch you or follow you.
At the time of writing, I believe that social media affords professional advisers the ability to differentiate themselves and be opinion leaders much more easily and cost effectively than any other media vehicle presently available. Social media can be like a ‘virtual handshake’ to meet prospective clients and facilitate the start of a service relationship.
Here are some recent statistics on social media channels within Australia.
Here’s an article that also might help.
photo credit: Matthew Watkins via photopin cc
