New small business owners face unique challenges, unlike those of major corporations with virtually unlimited budgets. Because necessity is the mother of invention, this lack of funding has led small business owners to discover social media marketing. Thanks to social media marketing, small business owners can enjoy cutting edge technology, inexpensive advertising and lots of fun, while attracting lots of customers and drumming up lots of business. This article contains valuable information about how you might implement these ideas into your marketing plan to make your business more successful.
Use incentives to encourage people to follow you through social media. Give your customers something they can drool over, something very hard to find. For instance, have a contest. If not, offer an exclusive price reduction or coupon savings just for followers to enjoy. Additionally, make special announcements exclusively on your social sites.
Actively communicate with your customers whenever you can. In some circumstances, it may be helpful to comment on their blog posting or current Facebook status. It is important that you do not participate in personal conversations; you should limit your posts to topics related to your business.
Create new blog entries regularly and constantly. With fresh and relevant content people will keep eagerly checking back in. This is very much like how consumers treat traditional content providers like newspapers and magazines. Therefore, keep consistency in mind to help drive return visits.
Take advantage of a free account with Yahoo Answers to promote your product or services. This website gives users the chance to submit questions for other users to answer. Find questions that relate to your products, then write an answer that demonstrates your extensive knowledge. You will become an expert on the website, while grabbing questions for your own site’s FAQ!
Social Media
Do not expect immediate results. It takes time and effort to create a viable revenue stream using social media. You have to keep getting more Twitter or Facebook followers if you want an effective social media marketing plan. Also, it’s wise to make your social media page known via other marketing methods.
Start a conversation with your customers. The window for conversation is opened when a customer goes ahead and gives feedback. Take the next step and talk to your followers! Find out what your customers really like and dislike about your products, and use that information to help move your company forward.
Try to offer your customers the social media equivalent of a face-to-face exchange. The customer needs to feel a connection and that they’re being validated. Customers want to know they aren’t just an anonymous number. When they know they are dealing with just one person, it makes them more interested in doing business with you.
Keep an eye on the competition. Find their social media pages and see what they do to get and keep customers interested. You could try doing the same thing they are to get to their audience, but you can also try to create a strategy that wasn’t thought of so far to get a better suited audience.
A great marketing strategy utilizing social media is to be sure to host the blogs of your employees right on your company website. These blogs offer customers an inside look into the workings of your company. They can gain an appreciation of the hard work that goes into your finished products, as well as the culture and atmosphere you and your employees work in. Giving customers this “virtual tour” of your company helps them see that your business is trustworthy and ethical.
Take advantage of YouTube by adding it to your marketing plans that use social media. YouTube works great to attract new people to your website, because your posted videos have already provided them with a preview of what you have to offer. If your visitors are already familiar with your products it is more likely that they will make a purchase, in turn boosting your sales.
Social media marketing can help take some of the financial pressure off of your business. Instead of focusing on losing your shirt, you can focus on posting exciting and informative content, including images, video and text. With all the sites available online, it shouldn’t take long to create a core consumer base and begin the growth of a powerful establishment.