Social media marketing is a great way not only to grow your business but also build your company’s brand. However, running a successful social media marketing campaign is not as easy as it appears. Many small business owners think that they have a personal Facebook or Twitter page, so how hard can it really be? The answer is very difficult if you do not know what you are doing. The biggest mistake that many online small businesses make is that they go on and try to sell their services and or products. This is a gigantic mistake because people do not want to see this on their social media pages. Your followers will begin dropping off leaving you with nobody to market too. Here are some things you need to know about social media marketing prior to starting your campaign.
- Social Means Social – When you are at a party, you are likely not going around only talking about your business and the great promotions your business has. This is the same logic you need to use when it comes to social media. Give your followers things to talk about. You will want to make sure that the things that you post on your social media profiles are things that will create conversations and keep your followers coming back.
- Outsourcing – Outsourcing can be great for things that your business doesn’t have the man power to handle. Many small business owners will say they definitely do not have the man power to keep up with multiple social media pages. However, it is important that you do not outsource your social media updates because relationships can not be outsourced. Business relationships are exactly what your social media profiles are building. Many small online businesses make the mistake at viewing interaction on social media as nothing more than potential customers. What they actually are is potential business relationships that can help you take your business to the next level. Don’t believe me? Just look at the reach each of your followers have. Then think about the potential of having something you post go viral.
- No Magic in Social Media – Much like search engine optimization, small business owners think that by starting a social media marketing campaign that their business will automatically grow. Social Media marketing much like SEO has the potential to help you grow your business exponentially but this does not magically occur. It takes a lot of work and time. It is a marathon and not a sprint.
- Overloaded – Do not become overloaded by signing up with so many social media platforms that it would take an army of staffers to keep up to date with them. Signup for the popular ones first such as Facebook, Twitter, Google +, etc. Your social media accounts are worthless unless you can keep it up to date.
- Do One Thing At a Time – Do not go and sign up for all your accounts at once and then try to update it all at once. Each of your accounts will take on its own personality. So do not try to place the same update across all social media accounts. All platforms are different. Besides that, when you post the same thing across multiple platforms you are causing people who are following you across multiple platforms to see duplicate profiles.
- Vary Your Posts – Do not just post statements but vary it up by posting things like photos, videos, Memes, etc. This will keep people interested in checking back to see what it is that your posting. This will also likely increase likes, shares, etc. which it turns gives you a bigger reach.
- Social Media Marketing Does Not Work On Its Own – Many small business owners only use one source of online marketing and it simply does not work. A lot of time they choose to go with social media marketing because it is cheaper then wonder why their online marketing is not producing a high return on investment that other companies report. You can start with social media marketing but this cannot be your only source of online marketing. To be successful you also must utilize things like search engine optimization and pay per click. Your online marketing campaign will never reach its maximum potential until you begin taking advantage of multiple forms online marketing.
- Keep Learning – Much like SEO, social media marketing is continue to change. This is a good thing as it is continually improving the way you can reach potential customers. However, this does mean that you must keep up with these changes. Never stop learning about trends, updates and possible future updates to give you a better idea how you can best market your online business.
These are all things that you must understand prior to starting any type of social media marketing campaign. Being successful with your social media marketing campaign is not as simple as it may seem. I mean if you have a Facebook page and get on and update it frequently you must be able to run a successful Facebook marketing campaign, correct? Wrong! It is much more difficult than that. You will need to engage people as well as give people things that they want to see. If you spend the time to learn how to accomplish this then you will undoubtly find success. Remember, do not try to sell with every post. Give your followers a reason to follow you. By giving them a reason to follow you, you will find that your social media websites will have a lot more interaction which in turn gives your business a lot more reach on the social media platforms.