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Social media marketing as a means of promoting business online is gaining importance. Put simply, social media marketing is marketing via social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.
Social media marketing is different from other forms of Internet marketing. Social media marketing involves interaction with potential customers rather than just promoting the brand or products/services.
Following are some key points that small businesses should keep in mind before they start social media marketing for their business.
Create a plan
Before you start social media marketing to promote your business, create a plan. As mentioned earlier, social media does not only mean promoting and branding your business, but also means interacting with and engaging potential customers. You should know where you can find users who are interested in knowing and purchasing your products/services.
Also, be clear with the future goals you are aiming to achieve, for example, what you would expect after one month/three months/six months/one year from your marketing strategy. Setting goals will help you analyze and assess how well social media marketing is doing good for your business.
Start with one or two
Choose one or two popular sites that you are confident of finding potential customers. This will help you in executing the plan effectively. Starting with too many social media sites will leave you confused and you may find it hard to focus on and engage with potential customers.
Good interaction
One of the keys to successful social media marketing is good interaction with the customers. Good interaction involves posting useful information, fresh updates, etc. Engaging users is very important to get the desired results. Interaction with customers can be done through polls or asking the users questions, asking for their tips, feedback, etc. It helps in engaging and interacting with users.
Consistent presence
In order to get more social media followers your presence on social media sites should be consistent. You need to attract them with useful information, latest updates, news related to your products or company, etc. This shows you are constantly keeping your presence felt and users will not only appreciate this, but they will respect you for it.
Follow potential customers
As your company is small, you may not be that popular, and in such cases, you should follow your potential customers. Do not hesitate to follow them. This gives users’ exposure to your brand and increases their interest on your products/services.
Do not send spam
Sending one single message or an email to many people (potential users and non-potential users) on Internet is known as spam. This is not an acceptable practice in marketing, and is likely to bring disrepute to your business. Users don’t like receiving spam, and they may block such mails. Therefore, make sure to avoid such practices.
Social media marketing is an easy way to build good relationship with people and to attract potential customers. Studies found that people are spending decent amount of time everyday on social networking sites. To leverage this you need to design an effective plan, execute it properly, which will bring you fruitful results. Take professional help if need be.