Social Media
Social media plays an key role in influencing sales online, and even if your company isn’t participating – you’re probably still part of the conversation, and mind as well join in. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn & Instagram still take a backseat to other digital marketing channels for most companies, but in many cases, that’s only because they don’t fully understand how to best interact with their audience on social media. You wouldn’t speak to potential clients at a dinner in company slogans that you’d see on a billboard – so you shouldn’t talk to your audience on social media as if it’s a one-to-many relationship, because it can be much more personal than that.
With social media, you have the ability to speak to your potential customers and current clients just as you would in person. Save the slogans for billboards and TV commercials, and create social messaging that talks directly to the people you want to be buying your products or services. Odds are, if they’re on one of your social media accounts, they already know what you offer and speak the language of your industry – at least to some extent. Make sure to take that into account when creating posts and social media content for your company to encourage engagement and conversation amongst followers online.
There is a hidden value in having a strong social media presence for your company that most people don’t think about though. Most buyers will search for your company name on Google prior to making a purchase or even contacting the business. Active social media profiles will rank on the first page after your primary site and amongst other general company information. Staying active on social media allows you to control the majority of what users see when they search for your brand, rather than allowing other’s to control the conversation about your company.
Paying to Be Popular
Witty posts with trending hashtags isn’t the only way to get more followers for your business on social media. You can pay to be popular online – just like in real life! Paid social media advertising can help you grow your audience across your accounts, and notify your current followers when new sales launch or offers become available. Let’s be real. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn & Instagram are in business to make money too, and most of their revenue comes from advertising. Of course they’ll reward those who pay to be popular on social media.
But just as with any PPC marketing, it’s important to choose your audience carefully to avoid wasting budget on worthless clicks. Each social site has their own platform, with different targeting and messaging requirements for each. This can make management of multiple paid social accounts difficult when there is a larger digital marketing strategy to keep in mind. It also allows you to be extremely targeted with your paid media spend if the resources are available. Not everyone does, but there is one strategy that everyone can use.
Keeping In Touch with Old Friends
Not just talking about followers on Facebook or Twitter, but actually staying in front of your most qualified traffic at all times. Social media remarketing allows you to target users who have previously visited your website on the social platforms themselves. Potential customer from your area searched online earlier and clicked on your organic site result thanks to your SEO marketing efforts, but didn’t contact your company just yet because they want to do more research. Control the message by showing them ads when they’re on Facebook later that day, or when they check their Twitter feed after work hours.
Social media marketing strategies and tactics are included across a variety of the topics I write about in the articles below. Oh, and if you’re so inclined, share a link of your favorite article on your social accounts for me. Thanks!
