Times Have Changed: I remember back in the day when MySpace and Facebook were just beginning to reach the every day lives of my classmates. Once our parents found out, discussions were being held in serious tones about the people we were adding as friends, and who to stay away from. To me it always seemed obvious, stay away from the profiles with half-lit pictures and a name I did not recognize next to it. Didn’t really take a rocket scientist to figure that one out.
Now the concern is not necessarily how to stay away from a creepy Internet predator, but rather which Facebook friends have the most value. There has also been another major shift from Social Media pages being used for personal use, to businesses now turning to these resources. One would think that 24,000 fans for one business is impressive however, as with everything, it’s not that simple. If your business is located in Boca Raton, Florida, what good will it do you to have 500 uninterested, disconnected, fans from Egypt? You guessed it, absolutely no good.
What matters is whom you are connected to, what they have to offer you, and what you can offer them.
It is all about the personal connection, taking your business from being a storefront and turning it into a reliable connection to the services and products you offer. Many companies such as Progressive and Nationwide Insurance have created a spokesperson that you can follow on Facebook. They are fun characters that are able to take away the generally harsh edge of the business world and transform it into a friendly, sometimes goofy persona.
Find those local fans that you can reach out to. The ones that will visit your business page, follow your updates, and turn your Social Media into actual business. 200 trusted followers are worth their weight in gold when compared to 5,000 geographically distant fans.
