These days, many brands are using a social marketing tool, like Facebook or Twitter, to push their marketing messages out to their waiting public.
People who use Facebook and Twitter find much of their activity on these social networks involves uniting with their colleagues, classmates, family members and loved ones.
They also find themselves clicking on ads, posting comments on the walls of brands they love, and sharing about brands they enjoy (or have a problem with). These social networking sites have changed the face of marketing and made it more personal, more intimate, ultimately–more social!
Social media marketing has proven to be a valuable tool and time investment for countless businesses all over the world.
You, too, can take advantage of the traffic online on a daily basis by creating a Twitter account and Facebook fan page. According to the recent study done by Facebook, more than 20 million individuals “like” Facebook pages every day. In addition, Facebook has acquired more than 5.3 million people who simply “like” the idea of Facebook pages (eg. Facebook’s own page about their pages has 5.3 million likes).
The markets are out there, they are engaging with brands and services, and, creating a Facebook fan page and Twitter account is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to capturing your share of them. Start with the social marketing tool that you’re most comfortable with, and go from there.
Read on to learn necessary steps to increasing your ROI for time & effort spent in social media marketing.
Be Relevant to Your Market
In order to attract your targeted audience, you have to resonate with them. You have to attract them with ideas, comments, reports, data, products, services and/or opportunities that speak to their needs & desires, and view of the world.
To get the most out of any social marketing tool, you have to think like your audience! Chances are good that YOU are NOT your audience. So, get out of your shoes and into theirs when you fire up your Twitter and Facebook.
- Make a list of your target audience’s key problems (that you can solve) and needs they think they have (that your product provides).
- Write catchy and interesting content that speaks to solving their problems and meeting their stated needs.
Famous internet marketer, Frank Kern says, “Give your best stuff away.” That’s because they’ll want more of you if you do and you’ll build tremendous trust by doing so. And who do people buy from? People and brands they trust.
Content relevance and quality is The Most Important Thing that must be considered by every social media manager. Of course, your content needs to be significant to the topic you are actually dealing with and the interests of your business. More importantly, however, it should provide value to your viewers and be relevant and important to THEM. If they don’t care, or you don’t speak to THEM, they are not going to come to you when they’re ready to part with their money.
Use Videos
Using video can be an extremely effective social marketing tool. To become valuable, the videos you create, or find, must catch your reader’s attention in the first 10 seconds. So get creative.
- Don’t lose the overall plot, but take advantage of the 3D nature of video (sound, picture & motion).
- Video creation can be easy by using sites like Wave.video, Animoto, Veed.io, and InVideo. (Tell us about your favorite video creation and editing sites, in comments below, especially if they have a free component).
- You can even use a PowerPoint presentation. Using Jing, Camtasia, or Screenflow (for mac) among a variety of other software programs (please add your resources in the comments below), you can turn your presentation into a fabulous and engaging video.
- Title your videos in a way that either indicates a benefit for your audience or creates curiosity.
If your videos authentically represent you or your product and offer high value or entertainment to your audience, your market will willingly — and quickly — become fans.
- The best promotional videos are under three minutes long.
- If your market desires information and training, then teach them something on your video.
- If your market includes early adopters of technology, push the envelope a little bit and try something edgy.
- If your market is non-technical, keep your video non-technical.
- Remember, you must speak to your audience, not to yourself!
Stay Fresh
Another way to improve both your social media accounts is to stay up-to-date with new features and tools. Even though uploading videos and photos is vital, it is also crucial to upgrade your accounts from time to time. You need to add different applications, expand discussions, and offer landing pages with new free content (white papers, ebooks, video, tools, and resources). If your visitors come back to the same old thing time after time, they will soon realize that you are not as engaged as they are– and they’ll disappear. It can be as simple as ensuring a new blog post every few days, or staying on top of industry news. What’s important is that you don’t stagnate.
Not sure what your audience is interested in? Try “listening” first to find out what are their challenges and what they are responding to. Do some sleuthing. That’s right, go to their profile pages, if you can see their interactions you may very well learn what matters most to them. Visit your competition and find out what’s working for them. Blog about what you see. Post surveys and polls and ASK THEM what they want. Check in and get your visitors’ responses to your accounts on a regular basis. And then USE those responses to give them what they want.
Connect
It is not enough to simply create valuable and engaging content. You have to connect to your audience. It is essential that your viewers believe there is a real person–that they can trust–behind the content.
- Upload photos of different events of your business, and the people in your business. Keep them fresh & interesting.
- Ask them to share their similar stories, photos and videos on your Facebook fan page wall. (Make sure your settings allow your viewers to comment on your photos and upload their own photos.)
- Ask them to comment on your blog — give them specific ideas to comment about.
- Get personal! Share a story about your dog, or let them know if you had a particularly rough day (don’t get too negative, just let them know you’re human, too).
- Talk about your favorite things, and invite them to share theirs. “Favorites” can be very revealing and give you great ideas for future promotions.
Add a variety of applications to your accounts that encourage visitors to be more communicative and interactive. It is worth every cent you spend for your company to grow so make sure to create a valuable and engaging content.
The more engaged and connected you are to your audience, the more they will reciprocate.
You can’t sit idly by and hope they come to you. Make the first move, be the brave one –your efforts will pay off!
