Posted on January 22nd, 2016 by David Taplin
Believe it or not, some businesses are still undecided as to whether using Social Media Marketing really helps their business.
We can say from experience that Social Media definitely can act as an effective suite of channels allowing your business to engage with and extend your reach to new audiences you would never have been able to, using existing channels.
1. Set Clear Goals
Clear and tangible goals should underpin all good Social Media Marketing Campaigns. This is the lynchpin upon which to execute, track and measure a successful Campaign. Whether it be based on ROI, number of sales, traffic to your website or increased number of followers, be clear on what you are aiming to achieve and what you will class as a successful campaign.
2. Choose Appropriate Channels
Rather than bombarding every Social Media channel with your messages, think carefully about the attributes that each of the channels has and which of them best suits the audience, messages and goals you are trying to achieve.
3. Plan, Plan, Plan
Always put a robust plan together before starting on your Social Media Marketing journey. The plan should contain a realistic set of goals (See point 1) underpinned by a selection of tasks or activities (with owners) that will take you and your business to where you need to be. This is a plan that needs to be explained and bought into by all parties involved.
4. Optimised Landing Pages
If your Social Media goals are to point your visitors, followers or fans to a specific landing page then a fully optimised landing page will massively increase your chances of converting. When we say optimised, we mean that the landing page should basically ‘cut to the chase’. It should easily and quickly provide the visitor with a seamless journey from the social media channel through to taking an action (e.g. order a product, sign-up to a newsletter, pick up the phone or download a document).
5. Compelling Content
There is a lot of material being posted on Social Media these days, and trying to make your posts stand out from the crowd is becoming increasingly difficult. It’s for this reason that it is critical to think about the information that you post before you send it. Whether it’s an opinion, a blog article, industry news and information or simply an update, it is imperative that you provide quality and compelling content with every post.
It will be one of the main reasons that users come back to your channel to continue to hear what you have to say.
6. Measure & Track
Probably one of the most overlooked elements is the continual measuring and tracking of the social media channels once they have been set-up. This is very important from the outset to, at a basic level, see what is working and what isn’t. However, having mechanisms in place to provide you with useful stats on the user’s journey around your social media channels will also enable you to see how they are engaging with you and the ways and means to help improve these initial points of contact.
7. Part of a wider Marketing Strategy
Whilst Social Media Marketing is a no brainer to have as part of any marketing strategy, a business should never have this as the sole channel to market. A good balance of on and offline marketing methods should always be used in conjunction with each other to gain as much coverage and exposure as possible.
Does your business use Social Media Marketing? Have you managed to use it to great effect or has it become a hindrance? We would love to hear your Social Media Marketing experiences.
If you would like to find out more about Social Media solutions then please get in touch with My Hosting Bubble.
