Social media is an excellent instrument for small business advertising, if properly utilized. Jarod McAferty, the Social Media Marketing Coordinator at Dynamic Computer Solutions, will explain how to harness the power of social media at 11am March 28 in Marvin Auditorium. He will walk you through the ins and outs of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn as marketing tools.

I attended Jarod’s Social Media for Business presentation in February. He discussed tools, strategies and tips for growing one’s business connections and relationships online and the benefits of using online networking to further your business goals.

In his presentation, Jarod discusses the pros and cons of having personal vs. professional accounts. He emphasizes that one of the keys to using social media for marketing is constantly posting links and articles that are both relevant to your industry and interesting to your followers because social media has the ability to “bring the consumer to your doorstep,” which in today’s economy, is more important than ever.

Jarod used a metaphor that really stuck in my head. He said that for those companies that have a main website, it should be the sun of their marketing “solar system,” and they should use Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn like satellite planets that draw people into orbit around that main hub.

Making sure the consumer can easily get in touch with you by making contact information clearly visible on your company’s website is also important because we live in an instant gratification society and the days of waiting on hold are gone. People expect more than one way to get a hold of a company. Furthermore, they will go to a company’s Facebook page and comment on the type of service they received, whether it is good or bad. Word of mouth is a powerful advertising tool, and that is one reason why tapping into social media is so important for today’s companies.

Jarod can be found on Facebook at www.facebook/JarodMcAferty and on Twitter as @JmcAferty. He can be reached at Dynamic Computer Solutions by phone at (785) 354-7000 ext 213.

Registration is required for this upcoming event. Please call (785) 580-4606 to reserve your spot or for more information.

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