The Business of Broadband

Social Media Week has come and gone, you’ve worn the T-shirt, read the ZCorum blogs on engaging ‘fan’ interests, and you’ve finally prepared yourself to draw customers to your social networking platforms.

You’ve been tweeting away and containing your excitement (at least in front of others) as you watch your ‘fan’ count increase. Feedback has been positive, but some of your customers are a little reluctant to jump on the social networking bandwagon only because they are unfamiliar and may think that joining the in-crowd will be slightly difficult or something they may not understand.

You can help optimize their social networking experience and provide helpful tips and suggestions that will allow them to enjoy social media and possibly join in on making your platforms grow.

Search High and Low

Your customers need to understand how to find you and others when visiting any of the social networking websites, so they will need to become familiar with the search functionality and features. Search panes are often easily visible and allow your customers to enter in contact information to locate your social networking profile(s) as well as any others that they wish to view.

Myspace has an extensive search feature that allows users to search for people and profiles contained within Myspace’s network in addition to incorporating the useful feature of being able to search locally for people as well as centers of interests (restaurants, nightlife, neighborhoods, etc.). Local searches provide a more condensed result and will likely provide your customers with a desired profile or center of interest.

Facebook and Twitter also provide simple search features that allow your customers to make connections and invite others to join them in broadening their social media horizons.

Social Media Profiling

Interesting and unique profiles seem to be the attention grabbers on social networking sites, so your customers may not respond to something bland and modest. After all, your profile(s) identifies your brand, and you’ve meticulously added content, images, videos, and blogs that are useful while being interesting and entertaining to your customers.

They, too, will want to create the jovial atmosphere on their profiles and may need direction on how to add content and know what resources and tools are available. Adding informational content is the easy part, but what about the quirky profile elements?

Many social networking sites employ add-ons and plug-ins such as Java and Flash, so your customers will need to ensure that the applications are available on their computers. They may also need some sort of photo editing software such as Google Picasa to remove red eye and crop and design images that are uploaded to their profiles.

A You Tube account can make it easy for them to link videos, or they may opt to simply upload the video content from their computers or mobile devices. There is an abundance of freeware that can assist your customers in giving their profiles that extra ‘zing.’

On the Go

Social networking is no longer confined to sitting in front of a computer screen battling eye fatigue and carpal tunnel while pounding – or pecking, in some cases – away at your keyboard. Many social networking sites have gone mobile, providing your customers access to their social media profiles from their mobile devices.

The mobile applications make it more feasible to receive and provide real-time updates because most people carry their mobile devices with them as a matter of convenience. Information relating to activating and using the mobile applications can usually be found in the help sections of the sites.

Just think…your customers can access a TwitPic of the 15 lb. bass caught on your company fishing trip while ordering a #1 value meal at McDonald’s!

Will Work for Fans

Any new idea or technology can be intimidating to your customers no matter how savvy they may be. Ensuring that your staff is available to assist those who are unsure or undecided on social networking is a great way to build your fan base while providing customers with the support to which they’ve grown accustomed. Please feel free to leave any comments on suggestions or resources that may be available to assist with your social networking needs.