Social media aren't exactly news, but there are always methods to improve how you use them to their full potential. Ian Gibbins gives us some tips. 

Most businesses have by now realised that social media integration is now a necessity in order to maximise on their business growth. Sustained activity across social media networks is imperative to maximise the effectiveness of your social media campaign. Here are five ways that businesses can maximise their time spent on social networks to gain a positive result.

Create your own group on LinkedIn

This is a great way to help generate more leads for your business. Make sure you create a group that fills a need for the audience you’re targeting. This will ensure that every person who joins the group is a qualified lead. Ensure you add keywords in the title and the description of the group, and remember to add your company website. You should also send a weekly message that adds value to the group members and at the same time drives traffic back to your site.

Contact local publications or journalists on Twitter

This is a great way to receive publicity for your products and services. These influential people who have an interest in the local community are always on the lookout for newsworthy articles. This strategy can also be extended to other local authority figures you have in your vicinity that could prove to be of value to your business.

Have you ever heard the phrase 'content is king'?

Why not repurpose the valuable content you already have and distribute this across your social networks. For example, if you have written an article recently, then why not simply turn this into an mp3 download. Create a PowerPoint presentation and provide audio for the slides by simply reading the article; this can then be recorded and produced using screen capture software. This video can also then be uploaded and optimised on YouTube.

Continuously and regularly interact and engage your following

Engaging people means delivering interesting, relevant content that gets them to take an action. Engagement includes everything from likes, comments and shares to downloads, event registrations and online purchases. If you find yourself stuck for content ideas then simply ask yourself 'What information would I find interesting?' Don’t fall into the trap of going to the effort of creating a following and then failing to interact, as I see happen all too often. Remember: social media are all about being social - real people connecting with real people.

This year social media marketing is going to become a lot more visual

Embed text and your business information in relevant graphics. Pinterest, using image sharing, has broken records with its growth. Pictures are also the most widely used and shared method of posting on Facebook. When people share your images you want them to see your website link or other relevant information. Consider using Slideshare. This is predicted to be the fastest growing social site in 2013. Slideshare allows you to share your presentations with millions. You can share documents and videos; you can also integrate Slideshare into your LinkedIn profile.

Ian Gibbins is author of 'The New Guide to Social Media Profits' and founder of Social Media Simplicity, an online social media training course.