Social Media Marketing How To
In the world we live in today, the competition for traffic has become so rampant. As each day passes, new bloggers join in this race to be seen by the vast majority and so it is left to you as a business owner to know how to keep yourself in competition and to stay ahead of your competitors. Even if you have been a top player in the competition i.e. you have a lot of daily visitors to your site and your page views keep increasing on a daily basis, only a wise website owner would know that success of yesterday cannot be replayed in future. Social Media Marketing can vault your business to the next level.
Site visitors are smarter these days, always demanding, have huge expectations and they need informative and valuable contents to make them come back to your site. Since your main aim is to get their attention, then a single visit to your site can never be enough. In order to get a huge return on investment in your online traffic generation, then your witness should witness increased sales and if that is not coming, at least you should have a low visitor’s bounce rate and your traffic should comprise mostly of people who have visited your site before. Fortunately for your business, social media offers you the various ways you need to get massive traffic to your site unlike SEO. However, you must not be led to believe that having a social media presence is the only thing your business needs to make it in the online world.
You must understand the various social media platforms and how they work and you must also understand that you need to work in order to achieve your aim of going into social media marketing which is branding yourself and increasing your revenue!
Social Media Marketing and Lead Generation
Social media has now grown to become one of the most trusted marketing means for any business in the world. It is now somewhat difficult to see a business that does not have Social Media Marketing incorporated into its marketing plan. As a business, you must ensure that you know how social media functions and you must ensure that you know how to launch an effective social media campaign if you must succeed on the internet. If you search the internet on ways to gain potential leads for your business and make more money, one of the most common answer you would get is that you should maximize the power of social media and this goes to describe that you can generate quality leads with social media marketing.
You must first know the concept of lead generation and this section would explain what lead is and how to generate leads with social media.
In any online marketplace, a lead could be defined as any visitor to your site or if you need a more precise definition, a lead is any person who is interested in your company and so contacts you to inquire about your products and services. Whichever way you choose to define it, social media marketing can be a very effective means to meet these types of people.
Social media is not just the platform, social media can be said to be any type of media or content that you post on your various social media platform. Most people do not really know the real definition of social media but the real definition is that it is any type of media that can be shared, commented on, shared, linked to or any type of media that becomes more popular depending on how people are interested in it. Most of these media can be Informative posts, videos, unique audios, graphics and any other thing that people can see or hear with the help of gadgets ranging from Computers, Mobile Phones etc.
Social Media Marketing Platforms
There are various platforms that you can use to achieve your Social media marketing goal. However, for the purpose of this article, we shall be discussing 3 vital platforms that you can use to gain massive traffic to your site.
These platforms are:
Facebook Marketing
Ever since the wonderful social media website called Facebook has been invented, more marketers have used this platform as one of the efficient tools for marketing their brands and getting their products to a larger audience. This is because a vast majority of people in the world today are registered on this platform and they are always looking for quality and valuable information on a daily basis through this platform.
Because of this, it is important for marketers not to leave any task undone in ensuring that more and more people come to their site. In this page, you will learn how posting ads on Facebook can help you to make more revenue and also grow your business. This article will also give you some tips, tools and strategies that you can apply in order to get the attention of a large number of people to your page. According to a survey carried out, it was noted that a single ad posted on Facebook gives an average of 14% return on investment which is far beneficial when compared to the traditional marketing means of hoarding, billboard displays etc. This survey also shows that most people who access Facebook do it with the help of their mobile phones and this was known because the click through rates (CTR) on mobile phones was 2 times higher than the CTR on desktop. This alone is enough to prove to you the wonders that advertising on Facebook can do and how it can help you to drive massive traffic to your site.
As a small business, you have every reason to be happy because Facebook is the main vehicle your business needs to drive in massive sales. Facebook’s graph search system also works a lot of wonders because with this, you as a marketer can evaluate how your product is doing on Facebook. The Facebook graph search helps us to create fans and also get them engaged to a larger extent.
Another major thing is engaging. You must always bear it in mind that engaging your audience is the best way to keep them coming to your site. For instance if your Facebook page is all about travel, and you share informative and interesting posts like Things to know before travelling, how to get cheap flight tickets, The things to do and not to do when travelling and other informative posts, you would likely keep your audience engaged and you would notice that they would always come back for more. Another means of keeping your customers engaged is to share your personal experience and then give your audience travelling tips that they have never heard from anywhere before. This would help your audience come back for more because every human is always looking for real information that can help them in their daily life.
How to Create a Facebook FanPage
1) How to Choose your Fanpage Username
Though many people take this as a simple task, it actually takes a little thought. You must ensure that the name you choose will be your name and must be related to how people will search you on the internet. Choose your business name or a name that your customers can associate with you because one of the reasons why you are creating a fan page is to ensure that you can be found by customers otherwise, it is a fruitless effort.
2) Set up your Facebook page.
