Top 10 Tips for Social Media Success
By Tobi Fairley
I have been using Social Media to create a nationally-recognized brand for the last 3 years. When asked about my results, I always say that it has moved my business ahead 10 years in that 3 year period. Talk about results!
I am often asked to speak on this subject and no matter how my talks change from venue to venue, there are a few key steps that remain the same. If you do nothing else for your design business, follow these 10 steps for leveraging your business through Social Media and I promise you will see results…
1. Get Out There—As with old-fashioned networking, to make social networking a success, you must be seen and heard. Spend time visiting other blogs, leaving comments on posts you love and letting people know who you are. But be sure and be yourself. Authenticity goes a long way in the Blogosphere!
2. Take Risks—You must be willing to take the risk that some people might not like your blog, Facebook, and Twitter feeds. Stay away from controversial topics, and always try to be kind and gracious. But within your industry or area of expertise, you must be willing to have an opinion. You can’t typically be all things to all people with success, so be willing to take a stand on one side of an issue. People are visiting your sites to hear what you have to say, so make sure it is something interesting.
3. Don’t be Undercover—You can’t be private and build relationships with Social Media. This doesn’t mean you should share your every move or information that could make you unsafe. And no, people don’t really want you posting what you had for lunch on Twitter. But letting people into some of the most interesting details of your life will help them feel like they’re your friend, and they will want to come back to visit more often.
4. Find Your Niche—The most successful businesses operate on a niche strategy. The most successful blogs do too. Build your business and your social media platform on the one or two things you do best. Though you might not offer something for everyone, those who love what you offer, will be able to recognize you are the site for them! They’ll become your biggest fans and will visit often, buy your products or services, and tell their friends!
5. Become the Expert—The best way to build your brand is to be featured on other sites and blogs. And the best way to be invited to other sites and blogs, is to be recognized as an industry expert. So use your social media sites to share your wealth of knowledge, and others will start to notice. Before long you will be sharing that knowledge to the masses or many sites other than your own.
6. Remember Content is King—Of all the things you do to get people to read your blog, creating great, original content is probably the most important. There are many blogs these days offering all the same un-original information. If you can be one of the few offering great original content, then you will rise above the competition in no time flat!
7. Style and Substance Cannot Be Separate—We live in the entertainment age. We want instant gratification and we love to be wooed and wowed at every turn. There are too many choices out there for us not to feel inspired, even when doing the mundane or the required. What does this mean? It means your sites can no longer be just style without great content. Nor can they be great content and have no style. They must be the whole package, no ifs, ands, or buts about it, Style and Substance cannot be separate.
8. Consistency Is Key—You can have the world’s greatest content, but if you only write on occasion, your readers will leave you for someone who gives them a daily dose of what they are looking for. Right after content is consistency on the scale of importance when it comes to your social media strategy. Don’t let those fickle followers leave you high and dry. Give them what they are looking for every day and they’ll keep coming back.
9. Toot Your Own Horn—Don’t be afraid to tell your readers about the great things you do. But do it in an interesting way that gives them value. If you are too “sales-y” they may not stay, but if you give them real, valuable, and interesting content while telling them about the great things you do, then they will keep reading and when they are looking for services, they are likely to come to you first.
10. A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words—The great thing about design blogs and social media sites is that they have tons of eye-candy. Gorgeous, inspirational photos are the bread and butter of what inspires design lovers. So don’t let your text overpower the beauty and simplicity of these visuals. Remember, a picture really does speak a thousand words, so you don’t have to.
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Tobi Fairley is a nationally-acclaimed interior designer based in Little Rock, Arkansas. Named by Traditional Home Magazine as one of the Top 20 Young designers in America in 2009, Tobi’s work has graced the cover of House Beautiful and been published in Traditional Home, Southern Living, and At Home in Arkansas numerous times. Tobi recently launched her own fabric line and will release several other products lines in 2012. Her DIY design service InBox Interiors and her Design Camps have been wildly successful. Tobi recently launched Tobi Fairley and Associates, a consulting group dedicated to helping firms with the business of design. She also blogs at Tobi's Blog.
Photo credit: © 2011 Tobi Fairley Interior Design
