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A beginners guide to Social Media Marketing

by | Jul 16, 2013 | Articles, Social Media | 0 comments

A beginners guide to Social Media Marketing

It doesn’t seem very long ago that web designers were telling us that we simply needed to have a website for our business to be successful. While this is still an essential tool, it can no longer be said to be the only online presence at our disposal. Increasingly, people are turning to social media sites for a large part of their online viewing, eschewing one way sites in favor of interaction. This may be frustrating for those businesses that have invested heavily in their website. It should also be good news as it opens up a whole world of instant communication with potential new customers. Of course, websites are still extremely useful and although some companies have opted to have their presence only on social media sites, this is not an ideal situation and a website should still be used for permanent information and also to enable people to find them using search engines. Naturally, the site should always include obvious links to their social media profiles.

guide to social media marketing

Social Media Platforms and Their Uses

There are an ever growing number of social network sites and it can be a huge task to keep up with them. Many newer ones will fall by the wayside while others will flourish. As these depend on a large user base to be effective, it is advisable to stick with the more established ones initially.

The following social media sites are the key ones that should be focused on initially. It is worth investigating if there are any that operate within your own business field as these may be worth pursuing too.

Facebook

The oldest and most established, Facebook is a great way of building up relationships with customers. It is possible to build up quite a personal relationship which helps to build trust. It is advisable to keep the tone light and impersonal on the site and not use it simply as a plug for your business as this is not Facebook’s primary use.

Tip – A good mix though will allow you to mention new products and services as they come online without it appearing to be a marketing exercise only.

Twitter.

Twitter is a major player and it is possible to build up a large number of followers there if you take the right approach. As you would with with Facebook, personal and humorous posts are effective and latest offers and updates can be ‘plugged’ in between these.
Tip – Also remember to ‘hashtag’ key words such as products as this will help them to become a trending topic and  retweeted to others followers.

A word of warning is applicable to all of these sites. It is important to avoid controversial posts and comments as this can have a very negative effect on your business if you offend people. Remember that with Twitter especially, anything negative can be retweeted and may do untold damage to your business.

LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is an excellent site for B2B relationships and should not be thought of as a way of communicating with customers unless you work in B2B. It is excellent for sharing knowledge and marketing techniques and building up useful contacts. It is also a good place to find a job!

Pinterest.

Pinterest is one of the newest players in the market and has an increasing user base. It is ideal as a visual showcase for a company’s products and images placed there. Thos images can also be shared on Facebook and Twitter. Ecommerce businesses can greatly benefit from showcasing their products on Pinterest.

Youtube.

Unless you are a creative genius with a very strong sense of humor, the chances of your Youtube video going viral is pretty small. However, a well made informative video is still likely to be shared and has the potential to increase your sales. It is also worth noting that with Google now owns Youtube. A well maintained page with interesting videos may help your search engine ranking.
Tip – Make sure that any videos you post there can also be embedded on your own website, too.

Google+

Google+ is the latest kid on the block and has been seen as a competitor to Facebook. Although growth slower than Google hoped, it is still growing and with the company’s power behind it, it will very likely succeed. Posting regularly on Google+ with a few links back to your own website will help to improve its performance in the search engines too, bringing more potential customers to your site.

In-House vs. outsourced social media management.

One complaint often heard is that businesses do not have the time to maintain their social media presence. There is certainly little doubt that it can be time consuming. This is time that many feel would be better spent doing their actual job. Larger companies may employ people specifically to maintain their social media sites, but for many others this is not an option.

One solution to this is to outsource the work. This can be effective if managed correctly. It is certainly not advisable to try to do this on the cheap though and you should hire someone with the skills to do this. Remember that one ‘dodgy’ post can be devastating for your business. Be sure to take the time to find a trusted partner. SEO companies do offer social marketing services, but the amount of time they spend naturally optimizing your brand through social channels is debatable. Personally, I would be hiring the services of an independent social media expert or a consultant who will eventually be able to pass the baton on to you after your social presence has been established.

Tip – It may be best to try, if possible, to maintain at least the two major players such as Facebook and Twitter in-house, in order to be as effective as possible. Remember, your staff will know your products and services better than any outsider. If in doubt though, simply focus on those two sites and worry about the rest later.

There are third party tools that can be used to help better manage your social media accounts. Social Sprout, Buffer and Hootsuite are common examples that are worthy of consideration. If you use SharePoint systems in-house then you can also purchase web-apps that let you manage your social presence from within SharePoint. Just jump onto Google and you will soon find plenty of them.

The importance of socializing

Remember that social media is not simply about putting your own information out there. You should also acknowledge and comment on others posts too. Failure to do this is likely, to lead to followers ‘unfollowing’ you and decreasing your user base as well as your effectiveness significantly.

Summary

Social media simply cannot be ignored these days. Although it is still felt by some that effective email marketing is the most effective method of marketing products and services, social media still provides opportunities that this method simply can’t. Roughly 75% of Facebook users, for example, share information, special offers and it may spread quite far and wide, increasing sales and brand awareness almost overnight in some cases.

About the author:Katie is currently writing various technology articles and blogs for various companies across London. Katie loves social media and is an expert in helping small businesses gain an online presence.
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