“The secret to social media success isn’t in talking – it’s in listening”
Social Media Marketing For Small Business – Besides having a great website, small businesses need to have an actual presence inside social media, they need to be aware of what the customers are into. The right tools are commonly unknown, that’s why social media isn’t still used as much as it should be. What I mean is that you and your small business must take advantage of social media deeply, in its fullest, and of the relationship between social media and business. When it comes to social media, quality is more valuable than quantity, so choose to follow people that you can build relationships with. Check out the tips above and practice them in order to set up an efficient social media strategy:
1. Use social media to sell your product
First of all, remember that technology is made and developed to help you as a tool for selling at a larger scale. To achieve that, you have to check the social channels looking for your customers’ mentions. Is it you they’re talking about? Is it your competitors? Are they asking about something? What are they complaining about? If you know the answers to all these things, then you’re ready to improve your offering. Don’t create a social media account if you’re not prepared to manage it and see it through to success. It’s better to have a professional create and manage your social media strategy if you can’t. Know which social media network is suitable for your business.
They don’t work in the same way. For example, Facebook is the appropriate network if you want to engage an existing group of customers, to gather feedback from them and also to celebrate them. But if what you want is to find new customers, Twitter is the real-time information source that you should use. Give timely answers to your followers’ questions and needs. Point them to helpful places in your website. Engage with them.
2. Twitter
Twitter is the network you have to use to build relationships with customers and to gain feedback from them. In 2013 Twitter released a graphic article in which they said that once someone follows your business, they’re much more likely to become customers and to end up driving traffic to your site. After you set up search streams with keywords to find potential customers or people that are interested in your business, you must tweet content that your target audience finds relevant. You must also give your customers promotions and incentives to follow and share. There is no infallible method for this. All you can do in the first place is to test and learn: publish a varying number of tweets every day during one week and adjust your strategy according to the results you get.
Every single post you make must fit within your content strategy. No one really knows what the best time of the day for posting is. Anyway, if you monitor that attentively, you will eventually receive the maximum level of engagement by posting when your audience is most active.
3. LinkedIn and Facebook
LinkedIn is a powerful integration of professionals, industry leaders, community managers, business owners and, of course, clients. It can help you amplify your message and target it to your audience accurately, connecting you with your followers and attracting new fans. Now, if you’re already a LinkedIn member you should create a LinkedIn company page because it’s a tool to enhance your business’ presence and also to drive a wider range of leads showcasing their stories. Along with Twitter and LinkedIn, a Facebook page will showcase your brand too. Build a Facebook fan base by posting interesting, visual content (photos, faces, videos) and by setting a tone for your posts.
You just need to add your brand’s personality to them. To end with, I’ll go back to one of the first things I mentioned: quality. Three Facebook posts per day are enough. Don’t forget that you must always aim for quality over quantity.