It’s tempting to put a lot of pressure on yourself to approach everybody, but the old adage about focusing on quality over quantity really applies here. Here are a few key things to remember when it’s actually time to put out your hand, smile, and introduce yourself. You can use it to build custom and lookalike audiences that extend your reach even further. One of the (many) reasons you shouldn’t cross-post the same content on every platform is that each platform has its own image/video size specifications. Thankfully, a chatbot can handle simple questions and reduce your customer service team’s workload by 94%. And these aren’t shabby responses – customers served this way have a 96% satisfaction score.
Professional conferences are an opportune time to network. Do your research about the conference agenda before attending, so you can pinpoint which panels and networking-specific events would be most beneficial for your goals. Also, plan ahead by bringing your own business cards to share with new connections—and remember to collect them from others as well.
According to Hootsuite’s 2026 Social Media Trends report, 79% of social media managers now use AI daily to brainstorm, create, and refine content. You don’t need to go into all-out production mode and all of these content types for every article. But make an effort to repurpose as much of your content as possible. Start by understanding what your audience is likely to search for, then create content that clearly answers those questions.
Now, let’s walk through how to build a strategy that’s focused, effective, and built to deliver results. In short, it helps ensure that every post, campaign, and interaction is moving you closer to your marketing goals, not just adding to the noise. Sprout builds and maintains strong network partnerships and integrations to help you unify your customer touch points and keep pace with changes in the social landscape. Individual rates apply to about 300 non-standard areas.
Setting specific objectives gives your strategy direction and helps you allocate time and resources effectively. Well-defined goals also make it easier to measure ROI because you’ll know which metrics signal success. Think of your social media marketing strategy as the blueprint for turning online activity into real business impact. Choose one or two sites to target initially by creating a business and/or personal social media page. Start building your network by inviting people you already know to connect with your page, such as family, friends, community members, employees, business contacts and clients. These targeted networking approaches often yield more actionable insights and valuable connections than general business networking events.
In this blog, we’ll help make virtual networking easier by breaking down the key dos and don’ts of online relationship building. Explore platforms like LinkedIn, attend webinars, online events, conferences, and social events to expand your network. If you’re stuck on where to start, here’s a template you can adapt based on your own story, who you’re talking to, and whether it’s in-person or online. A diverse professional network leads to new opportunities, so pursue chances to network with all kinds of people. You might network with potential customers, employees, collaborators, or even business partners.
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But, I promise, it really doesn’t have to be so anxiety-inducing. You’re human, which means you probably hope to theinstantalks.com gain something out of networking—whether it’s a valuable introduction, a helpful resource, or even a job lead. Networking is about building a relationship—which means it isn’t just an opportunity for you to talk all about yourself. The goal is to have five good conversations, even if none of those lead to a follow-up opportunity,” says Danny Groner, Director of Growth PR at Aaptiv.
- You can also use social listening to monitor your competition and spot trending topics and conversations happening in your industry.
- Different industries have unique networking cultures and opportunities.
- Focusing your efforts where your audience is most active will deliver better results, save time, and maximize impact.
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LinkedIn remains both the most popular social channel for B2B brands. You don’t need to ignore every other algorithm, but if you’re only going to deeply understand one, make it this one. While these goals may not translate into immediate leads, they directly support B2B lead generation over time.
Once you post something online, it’s out there forever. The more information malicious people have about you, the easier it is for them to take advantage of you. Predators may form relationships online and then convince unsuspecting individuals to meet them in person. The personal information can also be used to conduct a social engineering attack.
You can do this before scheduling your social media posts, or conveniently right inside Hootsuite as you’re scheduling. As AI evolves, chatbots can move beyond simple FAQ-style responses to provide fast, personalized service 24/7. We tend to think AI customer service won’t be as good as speaking to a human. But since it moves so quickly, the end result can sometimes actually be better. Instead, they ask questions, share feedback, and request support in comments and DMs — and those conversations are easy to miss.
If you want to go deeper, we’ve got a whole blog post dedicated to audience and target market research. This list of 19 social media best practices will help you build a stronger strategy, create better content, and drive results you can actually measure in 2026. No matter what industry you’re in or what your goals are, these are the social media best practices everyone should follow. Remember that you’re networking for professional growth. Unless you form a close bond with someone, stick to talking about work, industry topics and career-related matters.
The digital networking landscape has evolved significantly, even over just the past few years. Rather than trying to be active everywhere, pick platforms with engaged audiences that best align with your industry and networking goals. They wouldn’t be known as social networks if they weren’t good for networking. And unlike email, it’s much easier to get in touch with people via social media.
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To get in front of the right people often required taking big chunks out of your day, even week. Different industries have unique networking cultures and opportunities. For entrepreneurs, especially those in ecommerce, specialized networking can yield more relevant connections. You might be wondering why Facebook isn’t recommended in this case. LinkedIn is home to more than 1.2 billion members globally as of 2025. Yet, many people set up their LinkedIn as an online résumé and leave it at that.
Establish A Realistic Posting Schedule
Social media plays a critical role in shaping first impressions, building credibility, and keeping your brand top of mind early in the buying journey. Social marketers tend to rely on engagement metrics to track social media ROI. But for B2B marketers, social media goals need to align with longer-term business objectives. There are tons of social media apps to help out with design tasks. If you don’t have a design team, you can easily create graphics with Canva or Adobe Express.
