7 Tips to Help Make Social Networking More Effective

Social media is a bigger and bigger part of business, yet navigating the social world is sometimes overwhelming. Seeing it for what it could help: Social media is simply the development of a community. And making the right efforts to maximize results could help boost your business—especially if you’re drawing (or courting) a younger crowd.

1. Produce multi-use content. Authentic content gains attention and trust, but be sure to write it with the intent of repurposing it throughout all of your social channels—websites, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram …

2. Make it count. You get out of social media what you put into it, so take the time to make each channel successful. Once you know how much time you have to dedicate to social media, you can determine where to put your efforts.

3. Reach counts. Don't get too caught up in the number of fans you have; look at the total reach for your fan base, using analytics. Often, quality is more important than quantity.

4. Integrate your messaging. Don’t put all your eggs into one basket. Many businesses use video or social posting on Facebook, but fail to integrate these items with the rest of their social platform. Use all channels to expand your social reach.

5. Be consistent with your brand. Ensure all of your business social channels have the same look and feel, and are consistent with your brand. Cultivate the visual component, which is important from a branding perspective.

6. Interact with your friends and followers. Think of this as having a conversation with someone: You wouldn't make a comment and then just walk away. Social media works the same way. Try discussing topics through your social channels.

7. Listen. It’s easy to get into the habit of posting and not interacting. Be sure you listen to your community eighty percent of the time and post twenty percent of the time. You’ll learn the needs and wants of your community and can move forward accordingly.

Use these tips to help get you on the path to positive interaction and provide insight into your social communities.

Written by: Kasie Smith is Groups Today magazine's publisher