Social Media & Business for Dummies

In case you haven’t noticed yet, social media is EVERYWHERE! If you haven't, you must live under a rock. You can hardly watch TV without seeing a plug for you to follow us, tweet us, or connect with us... even the Weather Channel! Social media has become a much more popular marketing outlet than anyone could have ever imagined. Not only can you connect with others, but also keep up with breaking news and upcoming events simultaneously.I have been a social media user for years, since it's been around for a majority of my generation’s lifetime. I’ve been able to connect with friends, classmates, and coworkers on the Internet for quite awhile. Managing my personal accounts and signing up for new accounts is a breeze and I have no problem with constantly checking in on my accounts throughout the day.Personal accounts aside, I've found that while knowing the ins and outs of social media, I'm a complete dummy when it comes to managing business accounts. Did you know that their is supposed to be a strategy to what you post and it's not just random? Yeah, me either. This part of my job has brought on whole new set of challenges for me. Although I am always willing to accept a challenge, I know I still have tons to learn.In my time as a Marketing student, we didn’t have classes teaching us how to manage Facebook business accounts. We especially didn't learn the importance of coming up with great content… and this was only a year ago! If it isn’t already, social media strategy is bound be everywhere in the classroom soon, especially in the marketing/communications/PR classes. Since it's becoming the center of our lives, we should be doing everything to educate ourselves on how to create amazing content. I’ll be trying my hardest to do just that.It’s a big deal to put a voice to your brand and comes with many headaches and confusions. Through it all, the reward of watching your social impact expand and staying relevant on social media is worth it. I still don’t know half of what there is to know about being effective at brand strategy, but it’s been an exciting learning experience for me. You can keep up with the journey by following us on Facebook  at www.facebook.com/PromotionalSolutions, watching our Twitter feed @PromotingUs, and checking out our NEW LinkedIn company page![show_avatar email=7 show_name=true]