Marketing must constantly adapt to new technologies. And although social media is already well established in the landscape, many companies have not yet made the habit of using it or have not yet considered the question. Here’s our guide to getting them started.
1. What is Social Media Marketing?
This is a type of marketing that takes place on social media platforms. As you might expect, this notion includes a wide variety of activities that have only social media in common. So if you want to promote a blog or organize a recruitment campaign, and if it is done in connection with Facebook or Twitter, that is social media marketing. You can contact Social Media Marketing Services Company.
In fact, most of the strategies adopted on social media are not exclusive or revolutionary – they are simply adapting old recipes to new types of media.
2. Should You Do Social Media Marketing?
Doing social media marketing has become a must for all kinds of businesses and organizations. Social media gives you access to a huge audience through free or paid advertising, an audience that you can shape and grow yourself.
Of course, in reality, all this is not really “free”. Indeed, someone is supposed to spend some time posting on social platforms, but it is possible to work miracles even with very limited time.
Social media marketing doesn’t work for everyone, and it would be a mistake to see it as an easy and inexpensive way to make money. The most successful strategies take into account the company’s planning and are integrated into its overall strategy. Different companies, different approaches. But we will come back to it.
The bottom line is that social media marketing holds vast possibilities for most businesses, even if it’s not just about posting a few posts to boost sales.
What benefits can I get from social media marketing?
As we said, there are many strategies, and the results depend on which ones you adopt. Here is an overview of the main advantages of social media marketing:
It provides the company with fast customer service for users located in all corners of the planet.
It creates new opportunities to sell and promote your products. It promotes your brand and builds customer loyalty. It allows you to promote your own content in order to reach new users, without breaking the bank. It communicates your corporate culture and facilitates recruitment processes.
Even though these strategies help your business become more profitable, sales won’t multiply overnight. Instead, see social media as a solid foundation that your business can rely on at all times.
Where to start?
The first thing to do is to define your approach by drawing up a list of objectives to be achieved. As we’ve said before, your approach to social media will depend entirely on your company.
For example, a business that has a product to sell and a charity will develop different approaches. Broadly speaking, here are ideas a business and nonprofit might have.
Here is a summary of the main aspects of social media marketing:
What you shouldn’t post
There are plenty of examples of companies, big or small, tweeting an inappropriate message and then biting their fingers. Whether it’s a bad joke or a poorly worded opinion, social media can be a double-edged sword if you’re not careful.
There are no exact rules on what type of posts to avoid. Again, this is up to you and your business. Humorous web pages can be as offbeat as they want, they always land on their feet even when they push the envelope too far. This is not necessarily the case for your business.
Think about the style of your brand. There’s nothing stopping you from posting jokes and memes, as long as it’s relevant to you and your audience. Social media are sometimes the scene of small provocations, but often the game is not worth the candle.
Sit down and meditate on the following. Make sure the person writing your posts is fully aware of the reputation the company has built and is keen to maintain. Make a list of topics to ban. And do not write in stone the operation of your customer service, in order to keep a good flexibility of reaction.
Also, don’t just spam your followers by sending them links to buy your products. We don’t go on Twitter to window shop, although that doesn’t mean we don’t indulge ourselves once in a while.
There’s nothing wrong with posting a few sales posts here and there, but think about your message above all. Arouse the curiosity of the public about your product rather than shoving them in front of them all the time hoping that they will pull out their credit card.
Understand the platforms
We are not going to review all the platforms, it is up to you to find out what works and how. The formulas are multiple, as are the audiences. A good word can hit home on Twitter, but for LinkedIn, it’s better to have concrete messages based on specific advice.
Learn about the algorithms of the different platforms and spend some time on each to get an idea of how they work.
Tailor your posts the right way to get better engagement, higher traffic, and sustained interest.
Set up appropriate customer service
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Customer service deserves a chapter. Too often companies undermine their reputation by not taking social media complaints seriously or by making fun of them.
Social media gives us quick and easy access to businesses. No need to make a phone call, and no need to go to the post office. Just go to their Facebook page to complain – and everyone has access to the result. Nothing to do with what was done before.
The relationship with your audience is essential. Sure, the complaint may be unfair and baseless, but you still need to engage with users in a professional manner.
Putting them back in their place would serve no purpose, and instead tend to draw attention to your business for the wrong reasons.
Our guide to social media customer service will give you more guidance on this.
Build community organically
This is one of the hardest things to achieve if you’re not a big, recognized brand. There is no simple method, but rather a panoply of various means.
You will need to arm yourself with patience.
Take your time and do it the right way: eventually you’ll have an audience that really engages with you.
– Create content that people are likely to share and that will be seen by users beyond your network.
– Be a useful referrer for people who use your products and services.
Let users know, via other means of communication, that you are present on social channels.
– Talk about other people’s content, not just your own, and build relationships with them.
– Always remain interesting or useful.