{"id":415,"date":"2014-04-18T18:35:11","date_gmt":"2014-04-19T01:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/droneanalyst.com\/?p=415"},"modified":"2017-01-04T10:26:35","modified_gmt":"2017-01-04T18:26:35","slug":"drones-business-and-social-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/droneanalyst.com\/2014\/04\/18\/drones-business-and-social-media\/'","title":{"rendered":"Drone Businesses: Three Social Media Platforms You Can’t Afford To Ignore"},"content":{"rendered":"

For some the thought of using Twitter or Facebook or LinkedIn for their small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) business seems, well, just wrong. What good are they? Aren’t they just platforms for people who want to share what they had for breakfast? It’s not my audience. These social networks seem like a lot work for very little return – and besides aren’t there better things to do?<\/p>\n

I understand. I believed this for many years. The very thought of having to maintain a ‘virtual image’ of my company or myself seemed un-human like, let alone un-business like. But a few years ago I started consulting with small and medium businesses, and my job required me to learn social media and actively participate. At first, I went kicking and screaming. What I saw initially was a lot of experimenting. I didn’t see compelling business content (e.g., the breakfast thing). But that was then. Things are very different now. Not only has the strategic role of online social networks progressed, but the media itself has matured. In that progression I have learned some valuable business lessons.<\/p>\n

In this post want to pass on three <\/strong>of those lessons to\u00a0inspire your participation.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Twitter<\/strong> – It’s been said here<\/a> that<\/p>\n

Twitter is a like huge, successful cocktail party. Groups of people are chatting about different things in different parts of the room. Some are laughing together, some are noting down an interesting book title the person next to them mentioned. One group may be commiserating with someone who just received some bad news, and another is congratulating a guest\u2019s good fortune. You are never the first to arrive nor the last to leave. But when you do leave, you might do so with a few new numbers in your smartphone and a book you want to read.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

With 58 million tweets being shared on Twitter daily, and over 190 million unique visitors per month1<\/a><\/sup>, isn’t it time for your sUAS company to join that party? With Twitter, you can either observe or participate in the world-wide drones revolution.\u00a0 If you decide to participate, then by all means use Twitter to define your brand and generate leads. The more you tweet, the more followers and exposure you will get.<\/p>\n

If you decide to join the party, create an account for your business. See this article<\/a> for 31 Twitter Tips: How To Use Twitter Tools And Twitter Best Practices For Business<\/em>. Once you’re on – or if you are already on – I invite you follow me @droneanalyst<\/a> and follow the people I follow.\u00a0 See what we have to say. Search on #drones or #UAS or #UAV and discover who else is at the party. (By the way, those \u201c#\u201d symbols are called hashtags and are a great way to tag your tweets and\/or search on other tweets whose content includes that hashtag.)<\/p>\n

While at the party, you’ll find an article or two on the latest drone application – like precision agriculture<\/a>, or positive use cases like a successful search and rescue mission, or even a university research project<\/a>\u00a0you might want to\u00a0participate in. You will learn about the latest FAA delay or the latest legal battle<\/a>.\u00a0 The good fortune you will find is a company’s latest product release – like a cool new piece of software, or that lightweight LIDAR<\/a>\u00a0you’ve been waiting for. Twitter is “the”\u00a0place where all this is happening and much more. For the UAS industry and many other emerging businesses, these innovations are being tweeted about at breakneck speeds. Join now or fall behind.<\/p>\n

Facebook – <\/strong>Take a look at this infographic<\/a>. At last count, Facebook has 1.15 billion users and about 700 million daily users. The average visit is over 20 minutes. That’s a lot of time on one website. But the richness of Facebook is not the volume– it’s the connection between local people and businesses. Consider this: 47% of Americans say that Facebook has a greater impact on their purchasing behavior than any other social network, and 50% of users follow their friends’ product and service recommendations.<\/p>\n

So why doesn’t your drone business have a Facebook page? Why aren’t you posting regularly? Facebook offers a chance for lots of eyeballs to see you, make a connection, and hear your story. Let’s face it, you need to tell your story and connect with a broader audience if you want new business. That’s what Facebook offers. Pssst, it’s free mass marketing.<\/p>\n

What kind of information should you post on your page? Well, for one, give your audience a behind-the-scenes glimpse of your company: Think theater, applied to content. You need to answer the question of what your audience will find interesting, compelling, and useful. The strength of this type of information is that it doesn’t need to be created in the same format as the rest of your marketing content. In fact, it\u2019s often better if it\u2019s not. Post an informative article you learned about at the Twitter party. Pictures of your employees are good. A post pointing to a YouTube video is even better.\u00a0 Important though–keep posts simple. Don’t jam a lot of content and text together. Think headlines that attract attention. You need to get above the noise and the latest cat video post.<\/p>\n

LinkedIn –\u00a0<\/strong>If Twitter is the cocktail party, then LinkedIn is the dinner party. This is where real connection and deeper conversation happens. At its core, LinkedIn is your resume online. That resume or ‘profile’ contains your schooling, work history, and business experience. Think of it as your ‘virtual business self’. Your profile is the window through which others perceive you. Your profile provides others context and gives you credibility, and you need both if you want others to connect with you and trust you.<\/p>\n

However, be careful not to sit on your laurels. Just because you are on LinkedIn and it shows you were in the aerospace industry or in the military and worked on UAVs it does not mean that people understand your business acumen. In fact, probably just the opposite is true. You have to prove your acumen for civilian UAS application, and the way to do it is by joining groups. Groups allow you start discussions and comment on others\u2019 discussions. Just as in Facebook, people will ‘follow’ you if you prove you have something salient to offer.<\/p>\n

These days, there is a lot lively conversation about unmanned aerial vehicles and systems on LinkedIn and\u00a0you don\u2019t want to miss it. Many of the UAV \/ UAS industry groups are private, so you have to ‘ask’ to join the group.\u00a0 Here are a few groups I recommend you join:<\/p>\n