Social media is the new communication channel, and usage among all age groups is growing. Now recognized by most business owners as a vital part of any Internet marketing strategy, social media is here to stay. While most business owners understand that concept, many simply don’t know where to start. The most important thing is to have a strategy before you begin.
Social Media Marketing – Where to Start?
Social Media is not something your company should just jump into. If you’re new to the scene, research the different channels available and select one to begin with – only selecting those where your potential clients will be. Test the waters slowly, and only once you have one social media channel up and running well, should you can consider adding more. Don’t take on so many channels that you can’t handle them, as it will do more damage than good. A rarely-used social media profile gives the impression that your business is stagnating, which is the kiss-of-death in this fast-paced environment. Visitors will not continually check to see if your channel has suddenly become active – once they leave, they will not likely come back.
Social Media Management
Doing social media poorly is worse than not doing it at all. Formulate a social media strategy, and devote time to manage it on a regular basis (usually daily). You’ll want to assign the role of social media marketer to a specific person, most often an employee. Social media can be outsourced, but it’s usually best if it’s taken on in-house. There are tools available to help you cut down on the time involved
Social Media Policy for Employees
Every organization embarking on social media marketing should have a olicy for employees. This outlines what is acceptable behaviour and who owns the profiles, and is usually added to the employee handbook. This protects the company against negative usage, and provides the employee with clear expectations.
WSI offers social media analysis, training, and consulting, so conatct WSI today!
Social Media Marketing
Social media has certainly dominated the headlines, and it remains perhaps the most important new frontier in the world of online marketing. Inexpensive and seemingly easy to implement, social media seems like a great choice for business of all sizes. With that said, there’s a right way and a wrong way to engage in social media marketing, and doing it incorrectly can be more costly than not doing it at all. This is where WSI can help!
Social media marketing refers to the “Web 2.0″ concept of interacting with your customers and brand ambassadors. However, don’t let the term “social media marketing” fool you. This is not the place for your company to using blatant advertising or bragging about your latest products. Successful social media marketing maximizes customer engagement to foster a sense of community and increase traffic through the “viral” nature of content/link sharing.
Do’s and Don’ts of Social Media Marketing
Engaging in social media without a targeted marketing strategy is like driving across the country without a road map. Sure, you have a general sense of what direction to go in, but you’ll never find your exact destination without a planned strategy, and you won’t maximize your fuel consumption and travel time (i.e.: ROI).
So, the first strategy is to formulate a plan of action. You’ll need to be sure that you have the resources to successfully implement that plan. If you have limited resources, you might consider scaling back your plan to something more manageable. An infrequently updated social media page is the kiss of death in today’s fast-paced virtual world. It’s better not to have a Facebook page if you can only update it every three months. Your customers want to see frequently updated content, which gives them the confidence they need to communicate with you and potentially do business with your brand.
Depend on WSI to determine what works and what doesn’t in your social media universe. A results-oriented approach makes your social media marketing efficient and effective.
Social Media Marketing – Create Value, Engage, and Be Human
Consumers need a reason to follow your social media marketing campaigns – whether it’s on Twitter, Facebook, or some obscure social media channel specific to your target demographic. They need to know they will get real content, not just self-promotion and spam. Engage in a conversation with your visitors. It’s okay to automate some of your content, but not all. If your followers suspect that your social media channel is not maintained by an actual human, they won’t stick around. And while you’re being human, if your company makes a mistake – own it. Don’t hide from it or make excuses. Provide an honest apology and move on. This is one of the biggest mistakes companies make in their social media marketing strategies.
Consumers are more tech-savvy than ever before, and in a 21st century world, the kind of authority, trust, and expertise demonstrated via social media channels is invaluable.
Don’t get left behind. WSI has developed winning social media marketing strategies for small- and medium-sized business owners around the world, and we look forward to doing the same for your organization.
Contact WSI today to learn more about our social media marketing services.
WSI provides assistance in setting up and optimizing social networking profiles, blogs, online photo albums, and video posts. Depending upon the package selected, we can send you invitations to join networks we feel are most valuable for your business and recommend strategies for making the most of the network, or manage all aspects of social media including maintaining and updating profiles, videos, photos and blogs.
- Recommendations and invitations for social networks/profiles
- Optimization and maintenance for social profiles
- Optimization and posting of photos, videos, blogs
- Social bookmarks on sites such as Digg, Delicious and StumbleUpon
- Setup and managment of paid placement campaigns on social networks
