Social Media Marketing 101

Does your business have a strong social media presence?

Are you actively landing new clients or customers due to your social media?

Many businesses nowadays still don’t have a social media marketing plan. Or if they do have a few social media accounts set up for their business, they’re not driving much traffic.

Love it or hate it, social media is here to stay. It can help promote brand awareness, increase top-line revenue, and drive new customers to your front door. Social media marketing should be viewed as a tool that can supplement your other marketing efforts.

Having a strong, active, and engaging social media account doesn’t happen overnight.

You need to build trust with your audience. Give people a reason to look forward to your next Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram post.

We’re going to show you a few things that you can do to help improve the quality of your social media accounts and eventually drive new traffic, leads, and sales.

Set Goals

Before you rush out and claim your Twitter username, think about what goals you want to accomplish. Are you out to:

• Build a better public image for your business?
• Increase customer retention?
• Provide better customer service?
• Increase website sales/traffic?

Which goal(s) that you select will ultimately dictate how you run your social media campaign. For example, if you want to use your social media accounts to provide better customer service, then you’re going to need to figure out a way to let your customers and clients know that you have a social media account.

You can accomplish this in one of several ways. Most businesses will put their social media URL’s on the “Contact Us” page of their website. Some will even have them printed up on various marketing collateral such as sell sheets, business cards, and temporary signs.

Which Social Media is Right for You?

Go where your audience is. Where do your ideal clients and customers hang out on the internet? This is where most businesses mess up. They fixate upon one social media account for this reason or that. The truth is that there is no “right” social media platform to join. Look to where your customers are and go there.

For example, Twitter is a great way to manage customer service and business development. You can easily monitor and manage customer service via your company Twitter account. Best of all, you can download the Twitter app to your cell phone and handle customer service or requests for quotes even when you’re not in the office.

But when it comes time to promote your business visually with images and videos, perhaps Instagram or Pinterest might be better.

Content is King

A significant reason why many company social media accounts fail is because business owners use it to promote themselves. While it may seem counter-intuitive, you can’t promote your business ad nauseam on social media.

People in this day and age have grown weary of commercials and advertisements. They’re bombarded with them on every single website they visit. There’s no quicker way to lose the interest of a social media follower than by trying to sell them something online.

Your social media posts should offer value to your readers and viewers. For example, if you’re a plumber, you can create a short informational video about how to unclog a stuck toilet.

While it may seem like you’re putting yourself out of a job by offering free helpful advice, you’re actually giving value to your readers and coming off as an expert. This way, whenever they encounter a toilet clog they can’t fix (or any plumbing issue for that matter), their thoughts will naturally turn to you.

By creating unique and engaging content, you’re actively adding value and giving people a reason to follow your business on social media. There are several kinds of content that you can create that people will find useful:

Guides

Guides will help establish you and your business as the thought leader in your niche.

Infographics

Infographics will be shared, emailed, and retweeted by your audience. Several websites give you the tools to make your own professional-looking infographics.

Videos

Videos captivate anyone who watches them. It gives your audience a candid glimpse into your business, your employees, and most importantly: you. Videos are a powerful way to get your marketing message out there.

Best of all, you don’t need tens of thousands of dollars of professional video equipment. Technology has advanced to the point where a simple webcam is all that you need to make a great-looking video.

Blog Posts

Targeted, persuasive, and engaging blog posts offer tremendous value. Aside from residing on your blog and making you look like the industry expert that you are, blog posts can be shared via email, lead magnets, and they tend to rank well in the organic search results.

Social Media Marketing for 2019

At Adapting Online, we can help you come up with a cohesive and intelligently created social media campaign that will drive traffic, views, and ultimately sales. We stay one step ahead of the latest tactics and trends, so you can focus on running your business and leave the social media marketing to us!

If you’re struggling to get your company, social media accounts off the ground, or would just like some advice, give us a call at (512) 993-9993 or contact us via our website.