After yesterday’s post, I hope a lot of you got a chance to see some of the things people are saying about your business out there on the web. I also hope that the information you found was helpful. Even if some of it seems very critical, it allows you to improve upon what people said they didn’t like. Today I want to finish this discussion by taking a look at another major source of conversation on the web: Social Media. I wanted to split the topic up because the amount of conversing you are likely to find on Social Media sites is probably double that of what you found by searching the entire rest of the internet.
In our assessment of finding conversations on Social Media sites I am going to stick with Twitter and Facebook for today. Sure there are plenty of other sites on which people may be talking about your business/product, but these two sites should provide you with enough information to get started.
I know what you’re probably thinking, “I already know what people are saying about me. I read what they post to my pages.” To this I say well that’s good, but wouldn’t you like to know what people are saying behind your back? On Twitter this is actually as simple as a search. Because Twitter is a lot more open, the whole world can see what most people are tweeting if they know where to go. So at the top where you would normally search for terms you were interested in or people you were looking to follow, I suggest you put something else in that search. If you want to know what people are saying about “Plant X”, throw that into the search tab and you can search tweets for anytime the words “Plant X” are used. Note: when you first search it only the popular tweets will appear, you have to select the tab in the results for all tweets to dig even deeper. This allows you to see what people are saying even without tweeting it at you, and even if you are not following them. Then, from there because Twitter is so public, you can join the conversation by simply replying to a tweet. For instance if someone posts a picture of a plant they bought at your greenhouse you can reply something like “Thanks for your support. Your garden looks great!”
Facebook on the other hand is a little trickier. Facebook likes to keep their users information a little more private. There is a way around this however. By using the online Social Media management tools offered by HootSuite you can essentially search terms as in the above described Twitter situation. You won’t be able to see everything people are saying as some people have heightened security settings on their profiles, but believe me the majority of people don’t. Here’s how you can find your information. After adding your Social Media profiles/accounts to HootSuite you can create streams for those pages. From here you select the "create a new stream" tab and instead of selecting the tab for a profile select the tab that says search. From there all you have to do is select Facebook as the site (profile) you want to search and throw in the term(s) you want to search for. It will continue to refresh as the day goes on so you don’t have to worry about the information getting old.
These methods are great for searching other things besides your product/business. I recommend searching for competitors as well to see how they are faring. It might be useful to search for industry buzz words as well.
I was also going to discuss how to get into these conversations and relay facts to participants, but I think I’ll hold off on that until next time. Until then, try searching on Twitter and setting up a HootSuite account. Next time we discuss how to jump into conversations and when to stay out.
I am constantly looking to other members of the industry for Social Media ideas and inspirations. I know it may sound crazy but to many of us Millennials, Social Media is an art form. It’s how we express ourselves. We are always interested in seeing creative profiles. I am always looking for the next big thing!
If you have a Social Media profile that you think is really cool (or could use some help) let me know. I’d love to take a look and let you know what I think. Comment it, Email It: mday55@gmail.com, Tweet it: @mday55, or Connect with me on LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/pub/mason-day/20/9aa/233 .
I read yesterday that “There are no Social Media experts yet”. I firmly believe that. I just want to keep our industry on a level playing field.
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