• 17 May

    Are Social Media Likes And Shares Free

    Are social media likes, shares and comments free?Social media promotion is slightly off my normal subject matter, but something that I am involved with a lot as part of promoting FundInvoice. This is not a comprehensive "how to" but more a post prompted by some of the "do nots" that I've noticed recently.

    I would also like to mention how much I appreciate those that regularly share, like and comment on our content - it is very much appreciated.

    The Social Media Magic Formula

    I don't have any magic formula to share, but I do think there is a big piece about being genuine, and reciprocation. I can only tell you how I do it, and it seems to be reasonably productive - we get some enquiries generated through social media. We don't spend a single penny on advertising and promotion - it's all about online collaboration.

    There are also a lot of new relationships forged, beyond just customer relationships, that have arisen from our activities online. By being seen, we receive contact from new providers, and we have benefited from a number of opportunities to collaborate with other businesses in connected sectors.

    Social Media

    I always try to keep my posts, comments, likes etc. genuine. The subject matter is generally on topic, and the content is of a quality that I think will interest the types of people that follow me. My pet hates people constantly plugging their service - adding some value that indirectly links to your service seems to yield more results. People will like a post that shares some valuable information, whereas they are more reluctant to like a straight "call me on . . ." plug.

    My second pet hate is people that think that receive a number of likes, shares etc. but never reciprocate. OK, perhaps your content is so groundbreaking that it warrants one-way adoration, but most of us, in the business of promoting our businesses, are realistic and realise that it's nice to reciprocate now and then.

    I always look for the opportunity to like or share other people's content on the social media platforms that I use e.g. LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. That is especially the case if someone has taken the time to like one of my posts - I try to return the courtesy. The problem is often the fast-moving nature of social media. Once you are following hundreds or thousands of accounts, the volume of posts becomes vast, and its easy to miss someone's new post, amongst the melee of new posts.

    Some people I am connected to give a quick heads up when they have a new post, I don't mind that occasionally, and it helps avoid missing important posts. The key is not to overuse those kinds of relationships. I am always very open to other parties that want to collaborate online - so we have participated in social media-based discussions in the past about invoice finance.

    Growing Your Social Media Presence

    My suggestions for anyone looking to grow their presence via social media are:

    1. Try and make your content interesting, and less like an advert for your services.

    2. Take the time to reciprocate support for worthy material, from those that have supported your material.

    Related Resources

    There are a few related resources that might be of interest to you:

    By Glenn Blackman

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Examples of funders we work with:

time finance
inksmoor
nucleus
pulse cashflow finance
closebrothersinvoicefinance
muse