“Social Media” is one of the latest buzzwords to infect the Internet marketing community. If you’re a business owner with an online presence, you’ve likely already heard it more than a few times. It’s quite possible for you to pay plenty of money to social media consultants who make extravagant promises and deliver modest results. In order to avoid that and use social media marketing to really improve your online business, keep the following points in mind.

First of all, some basic definitions are in order. When marketers talk about social media, they are referring to community-participation websites like Facebook and Twitter. In the broadest sense, whenever you are introducing your business into an online venue primarily oriented towards letting individuals connect with each other, you’re engaging in social media marketing. It’s important to keep this definition always in mind; as a business in a field designed for individuals, you are something of an oddity.

Because the users who participate extensively on social media sites are highly experienced, they are also rather jaded. They are not going to “friend,” “like,” “+1,” or “retweet” you out of the goodness of their hearts. They recognize that by spreading the word about your business, they are giving you free advertising. This is really the elephant in the room when it comes to social media marketing. To overcome it, face up to it: always tell social media users that you appreciate the help they give you. In order to secure that help, make it worth their time. You always want to offer something of value to users who help promote your business.

You can use social media for more than straight-up advertising, though. Social media networks offer you a great opportunity to forge a stronger bond with your existing customers and draw them closer to you. Again, your first guiding principle should be offering value in exchange for attention. You could give customers who reach you through social media sites access to exclusive content, special discounts, or products and services that would otherwise be unavailable. If your efforts are successful, don’t neglect the resources that interacting with customers this way put at your disposal. You can learn a great deal about their preferences by communicating with them so intimately.

Finally, you’ll want to integrate your social media activities with your other online efforts. Cross-links between your social media profiles and your business’s website should be frequent, and they should go both ways. When you do it properly, you can use your presence in both spheres to promote each other. If your website notifies visitors that they can get special deals by joining your Facebook group, your social media presence will grow. Conversely, if your Twitter feed lets followers know that a brand-new article is available on your site, you can generate more web traffic.

Marketing your business via social media is not a wand that you can wave to double your profits; do not let social media “experts” sell you on pie-in-the-sky promises. You can definitely enhance your online visibility through judicious use of social media sites, though. As long as you remember to respect people’s attention and offer genuinely valuable information, social media can make a real contribution to your business.