Social media is such a huge and important part of any company’s efforts to market itself. With the booming success of social media in recent years, many businesses like Gift Check Program for example are looking for advice on how to make it successful. With the growing number of people using it so often, there are a lot of things you can try to get yourself out there. Luckily, social media is not just for the techno-savvy or rich and popular twenty-somethings; anyone with a computer and Internet connection can do it. Here are some tips for how to be successful with social media marketing.
Target Your Audience
Tim Mason runs the marketing for Total Paving and also Witkowski Dental and notes “When using a social platform, the more targeted your message, the better. There are billions of people on a wide range of social media platforms, but each one is different and can be used to reach different audiences. To get more targeted, look at the demographics of your business and create a social media plan to target that. Using Facebook as an example, you can see on your page what types of people you should be getting to, by looking at how different profiles are connected. Direct messages from new acquaintances are usually the best way to build a relationship with someone, so use these to get attention or sympathize with them.”
Engage Your Audience
Tim Jones runs the marketing for Bodytech Total Fitness and also Elderwerks and notes “Making a profile and using it once a month is not going to help your business. You need to engage with all of your followers, friends, etc. as much as possible. Also, use each platform as it was intended to be used. Twitter is not the place for long paragraphs telling people about your company’s history; post links with descriptions on Facebook and upload pictures on Pinterest. These are some simple guidelines to follow when engaging on social media sites.”
-Keep in mind that you want to be posting somewhat frequently. You don’t want to post 10 things a day, but three or four is a good number.
-Be sure to follow back other users if they follow you or mention you. This could lead to something bigger down the line and make the users feel like they matter.
-If you are offering some sort of contest or giveaway, be sure to promote it on all of your social media sites; not just one or two.
Test and Research
There are many different social media platforms, some of which you might not even know about. It’s a good idea to work your way through most of the well-known ones and try to use them in different ways. Just posting your same message on a different platform isn’t going to help anyone; you need people to be able to find you when they are looking for what you offer on a certain site. It is also a good idea to try and test new ways your message/links are received. This gives you the opportunity to experiment, as well as find out what works best.
Social media marketing can be challenging and can take a lot of time and effort; in business, it’s often the case that time is money. Finding the right balance between using social media to promote your business while not spending all of your time on it takes a little bit of trial and error.