How to create a social networking presence for your online store

One of the major opportunities social networking sites give you is to be omnipresent.  Wherever your customers or prospects turn online, let them find you.

In this article, I identify some of the most effective social networking opportunities to reach new customers and retain current customers.

• Facebook Fan Page – create company presence on Facebook and tap into the 800 Million active users throughout the world.
• Twitter – make sure to include appropriate hashtags in tweets, research popular hashtags, direct message as appropriate, follow your friends and industry influencers.
• LinkedIn – keep those business relationships up-to-date and be helpful to those who need it.

Other honorable mentions include MySpace, FriendFeed and Google Buzz.  These can all be good, but if you only have limited time, choose Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

One more site that has become an interesting social networking site is Amazon.com.  No, that is not a typo.  Amazon.com is more than just an online store.   Customers don’t go to Amazon.com for their great customer service, they flock to Amazon.com to make an intelligent buying decision.

Here are some of the features that have made Amazon.com a social networking site.  Plus, here is an example of the Kindle page on Amazon.com that has most of these features.

• Customer reviews
• Customer reviewer profiles
• Editorial lists
• Video reviews
• Customer Forums
• Author pages and information
• Gift lists and wish lists for social shopping
• See the product locally
• Community
• Share this product with friends

GENERAL Web 2.0 RULES OF ENGAGEMENT:

Of course, no matter which social networking sites you use, you will want to follow some recommended rules:

• Always provide value
• Link to your online store from social networking profiles
• Link to your social networking profiles from your site
• Promote your social networking pages on your online store and through external marketing efforts such as email or direct mail as appropriate
• Answer questions in a timely manner
• Don’t ignore the negative comments – answer these and learn from these comments and criticism
• Don’t delete negative comments – leaving them (and answering them) can build customer trust and loyalty

QUICK TIP:

To see if your preferred name is available at the top Web 2.0 properties, here is a great time-saving, free site – namechk.com.

ADVANCED BONUS TIP:

If you ever wanted to create your own social networking site, there are now many easy-to-use online solutions.  One of my favorites is Ning – it is currently FREE, integrates with many of the other social networking sites and is highly customizable.  Easy and it works – love it!

Here’s to your online (social networking) success,
David

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