These days, most of your business customers probably use social media already. If you’re not already set up with a profile for your company, what’s stopping you? Determine which social network sites are popular with your customers, and include these in your marketing because if you hesitate to do this, you could be missing out on bringing in new customers and creating new relationships with them.
Know what it means to converse. Receiving feedback from your customer is great, but it’s up to you to respond back to them to open the door to discussion. Take your responses to the next level by opening a dialogue with your customers. Find out what your customers really like and dislike about your products, and use that information to help move your company forward.
Offer special opportunities and discounts to those who follow you on social media. These offers should be something that is unique. You do not want your followers to be able to find something similar elsewhere. Offer unique items through contests. If that is not doable, you might want to give them a special offer. You can make announcements that are exclusive to your social media marketing sites.
Include on the upper right hand portion of your Facebook page a “like box.” That way, folks will “like” you on that site. If it is easy to find and prominent on the front page, people will not need to look around. You will increase your exposure if you make it easy for people to do.
Avoid making every one of your posts a product push if you want to attract new followers. Try posting links or stories from outside providers that are relative to your niche or industry. Ask your followers questions, hold giveaways and post interactive content. It’s highly important that you engage your followers. Instead of focusing on strategic product placement, emphasize the use of your products to interact with others. Unless your business competes solely on price, be certain you also focus on other attributes of your product or service that illustrate the value of your product or service in a consumer’s life.
Use your social media marketing to create more user-friendly storefronts. On top of your own existing website, use Facebook to create a store that can be accessed from all of your online messages. This makes it easy for avid Facebook users to find your site as they navigate Facebook, and and enable them to buy your product on the spot. This can let them have easier access to your products, without making them leave Facebook and go to your site.
It takes time and patience to construct a social media network. You won’t get 10,000 followers in one day. While it is possible to create an “instant hit” that goes viral within hours, that is not the norm. So be aware that it will take time to gain followers.
There is help available for your social networking campaign. The market is massive, and professionals exist who can formulate a social media marketing strategy for your company. They are expensive, so you will need to spend a lot if you choose to go this route.
Combine email marketing and social media. Add a Facebook button or twitter button to the end of your emails. You could also encourage people to join your newsletter by posting a link to the registration page for instance.
Retweet interesting posts by popular Twitter users. You can also cite them by using the @ symbol to link to their profile. These people will receive a notification when you make such mentions, which means they may retweet your content or respond to what you’ve said.
As you are now aware, there is significant marketing potential through social media. These sites offer you the opportunity to interact with customers and attract new customers as well as advertise your store, products and principles. Dive in and see what happens!
Mention celebrities or influential people in your field when tweeting by using the “@” symbol. You can also get their attention by retweeting their tweets. Users that are tagged in this manner will know that you mentioned them, and they are more likely to respond to you or “retweet” your original post.