Sometimes finding new and innovative ways of self-promotion is difficult. Thankfully, social media allows businesses to reach a greater number of customers than ever before. What follows are a few suggestions to get you started using social media.
Each blog post should include an option to share the content on Facebook or another social media site. By doing so, viewers of your blog can then on-share the post to their friends. This will exponentially increase the number of potential visitors to your website, and thus increase sales.
If you join a social media site, tell your existing customers that you have done so. This allows them to come into the 21st century with you. And this may also bring more of their friends. You should not underestimate the power of this free advertising. It is valuable because it is a referral.
Tie in all of the links you have in your social media sites together. Put links in place on your blog that allow readers to follow your Twitter comments, view your YouTube videos and “like” your Facebook page. Just using your Twitter profile alone, you can link to multiple sites. Linking your social media profiles together will potentially increase your customer base.
Your website should include relevant social networking widgets. This is an easy way for visitors to share your site. The right widgets will give users the freedom to re-post your content, vote on polls or enter different contests you’re holding. It’s a win-win for everyone.
Your online storefront can become easier for your customers to use with effective social media tie-ins. As a supplement to your standalone site, make a Facebook store to which users can navigate from each post you make. People who use Facebook a lot click around people’s profiles, which means they might see your product selection without even visiting your main website. That way, you don’t even need to lure buyers to your site–they can remain on Facebook if they would rather remain there.
Social Media
Run social media-only contests. If your customers can get a special offer that is not found at any other place, they will probably pay more attention to your campaign and spread the word so that you get free advertising.
It takes some time and patience to build a presence on any social media website. You will need to slowly build a following, so don’t expect massive results overnight. It can happen, but your social media posts are unlikely to become global sensations within minutes. You should always be diligent and practice patience; it will happen for you!
Use email marketing along with social media. Include a link to your Facebook page or Twitter account at the end of all of your emails. Draw attention to your email marketing campaign by placing links to your registration page on your social media profiles for instance.
Followers can easily share your content with Facebook. Because of the new Timeline feature and other cool Facebook features, a user’s actions are shared on their page where their friends will see it. You should ask your visitors to ask questions and comment so that you get more visability with posts you have made.
When posting YouTube videos, add links to your site in their descriptions, and ensure Twitter and Facebook buttons are near your videos, as well as your channel. If YouTube users find you on Twitter or Facebook, they will probably share your videos with their friends.
Facebook has some great games. It would be easy for you to create a game of your own that is related to your industry or your product. Some well-known companies have been able to leverage Facebook’s game functionality to create viral properties that attracted millions to their Facebook pages. In fact, it can easily be worth your money to hire a professional to produce a high-quality Facebook game for you.
Create a Yahoo account, and browse through Yahoo answers. Their website has been around for a while and is packed full of questions, answers, and opinions of users. Find questions that relate to your products, then write an answer that demonstrates your extensive knowledge. This knowledge will make viewers look to you as being an expert in these products and get them to visit your sites and purchase from you.
Social Media
Make it a habit to respond to all your comments. If someone leaves a negative comment, reply back them as well. When people see that they’re thoughts are being heard, they tend to have greater trust in your business. Be sure that you get back to your customers promptly or they may feel like you are ignoring them.
In order to succeed with social media marketing, you must know your audience. Knowing your target demographic, including their browsing habits and use of social media can make a huge difference in the type of marketing that you use.
Make tracking your site a priority. Make sure you establish base statistics showing generated activity and the amount of new followers you get each new week. If you compare these statistics with your actions, you can see what works and formulate a strategy for success. You need to track results so you know if your social media campaign is effective.
Dealing with negativity is something you’ll have to put up with if you’re planning on getting into social media marketing. If your followers like your company and products, that is a good thing, but there may also be a negative side. Don’t ignore it, instead help those who are unsatisfied.
When you’re going to launch a new product or are looking to get feedback on an existing product, try social media to research the market. People love to give their opinions on products, so they’ll likely oblige you if you ask them. Your followers may be able to give you valuable insight into what products and services best fill their needs. Best of all, all this market research comes at no cost to you.
Follow these tips for success with social media; use them to get comfortable with the medium so that you can dominate it. Using social networks should help you stay in touch with your audience and generate more sales.