Social media marketing can be a phenomenal marketing channel for small businesses to exploit. It is a great example of how you can effectively communicate your message to a targeted audience.
The benefit of social media for companies is impossible to ignore and in order to help our web design business clients at JBI achieve the best possible results through this channel; we have laid out five key important points that are essential to understand and effectively utilise this marketing angle:
1.Your brand or company should take a holistic, goal-oriented and authentic approach to social media marketing, rather than focusing on any one platform or method.
Every company, brand or product could be and should be “social”. Conversations about almost every brand and related products are happening everywhere, you just need to be a part of that conversation to gain the maximum benefit out of it. Explain your brand and approach without preaching or sounding like an instruction manual.
2.Use the tools available to reach to your target audience. One of the best ways for small businesses to leverage social media marketing is to use various social networks in combination with each other. The examples below helps us in understanding the marketing mix for a effective and efficient social marketing:
Connect your Twitter account to Facebook ( or the other way round).This will let you leverage your time on Twitter and will also update your Facebook fans.
Connect your LinkedIn profile to your WordPress blog. This will automatically update your LinkedIn profile with your most recent blog posts and hence reach to the desired audience.
Integrate Twitter or Facebook tools onto your website. The use of “ShareThis” tool enables readers to quickly share content on multiple social networks.
We need to keep in mind that not all social networks will make sense for every business. Learn which networks are best for your on-line business strategy and find ways to leverage combinations of those networks to make your marketing more effective.
3.Posting relevant content is important. Remaining true to your brand promise is the best way to approach social media. Utilise your brand promise as guiding principles across all your social media efforts. It should be reflected in the content created, the tone used, and the promotional programs being launched.
Though more attention is focused on social networks than on company blogs these days, however, blogs still continue to offer great value for small businesses as they help in listening, learning and engaging in conversations with your customers and as we know understanding your customers requirements is half the battle!
4.Make promotions fun. Marketing is not a campaign but a commitment. In order to build long-term relationships with your clients you need to invest in them genuinely..
A social media programme is a commitment to engage and communicate with clients when and where they want to communicate.
5.Attention to details matters since much of social media marketing is human capital it involves more thinking and execution.
The best way to start a social media campaign is by listening.Set up Google Alerts to look for conversations about your brand or product.Then participate in the conversation and just remember to be authentic, honest and transparent.
A brand which is active on social media and interacts with its clients will carry more credibility and rally more supporters in the future.
