How to Use Social Media for Business

[4 Minute Read]

A very common question I get asked is how to use social media for business. Even though the answer to this question will vary depending on the person you ask and/or the industry you are in, the answer to this question will always include changeable and unchangeable principles that apply to it. The changeable principles will vary as new technology enters the landscape and as people's attention span changes online throughout the years. The unchangeable or foundational principles to this question are super vital in order to achieve social media success in business, and I believe most B2B & B2C business still quite don't get it. Gary Vaynerchuk, one of the dopest entrepreneurs and "hustlers", recently discussed the unchangeable principles of how to use social media for business while getting interviewed by the one and only, Larry King.

PRINCIPLE #1 - TAKE SOCIAL MEDIA SERIOUSLY

Social media is the current state of the internet - @GaryVee

Here is my take on it: As we begin to take social media seriously as the current state of the internet, social media should no longer be considered a "nice" thing to have for your business, but should play a vital role in your marketing mix and become a "must-have" to survive. Business Owners, CEOs, and Executives: In order to begin taking social media seriously, stop hiring inexpensive brand new college graduates to become the one and only person to own your company's voice and brand on social media. Just because millennials grew up with social media, take tons of selfies, and snapchat each other more than talking face-to-face, does not qualify them to represent your company and have THE online social media keys to your company's digital presence. Your buyers are all over social media. Wouldn't you want the most experienced person in that position? If you took social media seriously, the social media manager you hired would have been a position that kept you up at night. Think about that for a second.

PRINCIPLE #2 - UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS

Each social media platform is like a different meeting, a different room, and you have to be cool or quality depending on where you are. @GaryVee 

When it comes to social media, one size will NEVER fit all. As simple as that. Never. Mark my words. Do yourself a favor and don't use those apps/tools that "save you time" by posting an update on all social media networks with a single click/touch. Hashtags look stupid on LinkedIn, and they don't even work. A picture of you and your girlfriend/boyfriend looks great only on networks such as Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. And it's sad but true, people don't have the same @Handles in every social media network. This "saving you time" app/tool is ruining your online reputation which is the most sacred thing you have in our day and age. Spend time on the ACTUAL channel to truly understand the difference between each social media platform, how they work, and the way their newsfeed algorithm varies from one another.

PRINCIPLE #3 - UNDERSTAND THAT YOU HAVE TO PROVIDE VALUE

Give, Give, Give, then Ask. @GaryVee

The way Gary lays it out, you should always give more to your audience than receive in order to keep value. A lot of businesses in today's day and age, simply don't understand this basic principle. They treat social media as a pure sales channel focused on their product and services 24/7. In my opinion, nobody cares about your webinars, your long white papers, your case studies and your business until you show your buyers how much you care about them FIRST! This is something that need to be embedded and trained to all of your employees and team members at a company wide level. All of your team members' social media networks combined is more powerful than your company's social brand, so teach them the value of giving first in order to have the right to ask. The best way anybody can remember to do this is by just thinking how you would interact with people as if you were with them face to face. 

In sum, to fully understand how to use social media for business, you'll need to understand  and practice these unchangeable principles first. By doing so, then changeable principles will become clearer, and you'll accelerate your social media success for business. 

Watch the entire Gary Vaynerchuk and Larry King video interview here. You'll thank me later for it. ?? And if you haven't already, get your copy of Gary's latest book "#AskGaryVee: One Entrepreneur's Take on Leadership, Social Media, and Self-Awareness"

Like what you read? Check out my other social selling and social media articles. 

About Gabe Villamizar

Gabe Villamizar is recognized as a leading Social Selling Influencer by Inc.com, Forbes.com, and Onalytica. He currently leads the social selling training and coaching efforts at HireVue, a killer SaaS company that uses digital video and predictive analytics to build and coach the world’s best teams. Prior to HireVue, Gabe was part of the sales and marketing teams at InsideSales.com where he tested, learned and developed his social selling training program. On the side, Gabe has helped/consulted top B2B SaaS companies including Qualtrics, Domo, Instructure, SAP and many more.