Winning Space in Social Media

When we talk about the Internet as a company, we have to learn there are 3 different types of spaces: own, paid for and won. Every one of these spaces is very important and as a company, we have to learn how to take as much advantage as possible. Before I get into the details about social media, I want to explain what each of this space is about and what you should know about them.

The first type of space we must analyze, is our own space. The name is self explanatory, and it deals with all the spaces we create as a company. This includes all our websites, Facebook pages, Twitter accounts and more. We are the owners of this space, so to start with, we can publish anything we want, however we want it. However, it might be a good idea to open up some of these spaces, so visitors can have a word and contribute their thoughts. An example of this is our Facebook page, were we can enable users to comment on our posts and even create their own posts.

The second spaces are those that are not of our property, but we have paid their owners in order to talk about us. This can be seen as a type of infomercial. A classic example is paying a blogger or an Internet news venue to talk about our website and products.

The third and last type of space is the ones we call “won”. The idea behind this is that we don’t have control over them, however their users voluntarily talk in a positive way about our products and brands. One example of this type of presence occurs with brands that have evangelists, such as Apple. People create websites, blogs and more to talk about these brands, just because they love them.

When we want to win space in social media, we have to take into account these 3 types of spaces. We should start with our own space in the main social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter. Many companies that are thinking about entering this space are afraid, because for example, they believe their users will use this space to send them all type of criticism. This can happen, but if you don’t create the official site, someone else might do it for you and this is not good.

Before you create your accounts in social media, think in terms of strategy. With strategy you can define how you will act and how to win this space. Also, you can align what you’re doing in the physical world, in order to make your social media work for your objectives.

A second effort you have to do is work with the presence of other people in social media. You can do this by paying them for this, or creating a guerrilla marketing campaign. However, be very careful as social media users are very smart and can detect fake comments. If this happens, all your effort can blow up in your face.

Finally, take into account won spaces in social media. These are not easy to conquer and they will take time. If your brand has a good reputation and good will, this will help. If not, you have to start talking with these users, engaging with them and showing them you honestly care about their problems.

This is just a brief introduction to this topic. There is a lot more to it, but I hope this brief points help you achieve your goals in social media. Remember to always have a strategy guiding you and helping you win space in Social Media.

Image taken from Flickr.com