This week, I thought we would kind of pick up where we left off, on the topic of content and social media. This time we will focus more on your audience.

First up, you must be able to listen! What do your readers want from you? What do they find valuable? Why are they in your network to begin with?

Social media is (well, should be) more about the quality of your friends/followers. Not seeing how many people you can get. Are you there to just promote your business or are you there to develop relationships with your audience/customers?

Sure, there’s no doubt that many people are there to build their brand, but how are they going about it? Instead of just sending links and products out, tell people how the product will benefit them. Give people as much info as you can. One example I can offer is if you see a “tweet” about your company or product, reply to the person. Don’t just let other people answer the question or whatever it may be. This example came from today when I saw a question about my company. Even though I knew other people that didn’t work here were answering, I replied anyways. I think it shows that you are listening and getting involved in the conversation. That is just one more person that will probably go to our site and check it out.

A couple other ideas…

Jessica from TopRank suggests running promotions involving user generate articles, videos, images or other content that can be shared, promoted and recognized. Great idea. This gets your audience involved more than they normally would be.

Or, you could simply ask your audience what they want from your blog, Twitter or Facebook page. It never hurts to ask right?

Social media, marketing, content, can all be put together to help build your brand. And not to mention, they are all free!