Ideas
Explore the world's #1 largest database of ideas and innovations, with 459,692 inspiring examples.
Trend Reports
Discover why 1,236 brands rely on our AI-powered Trend Reports to get better, faster insights.
Newsletter
Join 321,366 subscribers who rely on our weekly newsletter to keep up with need-to-know trends and insights.
How to Hunt
Learn more about how to hunt megatrends, ideas, patterns and opportunity.
Consumer Insights
Uncover major shifts and emerging opportunities with our exclusive PRO research.
Trend Reports
Discover why 1,236 brands rely on our AI-powered Trend Reports to get better, faster insights.
Newsletter
Join 321,366 subscribers who rely on our weekly newsletter to keep up with need-to-know trends and insights.
How to Hunt
Learn more about how to hunt megatrends, ideas, patterns and opportunity.
Advisory & Services
Accelerate innovation and ignite disruptive thinking with our award-winning programs and research.
Trend Reports
Get fast, customized trend reports, presentations and deep dives 20x faster than traditional research.
Plans
Get started today with a free consultation, our self-serve tools, or a dedicated program.
Articles & Magazine
Get inspired with our 4,208 innovation strategy articles, keynote, videos and innovation tools.
Innovation Awards
Trend Hunter’s Innovation Strategy Awards recognize the best innovation tactics gathered from our interviews with some of the world's most notable business leaders, authors and change makers.
Advisory & Services
Accelerate innovation and ignite disruptive thinking with our award-winning programs and research.
Innovation Assessment
Enhance your innovation potential with a deeper understanding of your unique innovation archetype and how your organization benchmarks.
FuturistU
Prepare for the years ahead with 100+ lessons, tactics, tools and frameworks with our full learning database.
Innovation Books
Join 20,000,000 people getting better and faster with our New York Times Bestselling books and keynote videos.
Jeremy Gutsche
Ignite your event or virtual event with our CEO, a NY Times Bestselling Author and one of the top innovation keynote speakers.
Our Team of Speakers & Virtual Presenters
Inspire your group with our most popular speakers on innovation, trends, change and futurism.
Custom Training & Events
Bring the Future Festival experience directly to your team or co-hosted custom event.
Custom Masterclasses
Join the world's leading brands who leverage our custom programs to accelerate innovation.
FuturistU 5-Day Program
Become a Futurist with our immersive 5-Day program at Future Festival World Summit.
Online eLearning
Learn the fundamentals of futurism and trends with 100+ online courses about innovation.
How to Hunt
Learn more about how to hunt megatrends, ideas, patterns and opportunity.
Contact
Get in touch to learn more, ask a question or submit a tip.
About Us
Learn more about Trend Hunter and how we accelerate innovation.
Follow-Us
Join our 3,500,000 social media followers, on the cutting edge.
How to Hunt
Learn more about how to hunt megatrends, ideas, patterns and opportunity.
FAQ
Get answers to common questions about Trend Hunter.
Community
Stay on the cutting-edge with the help of the Trend Hunter community.
Team
Meet the team trusted by hundreds of leading businesses worldwide.
Jobs
Find opportunities to accelerate your career with the #1 Trend Firm.
News
Catch up on noteworthy Trend Hunter news and media mentions.
Join
Build a portfolio and put your trend-spotting abilities to the test.
Advertising
Supercharge your marketing by partnering with Trend Hunter.
Portfolio
Visit your public portfolio and browse your past articles.
Add a Trend
Write up an article and showcase your trend-spotting skills.
My Trends
Edit your articles and see how they stack up on the leaderboards.
Settings
Edit your profile, connect your social media accounts, and more.
Add a trend, customize your dashboard, or track topics.
Future Festival
Innovation Events
Join the world's top innovators at our in person events.
Free Webinars
Learn to innovate through chaos, navigate the new normal and maintain work culture from home.
Custom Training & Events
Bring the Future Festival experience directly to your team or co-hosted custom event.
Search our database of 459,692 cutting edge ideas.

5 Ways to Utilize Social Media for Business

Courtney Scharf
October 11th, 2012
Social media for businesses has become an increasingly important component of a company's strategy. Arguably necessary in order to succeed and stay relevant in this day and age, these platforms leave many feeling confused, overwhelmed and scrambling for a good strategy.

Because there are so many forms of social media, it's critical to first establish which sites will be best suited to your brand. In some cases, it make take a bit of trial and error to determine this. Either way, having a Facebook page and Twitter feed are thought to be the bare minimum in terms of an online presence. Avoiding these platforms will, in many cases, cause your company to appear defunct.

For some, other pages in addition to the basic social media sites will be highly beneficial to a brand. Once you feel you've built a strong enough page on the basic sites, it may be wise to explore whether more niche-driven sites like Pinterest could benefit your company. Those in the retail industry or online media are a particularly good fit for this site, and have benefitted hugely by optimizing their site and page for this purpose.

When creating pages on all social media sites, ensure that the branding of your company comes across and will be recognized by those who follow your company. Keep descriptions consistent and ensure that there will be no confusion as to whether or not users have found the right page. In order to ensure that your page will receive plenty of traffic, place widgets linking to social media pages prominently on your company's website. As well, it's advised that business cards provide links or QR codes to these pages.

Setting up pages on these platforms is only half the battle. Managing and ensuring that the quality of the page is up to snuff will likely be a more troubling issue. A few general rules apply to most social media platforms, however, and will ensure that your brand's presence is as effective as possible. The main component when it comes to managing social media pages is ensuring that the content posted is as engaging as possible. This will incentivize people to access your page and likely improve the way in which they view your brand.

Another key component to managing these pages is to be as responsive as possible. Though many may shy away from social media as it's a place for customers to potentially air their discontentment with brands, the upsides of social media far outweigh the downsides. Responding to disgruntled customers openly and directly will result in higher satisfaction with your product or service. Set up your page as a resource for customers. Ding so provides visitors with a valuable service.

For more information regarding social media management and marketing, check out Trend Hunter's Social Media Trend Report.