At one point in time, many businesses viewed the world of social media as a playing ground for kids. Those days are long gone. In today’s society, social media sites provide a valuable tool for marketing and branding any business. With such a level of importance placed on these sites, it is equally important to make your social media marketing plan an effective one. In this article we will give you a few tips for starting out right.
Even though you will find that your revenue increases during the holidays, this doesn’t mean that you have to shift your focus away from your consumers. You can inspire holiday spirit and shopping enjoyment by staying in touch with customers during this busy time. Make sure that you improve your advertising during this period, and incorporate a little bit of fun. You customers will pick up on this and enjoy the seasonal focus.
Who is your target audience? Try to figure out what makes people tick, and leverage off of this to create your content.
In your website content, mention your social media efforts. You could let people know when you’ve reached a thousand people following you on Twitter in an article, for instance. Thank your fans for showing an interest in your social media site. Articles like this tend to go viral very fast.
If you use social media for personal use, you have probably seen a variety of altered and Photoshopped advertisements and images. This makes a lot of sense, as a visitor is more likely to wonder what is up with the ad and click it. Once they look at your ad, then there is a greater chance they will visit your site.
Add in exclusive offers to people who follow you on social media accounts. Encourage them with something they won’t be able to get from someone else. For instance, running a prize drawing for your followers will always generate positive responses. If contests are not your thing, you can still give your followers access to deals that regular customers won’t be able to get. You can make important announcements about your business on social media sites as well.
Technology today can really help to increase your sales and exposure, by utilizing applications such as Facebook Places. Provide discounts for users who check in at the Facebook Place that hosts your store and show the check-in to the clerk. There is a similar feature at Foursquare that might work for you as well.
Be sure that you have a blog, and keep the content fresh with helpful information. Post everything new you have to say on your blog. If there is anything new to report like new products, hours or a new location Always ensure your blog is getting these posts, as well.
Use a handle on Twitter that is both clearly related to your business and easy for followers to remember. You can unintentionally push your potential customers to a competitor by using a handle that is overly involved, or uses long numbers.
Have some Facebook contests. Prospective buyers and customers find pleasure in being given a chance to win something. You can tap into this feeling and generate more interest in your business and its products by putting on contests of your own. Contests draw an audience that is eager to learn as much as they can on your latest products and offerings because they are hopeful they will win.
If you want a large number of subscribers to your social media, don’t just promote your products all the time. Link to external stories, articles, and other content that is related to your particular niche or industry. Hold giveaways, share photos, and ask your followers for feedback. Provide compelling and interactive content. Rather than simply product placement, shoot for product engagement. If you can help your customers to associate the brand with their own personal identity, you’re set.
Figure out how much you want to engage with your customers. Simple marketing through social networks is what you should focus on if you are only interested in driving sales. If you’d like to take it a step further and mutually communicate with your potential buyers, again, a minimal approach is best. Introduce yourself with a simple hello. You’ll be lead by your customers from there.
If you want more people to come to yours site, fill it up with good content. Consider writing “how-to” guides on subjects of interest, or providing engaging conversation about your chosen product. Write honest reviews of other company’s products. If you give them useful, high-quality content, your visitors will be more likely to share it around and increase your audience.
Regularly update your profiles, but stay flexible. If you have a new product coming out and plan on having a big advertising campaign, consumers will expect some sort of updates on a daily basis. However, if you’re finding it hard to think of top quality content, you may want to think about posting less.
If you join a social media site, tell your existing customers that you have done so. Once they start following your page, all of their social media friends and followers will soon know they are following you. This basically amounts to free advertising and something you should not take lightly. This is basically a referral which can really help your business.
To get the best possible results from your social marketing efforts, be sure to take advantage of any available information on your customer demographics. If you are able to determine that one specific page or advertisement is particularly appealing to a certain group, you can use that information for future campaigns.
All the cool kids hang out on social media sites so if you want to market to them, you need to be on Facebook and Twitter. It can be used to effectively market and brand your unique product or service, and provide you with exposure to millions of potential customers. This article discussed some basic tips to help you create an effective campaign using social media marketing.
