Today, social media marketing has become one of the most relevant aspects of any online marketing campaign, it’s everywhere, and if you have abstained from getting into its flow, your business is surely missing out on a huge marketing opportunity. Despite the fact that social media is a very effective an impactful medium of getting your name out there, most small owners are quite lost when it comes to incorporating it into their business marketing strategy.
Steps to Successful Social Media Marketing
We have put together a small and useful guide that will help you find your way around this virtual world of social media marketing.
#1 Choose the right social media sites
There are truly a large number of sites out there and this may leave you in a quandary as to which ones your business should have a presence on. In the early stages of this effort, it’s important that you build personal engagement with your customers. The basic things you would need are a FB page and a blog.
The other social networking sites you should have a presence on, would be dependent on the type of products/services you are selling and the kind of customer base you want to build. For instance if you were a business that operates in the finance field, having a presence on a professional site like LinkedIn can help.
#2 Generate Followers
Businesses that focus on updating their blog on a regular basis and on bringing traffic to it and their website, have a distinctly higher chance of finding success, compared to ones that don’t make this effort. Today, FB continues to be a very popular social media platform.
If you have a strong presence on it, and keep the conversation going with your customers, it can be a very effective way of spreading the word. In addition to Facebook and LinkedIn, you can also start building your presence on sites such as Twitter, Youtube, Google+, Pinterest, Foursquare, etc.
#3 Set up your Social Media Profile
Each one of the social media websites have different steps to set up a profile. This is how it’s done on Facebook:
- Before you set up a FB page, it’s important that you conduct a certain amount of research and check some successful sites of businesses that operate in your industry
- Do not confuse an FB Profile with an FB Page
- Ensure you upload a great photo and don’t forget to add some business-related pictures to the profile
- The best way to start spreading the word is to invite all your friends and acquaintances
Branding is All-Important
Social media is the perfect tool to reinforce branding; this is how it’s to be done:
- Be regular with posting interesting and relevant content
- Be consistent with interacting with your customers and keep the conversation going
- It’s important to conduct surveys on sites like FB and Twitter; be open to both, positive and negative feedback and ensure you address customer complaints (if any), in a timely manner
- Ensure your content reflects your own opinions and voice
- Occasionally offer discounts and offers; this can go a long way in retaining customers
- Hold online contests or share photos and focus on keeping your customers engaged. Be active on social media but not so much that it becomes an annoyance point for current and prospective customers
It’s Important that you Evolve
The thing to keep in mind is that a social media campaign is never set and forget. You have to be very dynamic in your approach while handling it. Be in constant evolve mode when it comes to managing your online presence on these sites and before long you will notice that your efforts are reaping results.
About the Author
Ben Fewtrell is a sought-after Business Coach, Keynote Speaker and trainer who has featured in Virgin’s Inflight Magazine and Entertainment Portal, SKY Business and “Secrets of Top Business Builders Exposed”. He is also the host of the popular Business Brain Food Podcast where he interviews leading experts on anything and everything business.
