Many companies are asking, “What is the easiest way into the social media marketing arena.” Truth is, there is no “easy way.” Like everything else, it takes careful planning and hard work or you’re simply wasting your money on a marketing channel that can produce some pretty remarkable results.
There are basically four different ways for you to connect with your customers on social media – at least ways that have proven effective. Everyone knows that the main social media services are Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, and they’re the building blocks you need to build our social media campaign.
YouTube is the place to showcase your videos. Slowly, it’s replacing traditional TV advertising, and you don’t need a huge budget to make it work. Once a viral video is posted, you can hope for huge exposure if you’ve put together something that resonates with your target audience.
Facebook is where to go if you want to build an audience. But you can’t simply ask people to “like” your page or company. You have to be creative and offer something in the way of entertainment in return. Otherwise, why should someone “like you?” It’s the old, “what have you done for me?” So be innovative – use custom games, develop apps or contests to keep people stuck on your page – and coming back again and again. Yes – it takes time, and money. But we’re talking about 750 million (yes, million!) users – which makes Facebook the largest social network in the world. That’s something you simply can’t ignore.
If you have a company that sells a service or product – start using “crowdsourcing.” Those are those daily deal sites like Groupon and LivingSocial that help to bring tons of people to your business to buy. Yes, you have to provide a deep discount to entice them, but hopefully some of those customers will stay with you after the deal is over.
While most people think of Twitter as a way to engage in business networking and job-hunting, it’s a great tool for business marketing as well. Pretend that your company is a person – and start talking to your customers. And talk. And have conversations – and listen to what they’re saying. You’ll be surprised to see how far you can take this to build a customer base.
The more traditional marketing approach is a one-way street – you talk, and hopefully customers listen. The social media approach is a two-way street – engage customers, and if you participate in the conversation, it’ll have a major impact on your marketing – and your bottom lie!
There are basically four different ways for you to connect with your customers on social media – at least ways that have proven effective. Everyone knows that the main social media services are Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, and they’re the building blocks you need to build our social media campaign.
YouTube is the place to showcase your videos. Slowly, it’s replacing traditional TV advertising, and you don’t need a huge budget to make it work. Once a viral video is posted, you can hope for huge exposure if you’ve put together something that resonates with your target audience.
Facebook is where to go if you want to build an audience. But you can’t simply ask people to “like” your page or company. You have to be creative and offer something in the way of entertainment in return. Otherwise, why should someone “like you?” It’s the old, “what have you done for me?” So be innovative – use custom games, develop apps or contests to keep people stuck on your page – and coming back again and again. Yes – it takes time, and money. But we’re talking about 750 million (yes, million!) users – which makes Facebook the largest social network in the world. That’s something you simply can’t ignore.
If you have a company that sells a service or product – start using “crowdsourcing.” Those are those daily deal sites like Groupon and LivingSocial that help to bring tons of people to your business to buy. Yes, you have to provide a deep discount to entice them, but hopefully some of those customers will stay with you after the deal is over.
While most people think of Twitter as a way to engage in business networking and job-hunting, it’s a great tool for business marketing as well. Pretend that your company is a person – and start talking to your customers. And talk. And have conversations – and listen to what they’re saying. You’ll be surprised to see how far you can take this to build a customer base.
The more traditional marketing approach is a one-way street – you talk, and hopefully customers listen. The social media approach is a two-way street – engage customers, and if you participate in the conversation, it’ll have a major impact on your marketing – and your bottom lie!
