It’s a Web 2.0 world out there, Pilgrim, and without a little knowledge about social networking—and the massive benefits it can bring to your business—you might as well hang up your HTML hat and call it a day. Thankfully, though, you don’t have to be uneducated. Use these tips to improve your social media awareness and get the most bang for your buck on the Internet.
Why Bother With Social Networking?
It’s a good question, and one well worth asking, but why should a graphic designer even bother with social networking? Site come and go, and what MySpace is now Twitter may soon be. Likewise, what’s the point in moving to Google+ if it doesn’t take off?
All are valid points, but at the end of the day, social networking is important because people make it that way. Everyone uses Facebook: It’s just a fact. It’s also a fact that the site is free, and that it takes hardly any time at all to set up a page for your business. Once created, you’ve immediately expanded your marketing pool to a ginormous number of readers. And for no monetary cost, and only a modest time investment. If that doesn’t sell you on social networking, nothing will, you Amish designer, you!
How To Use Social Networking
That being said, getting the most out of your social media presence isn’t all that easy. Creating a page takes only a matter of minutes, but that doesn’t mean you can walk away without putting in any work and still watch your readership grow.
Maintain a presence on your own sites, and develop a voice wherever possible. The more memorable your content, posts, and links are, the more likely readers will be to return to your pages and feeds. This means you’ll have to get involved with others, answering questions and being pleasant: All those retail tricks you learned from working at Sears in high school. Creating a personable feel for your site goes a long way toward establishing credibility, and giving your readers a reason to return.
Link Yourself
Lastly, use social networking as its meant to be used: A spamming tool. Blast your viewers with links to current projects, woes about a failed design, or whatever you want, so long as your name is attached. Get out there, build big, and they will come.
