The Basics of Social Media Marketing
How can you best utilize social media to market your company or product? That’s the question that you, as a business owner, need to answer. And the answer isn’t as simple as it might seem at first glance.
There are different types of social media and they aren’t all mutually exclusive, so you have to figure out which ones make the most sense for your business and your audience. Even if you just stick with the basics, though, you can still get some useful results from your efforts in this regard.
What is social media?
Social media marketing is about interacting with consumers in their own social space, where they spend much of their time. If you’re a small business owner or manager who isn’t utilizing social media marketing tactics to promote your products and services, you’re missing out on potential leads and sales opportunities.
Social media offers businesses a unique opportunity to grow their brands as well as better engage with customers. Here are some important facts that every business owner should know about social media marketing.
#1 Why do you need it?
The potential reach of social media is so massive that it’s easy to feel intimidated by it. It might feel like you don’t know where to start, and once you get started, how do you know what to do?
For starters, we recommend taking a look at your current marketing plan: Are there already elements in place for incorporating social media? If not, here are some tips on getting started with social media marketing.
#2 How much do you need?
When you’re getting started, you don’t need a lot to effectively market your business on social media. If you can dedicate 10 minutes a day to posting, sharing and engaging with content, you’ll have plenty of time left over for analyzing your data and implementing changes. It’s also important to remember that planning is everything—if you don’t set aside time to think about how to share information, there will be no information to share.
#3 What are your goals?
Before you start implementing a social media marketing strategy, take some time to figure out what your goals are. The most successful campaigns will have specific and attainable objectives, so make sure that every post ties back to one of your goals—and don’t forget to measure how well you’re doing.
If it doesn’t meet or exceed your stated objective in some way, then scrap it and try something else. Otherwise, it’s probably just a waste of time (and money).
#4 Creating content
Content is king. You might have heard that phrase a million times before, but it still rings true today. And with so many blogs and social media platforms vying for our attention, it’s essential to stand out from the crowd. Whether you’re creating content for your own website or a client, it should have one goal: make people take action.
But what kind of action? Here are a few options encourage comments, drive clicks to a landing page, inspire purchases…you get it. Whenever possible (and legal), add a call-to-action (CTA) button or form somewhere in your post—the more specific, relevant and prominent it is, the better chance you have at driving conversions.
#5 Strategies to consider for success
The key to social media marketing is community. If you want your brand to succeed on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, you need to be consistent with your content. Posting when you’re bored or in a crisis won’t garner much interest. So instead of using these platforms reactively, use them proactively; set up a schedule that includes two or three posts per day.
Last but not least
Social media really help to generate traffic and leads for your website and business but you need to manage your website as smartly as you stand your business. Best of luck with your work. Read more blogs
