Social media marketing is something we have all heard being talked about. The internet dominates sales and engagement with customers, and businesses need to have online presence if they want to connect with people in their local area, across the country, or even across the world.
Everyone in business needs to reach and communicate with potential customers, and the internet – and social media in particular – is a fabulous way of connecting with people, and building a rapport with them. A website is a great start, but it often doesn’t allow customers to talk to your company directly, lacking a crucial link which will give your brand and your products an essential boost in today’s competitive market.
Social media platforms offer a chance for businesses to engage with customers on a one-on-one basis, which adds a real touch of personality to any company. Customers can build a relationship with your brand and business, and are more likely to trust you and your products because of this. A brand that doesn’t let its customers communicate effectively lacks any emotive connection – and is less likely to do well, especially in the current climate where most businesses do allow for this sort of rapport.
1) Starting Out
The big question, however, is what to do to start with. Building a brand on social media used to be an easier process, but now that the online space is becoming increasingly crowded, it requires a lot of care, attention, and thought about exactly what you’re doing and how you’re doing it.
Starting out and finding your unique ‘voice’ can be tricky. You need to think carefully about what you want to achieve with your online marketing strategy. Identify specific and realistic goals, and then tailor your strategy in a way that works towards these goals. If you just start posting without clear direction, your messages will lack drive and energy, and will probably fall flat.
By streamlining your strategy to fulfill specific targets, you will ensure you’re getting the maximum impact from each message. If your goal is to sell more of a specific product, you can post in ways which will generate interest and raise awareness about the product and its benefits. If you’re trying to increase your online followers, you could write a series of informative articles for potential customers to access. If you give purchasers useful information, you start to build a relationship between them and your brand.
2) Focus Your Efforts
There are a lot of social media platforms out there, and you probably don’t have the time or resources to create major brand presence on each one. Even if you do, you aren’t working efficiently.
You need to think about your target audience and consider where they are most likely to be found; there’s no point posting beautiful pictures to Instagram if most of your followers will be on Twitter instead.
“Research your target market and the demographic they fall into, learn a bit about their habits, and hone your strategy to match,” recommends Fiona Lawson, a tech writer from Ukwritings and Stateofwriting.
3) Tailor Your Networks
Although you may not want to put resources into every social media network, you will probably have presence across more than one. Most brands at least have Twitter and Facebook accounts, and will usually appear on a few other networks as well.
Make sure that you know what each site is best used for, and ensure that you use it accordingly; if you want your Facebook account to be engaging customers with brand pictures and information, don’t get distracted from that aim. If you’ve decided to use it as your customer support, ensure that you prioritize this over anything else.
You should recognize different purposes for each of your networks, and ensure that your activity on that network reflects its designated purpose. This will allow you to stay focused and efficient, and will also help you to identify when a social media account doesn’t have a clear strategy driving its activity.
4) Review Your Progress
Once you’re underway, it’s always tempting to let a strategy which seems to be working just run smoothly and almost automatically – even if you’re there, making the posts, you might keep using patterns that have worked previously without checking they are still working.
Return to your goal list from step one and identify specific indicators that your goal is working. For example, have the sales on the product you’re promoting gone up? Have you managed to increase your number of followers?
“Having a strategy isn’t enough; you need to make sure that it’s working. This can feel a bit abstract on social media, so pick some concrete indicators of success and use them to adapt your strategy whenever necessary,” says Hannah Wilson, a blogger at Essayroo and Boomessays.
5) What’s Everyone Else Doing?
This step can be implemented at any point in the process, and is essential. You need to consider who your closest competitors are and look at their online strategies. Think about how they engage with their potential customers, and examine how the customers respond to their posts.
If their strategy is working well, there may be parts you can utilize for your own online branding. It may be that they create polls and get great engagement, or that they post funny pictures their followers love and share. Similar activity may work well for you, especially if you’re targeting the same demographic.
Equally, if things aren’t working for them, you will be able to see where they’re making mistakes, and avoid these problems in your own online activity.
Social media marketing is crucial to success in the business world, and most businesses cannot afford to ignore the online space – regardless of how they choose to utilize it. An effective social media strategy can skyrocket your customer base and give you a huge advantage in the marketplace, so think carefully about what you’re doing online.
Pin it down to specific goals with concrete targets, and constantly adapt your strategy to suit changes in the market and reflect the reactions of your target audience.
