Social media is a journey, not a destination. Pairing it with small business marketing makes it a road trip that needs some street signs along the way. We at Suite 4 are always promoting the use of social sites and media postings to help elevate businesses to the next level. Many people know the basics of social posting. We want to share some of the positive aspects (the much needed street signs) that some may not think about when starting to plan their social interactions. These street signs will help small businesses understand how to navigate the long journey of social marketing and how to ensure success along the way.
One Way: Staying Connected
Social marketing allows for businesses to create and maintain relationships with current and potential customers. Through comments, likes, and messages in different media platforms you are able to keep these relationships interactive and exciting. Customers are more likely to use your company, share your media postings and be excited about your interaction if you are able to make it personable. This all falls into the Delight category of the Inbound marketing methodology.
Tourist Info Center: Instant Feedback
Along with social interaction with your customers, social sites also provide instant feedback. If a Facebook post got a lot of likes and interaction and a different post got none, then you are able to see what works and what doesn’t with your audience. Through the feedback your media gets, you are able to transform your postings and social presence to ensure that it is resonating with your audience in a successful way.
Thru Traffic Only: Inbound Links and Website Traffic
Businesses are able to generate website traffic through their own inbound links. By sharing links to a blog or a different social site you create more traffic through your social and Internet profiles. Including website links in your posts will help to turn social media followers into website customers. Social posting is able to generate leads and promote website traffic, both of which help to create new customers.
Speed Limit 140: Simple Humor in 140 Characters or Less
Humor aside, social posts are concise and help to get your point across to your audience. Rather than overwhelming an audience with a content heavy newsletter or email chain, social posts make sure that you are getting to the point and reaching your audience in the most productive manner.
View Point Next Exit: Visual Promotion
Posting images, videos and other graphics helps to get content noticed and read by followers or subscribers. Rather than having wordy text or overwhelming content, visual promotion helps to make the content more interactive and eye catching. Social sites allow for companies to post images of their products, or other visual additions to their wordy content. We love having interesting images or informative info graphics to go along with all of our content.
Main Street: SEO
The more active you are on your website and media, the better the chances are that you will be found through search engine. Social media gives businesses a chance to perfect their Search Engine Optimization. By adding words or phrases into a blog post that are highly search able, it increases the chance that your post will be found through a Google search. Rather than having a witty phrase, inserting “what to bring to the dentist” will help your post be found when those words are searched. Social posting is a smart and resourceful tool to use in order to have your business found.
School Zone Ahead: Target Audience
Facebook ads and other media outputs help to ensure that you are reaching your target audience. You can specify what towns, ages, genders, and other demographic groups will see your ads or postings. When you promote a page or a post you can target specific people to help ensure the success of your post. Facebook and other social sites allow you to see who your exact audience is. It can break down the age and gender of your followers and when they are most active. This information can help you know who to target through your postings and when you would be most successful.
Fresh Paint: Staying Up to Date
Being active on social sites and the overarching realm of the Internet allows users to stay up to date on world events and pop culture. Take a few extra minutes to read the Facebook news stories or other news updates. Staying relevant with world stories and pop culture happenings can help to create content in relation to what other people are reading. Thanks to social media, being relevant and in-the-know is easier than ever before.
Carpool Lane: Get People Talking
When you get interaction on your social site, whether it be a comment, message or a share, you are gaining free promotion. After entering into the Delight phase with your customers and maintaining a social dialogue, they are more likely to become your personal promoters. Every time someone shares your status, re-tweets your tweet or comments on a picture, you are being shared into their social circles.
Understanding all of the elements included in a media road trip helps to create a lasting impact on your audience.
Social media is a tool to help transform your small business and elevate your marketing to the next level. We have put together a check list to use every day to track your posting and keep on a consistent schedule.