This task again sounds very simple and though you may be right to think that, you still have to put a little thought into it. You have to ensure that your page looks as professional as it can get. You must be careful not to have any misspellings or grammatical blunders on your profile. You must also add as much information as you can add about your business. It is also important that everything you share on your page makes sense and is very useful to your target audience. You can also share your business motto, website, address, contact numbers and any other information that you feel may be useful to your customers. You can also share photos about events in your company. People love to view photos and so having photos on your page keep your audience more engaged. You must also add descriptions to your pictures.
3) Get people to like your page.
This again is another simple step but it actually takes a lot of work. You must ensure that you advertise your Facebook page in your monthly newsletters to subscribers, in your office and even on your website. You can also tell your friends and family members about it and also encourage them to like the page and ensure you tell them that they can also share it with their friends. You may also consider organizing a contest or giving prices to anybody that likes your Facebook page. These prices can range from a free coupon, a free sample or even offering a discount to any customer who likes your page.
4) Post content to your Facebook page.
This step is as important as anything as your Facebook page is as good as dead if you do not post valuable contents on it. You can post informative contents for your fans and tell them about sales or special offers. You must also share posts about the uses of your products and the benefits people would derive from using them. You can also try to set up a special sales page for your Facebook fans only where you can offer them special discounts. This will ensure that you grow your fan base. You can also ask questions about how people feel about your products and also get your fans to respond. Always ensure that you take part in the conversation always. You cannot use a Facebook fan page without getting involved with your customers. You must answer questions and also be able to clear the air on issues about your product that your fans are not clear about. Your followers must see you as a real person and not just as a business. Always remember that one of the reasons why people come to Facebook is to catch fun and also get entertained.
Twitter Marketing
Twitter is an online social media platform that gives you the opportunity to communicate with your “followers” in a message that is of 140 words or less. The advent of twitter has really taken the internet by storm as over a thousand new users sign up on this platform daily.
Twitter has become one of the major social media platforms where people can get information about anything. One can easily log in to his or her twitter account and get a hold of happenings around the world. At the early stage of twitter, most people did not understand how it worked and so they didn’t place much value on it but as the day passes, people have gotten to know that once they understand it, they can get addictive to the platform.
While there are countless reasons why you need to get your business on twitter, there are also so many benefits associated with the platform and the most of all is that, Twitter has a lot of fun to offer. Though, not every business owner likes Twitter but if you want to get your business to a larger audience, gain quality leads which results into making more money, then you need to start tweeting right away.
Using twitter as one of your business marketing means can help you drive website traffic towards your business goals at a faster pace than you can ever imagine.
Unlike the Traditional marketing means which requires creating an opt in page in order to gain leads, twitter offers a better and more effective means of getting leads and making more money without going through this stress. On twitter, once you get people to follow you, you can send them any form of messages you want to simply by tweeting them. You need not to worry about getting double opt-ins or any other issues related with a squeeze page. Using twitter for your business can help you grow your business faster and your web page can really witness a huge boost in traffic within a short while which means you are going to make more money.
Creating a Twitter Business Account
Organizations are increasingly using twitter as a means of communicating with their customers and if you have not started to reap the benefits associated with twitter marketing, it is high time you started and the first step is to create a professional twitter account for your business. Though the task of creating a twitter account is somewhat simple, deciding on the style of your account is an important marketing decision you must make. Most companies use twitter to post official announcements and vital information.
However, a twitter account which is strictly devoted to posting company information may not be of interest to followers and so it is important that you maximize the power of 140 words to give out entertaining and informative tweets that would make your customers click on any link you have added to the tweets.
The following are tips to follow so that you can create a professionally looking Twitter Business account.
- You have to first decide the style of the twitter account you want to create. While some businesses use twitter to broadcast news and information related to the company, others use their twitter accounts to personally connect with customers and also keep their followers informed about latest developments in the industry.
- Take a quick visit to Twitter’s website at twitter.com and then create a twitter account for your organization by clicking on the yellow button.
- Complete the Twitter sign up form by choosing a username for the account you are creating. You must ensure that you choose a username that can be related to your company or a username that clearly defines the goals of your account on Twitter.
- Check your e-mail to verify your twitter account and to complete the sign up process. All you need to do is to open the e-mail twitter sends you and then click on the confirmation link that was sent to you.
- After confirmation, log in to your twitter account and then begin tweeting. You should also ensure that you respond to messages and do all you can to build a list of followers. You can try various ways of using your company’s twitter account beyond posting Official Announcements. You can also use twitter to respond to complaints relating to your company and also keep up with latest trends in your industry. Your twitter account can also be used to reward your customers and also keep them engaged.
Pinterest Marketing
Pinterest is one of the newly developed social media platforms that have succeeded in establishing itself as an intelligent and effective means of passing out ideas and images that people are so interested in. The main concept behind the invention of Pinterest can be found in the found in the name of the network which if expanded means Pinning interest i.e. pinning stuffs that people are very interested in and are so passionate about. On Pinterest, your profile looks like a Pinboard where you can gather, organize and share items with your friends and followers.
