{"id":4154,"date":"2012-05-14T07:11:54","date_gmt":"2012-05-14T06:11:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.elysium-uk.com\/site\/?p=4154"},"modified":"2012-05-13T17:13:02","modified_gmt":"2012-05-13T16:13:02","slug":"social-media-kings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.elysium-uk.com\/site\/aspire\/social-media-kings\/","title":{"rendered":"Social Media Kings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Having a social media presence \u2013 why it\u2019s essential & how to do it successfully<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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Social media is important and it is influential. For instance, Twitter is credited with having enabled a minor protest in an obscure town in Tunisia cascade into revolutions across the Middle East.\u00a0 It was also used by UK rioters to out-flank the police with flash riots in the summer 2012.<\/p>\n

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But it\u2019s not just for rioters.\u00a0 The ridicule heaped on BlackBerry by the celebrity Twitterati when it\u2019s network crashed last year is also credited (at least by some) with severely damaging the brands reputation in much of the consumer market. Elysium Magazine thought it was time it started to explore how you could build some presence without devoting your life to Twitter. We sought the expertise of Tim Prizeman from\u00a0Kelso Consulting who has provided some handy tips which you can use straight away!<\/p>\n

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Social media is now a part of everyday life for most working adults \u2013 whether it is part of their business life (perhaps LinkedIn, Twitter or some of the less well known ones such as Quora) or part of their social life (whether Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and blogging).<\/p>\n

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Important people are influential (or maybe it\u2019s the other way around – influential people are important) and if you can wield social media influence then that is a very valuable asset to you.<\/p>\n

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In business it has always been \u201cwho you know, not what you know\u201d, and the correct social media has the power to extend your influence if used well.<\/p>\n

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The key reasons why you need to be at least familiar with social media and have a competent presence include:<\/p>\n

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1. For people building a career<\/strong>, being unfamiliar makes you look like a dinosaur.\u00a0 While there are some people who dine out on not being able to work mobile phones or other common technologies, social media is now so mainstream that not being familiar with it can amount to saying you cannot work a TV or drive a car.\u00a0 Ultimately no one wants to be in business with a passenger.\u00a0 For some sectors (for instance PR, journalism and other creative areas) being familiar with social media is now de rigour.<\/p>\n

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2. For business owners<\/strong>, what does not having a social media presence say about your organisation.\u00a0 Does it say you are switched on, modern and offering great career opportunities.\u00a0 In the current job market most people can\u2019t be choosy, but given a choice would you willing join an organisation that is obviously behind the times?<\/p>\n

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3. For entrepreneurs<\/strong> social media is a major business opportunity \u2013 both for existing businesses and entrepreneurs.\u00a0 It is a great channel for cleverly marketing your product and is particularly suited for small firms with low budgets and strong creativity.\u00a0 It is also creating many new business opportunities (for instance, I\u2019ve just helped one young entrepreneur launch a Facebook app and within a few weeks he has already gained his second round of funding from a venture capitalist and numerous purchase and investment offers).<\/p>\n

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Social media creates new opportunities that the internet does not have elsewhere \u2013 particularly from the huge amount of personal data that people enter onto sites.\u00a0 This, for example, allows a level of personalisation and insight into customers and target groups that has never been available before.\u00a0 This is where the smart money from venture capitalists who are interested in technology companies is currently going.<\/p>\n

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So what sort of media presence should I have?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Social media is going to involve a large investment of time.\u00a0 Not so much in setting things up as in terms of creating and curating content, and responding to messages, so it is worth approaching it like a business proposition and ask: what are the objectives I want to achieve through having a social media presence.<\/p>\n

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Who are the people I want to influence and why.\u00a0 For instance, is there something you want to sell?\u00a0 Do you want people to read articles or witticisms your write? Do you want to position yourself as an expert in a particular area? Do you want to change people\u2019s minds on an important political issue?.<\/p>\n

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Once you know who you are looking to reach and why, you can focus on which social media is the right platform as there are many (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Google+ and LinkedIn are the best known \u2013 but there are plenty of niche ones too).<\/p>\n

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For instance, LinkedIn is a business-focused site.\u00a0 It is great for helping people find you and for staying in contact with people you meet.\u00a0 It is also great for identifying who\u2019s who in organisations you may want to meet (and who in your network know important people).\u00a0 However, it is intrinsically boring and offers little of the viral opportunity you get from consumer sites such as Twitter, YouTube and Facebook.<\/p>\n

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The \u201ccontent strategy is king\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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If you are not clear which is one best, invest the time and play around with them to get to know them a bit better. There are lots of books available too.<\/p>\n

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Once you\u2019ve decided your objectives and the social media that is most appropriate, the next step (and the one people often omit and run out of steam after a few days) is the \u201ccontent\u201d strategy.<\/p>\n

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Social media is intrinsically about posting content and commenting on other people\u2019s.\u00a0 This content can be videos (eg YouTube), holiday pictures and games (Facebook), witty comments and links to websites (Twitter) or power points and white papers (LinkedIn).<\/p>\n

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So the key question is what content are you able to create, and you have the time available to do so?<\/p>\n

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If you have not much time and are short of ideas for great things, LinkedIn is the perfect platform \u2013 once you optimise it (and there are lots of books and online tutorials available on how to do this) it doesn\u2019t need intensive cultivation.\u00a0 However, Google likes it and you will appear prominently in Google search rankings.<\/p>\n

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Social media for the time-scarce<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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I often hear people with big social media presences saying you need to tweet several times per day, spend time interacting with people, and other great advice if you have the time.<\/p>\n

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However, many people don\u2019t have the time or inclination to spend several hours a day on social media \u2013 but you can still have a very competent presence if you focus your time achieving the maximum impact (ie achieving the social media presence given your goals).<\/p>\n

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After this you are going to have to invest time and creativity.\u00a0 For instance, if you want a big follower base on Twitter, you are going to have to work hard.\u00a0 What are you going to tweet about?\u00a0 What time do have to follow other people and comment on their tweets?\u00a0 Will you have the time to engage in banter with other users? How will doing this fit into your daily routine?\u00a0 Will you enjoy it?<\/p>\n

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The key to a really successful social media presence is answering these important questions so you can build a great reputation and a strong band of influential followers that help you achieve your goals in the real world.<\/p>\n

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We are big tweeters at Elysium Magazine – contact us<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong> and tell us what you think of the article. Do you have any experience in building your profile online and seen the results? We would love to hear your results!<\/p>\n

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Tim Prizeman is a Director from the Public Relations specialists Kelso Consulting. Visit the website<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong> for further information about Tim and Kelso Consulting<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Social media is important and it is influential. Elysium provides guidance on how to get your social media presence tip top.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":4157,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[268],"tags":[463,691,689,550,690],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.elysium-uk.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/unnamed-image.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elysium-uk.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4154"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elysium-uk.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elysium-uk.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elysium-uk.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elysium-uk.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.elysium-uk.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4154\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elysium-uk.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elysium-uk.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elysium-uk.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elysium-uk.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}