The day of darkness is no longer a challenge to overcome. Social media marketing (SMM) It has eliminated the concept of obscurity or the need for feverish marketing strategies among the who’s who in the business or professional yellow pages.
Participation in social media can help you retain customers, find and develop new ones, and manage your business reputation, among other benefits. SMM as a new addition to your traditional marketing method is not at all similar to buying the latest fashion accessory. If that’s the approach or mindset you take, then it’s like marching with a loud band with your new trumpet, you just have no idea how to play it let alone harmonize and make music! To get started, you may need to take trumpet lessons.
The importance of having an SMM strategy
Taking the time to put together your social media marketing (SMM) strategy is the only place to start this new journey. Crafting a winning social media marketing strategy is one of the least expensive but most effective ways to attract business and increase profits. However, don’t jump into Tweeting just because everyone else is. A LinkedIn profile alongside your competitor’s won’t give you anything without a strategy. At this point he deals with the “how” and not the “what”.
An action plan (how to) to achieve your goal is your strategy. It is a military terminology and implies life or death. You develop a strategy to win. Without a strategy, you enter the arena expecting life or death, having no idea what to expect. With a strategy, you work your way to your desired goal.
First steps: 6 dimensions to consider when developing a strategy
There are some parameters that you need to identify to form a good strategy. You can get an idea of these by answering the following questions that deal with each dimension you need to consider.
- Why do you want to enter this arena (social networks)? Three possible reasons can be: a) raise awareness b) increase sales c) brand promotion. Focus on one of those aspects. At this point, you should be aware that without knowledge you will not achieve sales and brand advocates are loyal repeat buyers.
- What is your position regarding your potential audience today? a) Nowhere b) aware c) unique customers d) regulars e) advocates or fans. To get started, focus on two adjacent criteria. Build your strategy around these two: How will you get from A to B or from B to C?
- How will your target audience use social networks on the Internet, what are their interests in the media? This will depend on your age group, interests, and other patterns of social behavior. Young people love contests, giveaways, and giveaways. Plan how you can incorporate these interests into your rewards programs.
- What is your USP (Unique Selling Proposition)? This does not mean product characteristics. This means ‘the only thing that makes your company unique’. Define it and coin a word that speaks volumes and attracts attention. This may be your first step towards creating your brand. Once you figure this out, get a trademark or copyright to your brand identity. The author of this article once used the USP shown here for one of his sites: “Turn your website into an online television.“The idea was to differentiate your business from other web design firms by focusing on the use of online video. What is the USP of your firm?
- How will you nurture your engagement on social media in real time? Social media is all about developing relationships with people with the goal of gaining brand advocates to ultimately increase revenue. Your person plays a vital role here. Give them a human face to interact with.
- What will your monitoring tools be? Keeping track of all the online conversations about you or your brand is vital. Invest in one of the many tracking tools available online. Tracking web traffic, conversions, and repeat buyers are all part of this. Set up your key metrics to measure your success, too. Most of these tools are available for free.
Benefits you can expect
The benefits of social media marketing are many and multi-directional. You can earn multiple benefits at once if you make a sincere effort to participate and become a part of the online community. In fact, newbie small businesses thrive on these popular social media sites. By keeping your strategies in place, you can progress toward enjoying the following benefits.
Advertise!
This is your opportunity to tell the world about your business, why you are unique, and what you can offer them. Most of these social networks are absolutely free to join. You can provide a link to your main website, blogs, and other online presence. By linking with others, you automatically get an opening in their network of friends and acquaintances. It’s best to start your social media presence with LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.
Reduce costs, increase revenue
In financial terms that business bosses like to hear, there are two main benefits that a social media engagement can have on your business. Social media marketing can stimulate growth by creating a large sales funnel in terms of leads, conversion rates, customer accounts, sales per customer, and revenue, while reducing your overhead in terms of marketing, advertising, customer turnover, etc.
Develop a dialogue with the consumer
SMM will attract, help understand and respond to your target audience or potential customers. This type of public expression is widely seen on blogs, social media, wiki articles, and other web 2.0-based media. It’s important to foster a dialogue where you actively listen to what your consumers are saying as you interact with them on their latest offers or products.
Quick results
If your press release or announcements appear on the front page of some social networks like StumbleUpon or Digg, you can expect thousands of visits to your site. However, it is important to remember that generated traffic is not the same as conversions.
Friends who become fans
Social media sites like Facebook are an example of how you can take advantage of your huge list of friends online who will agree to be your advocates or fans promoting your business to your friends and acquaintances. People prefer to buy from a company that others recommend rather than a faceless entity.
Overcome the ineffectiveness of online ads
A blog that is constantly updated with helpful, easy-to-read material that is relevant to your business and links to your main business website will overcome the burden of ineffective ads you pay for to gain visibility.
SEO benefits
The higher the number of backlinks and links to your website on the web, the higher your ranking in search engines. So having a presence on most of the social media sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, StumbleUpon, Twitter, etc. can get SEO benefits. However, it is important to develop an online following through community involvement.
The corporate world has only just begun to scratch the surface of the power of the internet and social media in marketing. The stage is set and now is the time to plan and enter the SMM arena. With your unique strategy, you will be far ahead of your competitors and others who enter blind because it is in the news and everywhere on the Internet, where it is talked about.
Be prepared and you’ll attract prospects and grow your market base long before halftime, reaping several benefits during this momentous hour in marketing history. To get started, contact Trump University about webinars and webinars on internet marketing and online branding. Take action today and join the universe of social media and online promotion.