Everyone seems to be talking about how social media can raise the profile of your business.

During this year’s WebinFeb we invited our followers to tweet questions using #askbipc about how to use social media as a business tool.

Neil Infield, Manager of the Business & IP Centre Reference Team who runs the Centre’s Introduction to social media workshop used his expert knowledge to pass on some of his top tips in just 140 characters!

Here are some of the most popular questions and how to address the issues  

 @HelenMacCar: How often should an organisation be tweeting?

If you have something interesting to say you can tweet many times a day. If you are selling or repeating it is spam.

 @KimberContracts: What is the best way to optimise social media for business use?

I suggest using a tool to manage your channels. Hootsuite and Tweetdeck are the best currently.

‏@ttdrinfopost: Which mobile marketing channel works best commercially - social tech like Twitter, AdSense or more OS specific e.g. iAd?

Twitter is currently the king of social media reach, but their advertising model is still unproven.

‏@AmieMuiLee: Is there a way to add a link on your twitter profile to enable people to subscribe to newsletters?

You can add links into your twitter profile

 ‏@ttdrinfopost: What are the main challenges, advantages & disadvantages of integrating social technology into a business model?

Wow! Where to start? How about my monthly workshop?

@cog_design: Is LinkedIn really a valuable business tool or just a place for others to trawl for data to sell me stuff?

LinkedIn is an amazing business tool for finding customers, partners and promoting your expertise. 

‏@AmieMuiLee: Is it a good idea to link your personal Facebook account to your personal twitter account?

I think it is good to link all your accounts where possible. To make you easier to find and contact. 

 ‏@AmieMuiLee: What are time best times to schedule tweets at?

You should experiment and see what works for you. A blogger here tweets at 4am.

 ‏@nomvuyo: How do I access cheap and easy designers for my social media accounts? Do I need an HTML course?

For most social media platforms you can use the standard templates they provide.

@CamberwellArts:How many blog articles should I write in a week to make it engaging?

That depends on your readers and your topic. A minimum of once a week, up to a maximum of one a day.

‏@nomvuyo: What social media sites should I concentrate on using over others?

It depends on where your customers are. E.G. LinkedIn for professionals and 30-50 age group.

 ‏@nomvuyo: What's the first step I should take to build my brand using social media?

You should create an account for each of the main social media and add your identity and biog.

 

If you missed out on the Q&A but still need some help in using social media to raise the profile of your business, come along to the next workshop or have a look at Neil's slides.

 

Noma Siwela on behalf of Business & IP Centre