Pinterest is not just about sharing your latest products and services; it is also about sharing things that are of so much interest to you. One thing that has made Pinterest as a social media platform succeed despite the fact that it is still new when compared to Google+ and Facebook is that we as individuals have a lot of things that interest us and our personalities and so Pinterest with the help of the interest gives us a platform where we can bring people who have similar interests all over the world together under one umbrella.
When you take the bold step to have a social media presence for your business, you must first take into consideration why you want to do it and how the social media works. The internet is not restricted to boundaries, time zones, geographical locations, social restrictions or even cultural background. The social media helps to bring people of like minds together to interact and share ideas under one platform with the help of the internet, otherwise the opportunity to meet people of similar interests may not be possible.
As a business, you must develop a plan to promote your brand on Pinterest. Before you choose to go with the crowd and then launch your business on Pinterest, you need to first decide why you are going into it and if it is what your business really needs. Do not go into Pinterest marketing because you have heard of others who have recorded huge successes with it. In order to succeed on Pinterest as a business, you as a business owner must be smart, you must also be very inspired and you must have an idea of how to use the platform.
You can choose to start with your business foundation. Ask yourself questions like; what do I sell? Does my brand inspire people? Are they interested in my products? You have to ask yourself these questions because the main foundation of the Pinterest platform is real inspiration, interest and delight. There is absolutely no need why you should Pin stuffs that people are not interested in and delighted about because without interest, there can never be sales. And another thing you should note is that most Pinterest users are not always there to buy. Most of them come there to get inspired and to get a brand new look on the world, and if by the slightest chance your products and services do not do this for them, they will immediately move on. However, if they can get these things through your products and services, they will be compelled to click on your links and read more about you.
The Benefits of Using Pinterest
While most business owners are building social media campaigns on popular social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, you can quickly go a step ahead of them by getting your business on Pinterest. This is because most people overlook the huge benefits that Pinterest can provide for business marketing.
With a monthly traffic of about 13 million people, Pinterest has become a rendezvous point for many users and is not limited to a specified demography. As a business owner, Internet marketer, Pinterest is one of the sites you should be taking advantage of and this is because it provides your business with numerous benefits.
Some of the benefits are:
• Increased Product Awareness
If you do not know this by now, then it is important you know this right now. Pinterest is mainly a photo content website which means that whenever you are interacting as a business, you should ensure that you post images that are related to your business philosophy. The most important of all these images are the products and services that your business sells. The images on your Pin board will allow you to advertise your products and services to audiences who may or may not have heard of your business which ends up increasing your business exposure as well as exposing your products to a larger audience. However, the success of the pinned images can only be achieved based on the type of products your business sells. It must be noted that about 80% of the Pinterest are women and so if your target audience is women, you have a chance of getting people to be interested in your images than when your images are aimed at a male populace.
• Increased Traffic
Once you have succeeded in creating interest through users who come in contact with the images on your Pin board, the next thing to do is to try to turn the interests on your images into traffic for your website. If your Pinterest follower like an image, they may want to purchase it and so you must ensure that you have a call to action page that would grant your Pinterest followers access to your main website. One of the ways to achieve this is by placing the necessary links in the image description.
This means that if any Pinterest user likes the way your image looks, they can click straight and be directed to your website which will allow them to purchase the product of their interest. Your traffic generating activity should not only be limited to your images. If you discover that you are having regular followers on your Pin images, it means that the followers may want to know more about you so it important that you have all your business details on your Pinterest profile page. These details include but not limited to your name, business logo, motto/slogan, and contact information like phone number, e-mail address, website address and even office address for those who may want to meet you physically. The more information you provide them with, the more you are able to convert your followers from image viewers to constant purchasers.
• Overall Reach
When your followers view the images you have placed on your pin board and they like it, they have the option to share it with people of like mind simply by repining on their own Pin board. This means that when you post images of interest, your images would not only be seen by your followers, it would also be seen by people who also follow your followers. And this can greatly help your business because of the type of exposure it gives your Products and services. Your product is circulated all over the platform and this gives you a chance of getting daily traffic and making more sales. Posting images of interest means your images would be constantly repined which helps to increase your business exposure within a short period.
• Increase Sales
While you want people to buy your products through your website, you can also take advantage of Pinterest and try to make some sales through Shopinterest which is a shopping store on Pinterest. Though this may not be the ideal way to make sales as you would prefer to make it via your website, it is a way of getting followers who are hesitant to leave the Pinterest page to make some purchases.
Posting images of interest should not only be limited to your Pinterest account. You should ensure that everywhere you post contents; you must have a unique image most especially on your website. Images add beauty to contents and since every individual loves beautiful things, you can people to be engaged on your site. Always ensure that whatever image you post is of a high quality and the images must be of a standard that you as a businessman will expect any business to have.
I hope you have been able to learn all about Social Media Marketing. Be sure to take full advantage of social media marketing in your advertising strategy today and watch your business grow rapidly.
