Social Media Marketing – 5 Trends to Definitely Consider

Does the concept of starting a social media marketing campaign scare you?  Don’t let it. While social media sites are quickly growing, they’re also becoming easier to use and are welcoming not only social butterflies but businesses as well.  Social media marketing is slowly but surely finding its way into the standard marketing campaign – and for good reason.  Here are some of the trends we’ve noticed over the past year.

A Lack of Control

When venturing into the world of social media, it is important to remember that you will have very little control over the actions and mindsets of your followers or fans.  Take Facebook, for example.  You may decide to build a business page for your organization but you may also find that your fans have created fan pages of their own – unofficial pages where they have chosen to network and talk about your products or services.  While that shouldn’t discourage you from building your own page, it should encourage you to check out what others are doing or saying in an effort to monitor and protect your brand.

Exploring Collective Sales

The past year has introduced the concept of collective sales, or collective buying, to the social media marketing platform as well.  Sites like Groupon offer businesses a set amount of guaranteed sales.  You, as a business, will offer a steep discount but an individual can only take advantage of it if a guaranteed number of people make the purchase.  Those clients may not turn into regular customers, but the collective sale will give you the opportunity to gain hundreds of new customers literally overnight.

Location Based Marketing

Technology is an incredible thing and advances in the way people can connect to the internet and, in turn, their social networks has had a huge influence on social media marketing.  Anyone with a smartphone or an iPad can access the internet and many love checking in on social applications like Loopt and Foursquare.  Even Facebook and Twitter have added applications that allow people to report where they are.  Many business with storefronts are now offering incentives, ranging from discounts to free products, to customers who post that they are in the shop.

Social Networks and Gaming

Many social networks, including Facebook, feature incredibly popular games.  Despite your hesitance, it’s important to recognize that millions of people are playing the games offered by social networking groups each day.  Pretty soon, you’ll be able to advertise within these games. At the very least, you may be able to include your product in virtual form so that those “playing” can “buy” your “services.”  They may just decide to do so in real life, too.

Social Media Experts

While social media was at one time completely free, trends now point towards the incorporation of social media experts into the overall marketing plan.  These experts have experience setting up Twitter profiles or Facebook pages, making customizations and changes that will give you the most professional and appealing face possible.  It’s all about building your brand, and an expert can help you set things up right from the start.

Social media marketing is growing by leaps and bounds and many businesses, from Toyota to Nike, are marketing their social networking pages (especially their Facebook fan pages) even more heavily than their own websites.  It’s a trend in itself and will continue to grow over the next few years.  Don’t launch an online business (or an offline business with a web presence) without adding social media to your marketing campaign.  It’s guaranteed to make a huge difference.

7 Reasons You Should Use Social Media Marketing to Get Results in Your Business

We hear many business owners ask the question, “Is there any real value in Social Media for my Business?”  Whether you like it or not, today and in the future social media is, and will be, an important component for all businesses.

So what’s the truth here? Just what is social media marketing and why must it be crucial to any business owner?

Let’s evaluate seven causes why you ought to know much more about the use of social media marketing to get results in your business, just to see if any of them fit you or anyone you know.

First, be present and become the expert in your industry or niche.  Fine, I fully grasp your objection that creating your profiles on the various social media websites and then updating them on a regular basis will be time consuming.  You will also need to check your accounts a couple of times a week to respond to comments from your followers.  And I agree, you’ve a very valid point.  But have a look at it from this perspective, this a great way to build presence, to be seen as an expert and to build relationships with your followers.  Furthermore, have you thought about this?  The more you update and are seen to be interactive with your followers, the stronger your business’s reputation will be.

Second, educate don’t sell. Social media is another way to build relationships with people, prospects and customers that you may not ever have otherwise been exposed to.  The reason for that is because in today’s market, consumers are getting smarter, plus we live a world of mass advertising.  The last thing you want to do is sell your products and services on social media. It’s about educating your fans.  Every once in awhile you might promote a workshop, webinar or special deal.  Educate more, sell less.  If people want to find out more about you and your products and services, they can visit your website.

Third, encourage people to join you on social media.  Ask people to “Like” your social media pages.  You can promote social integration on your business receipts, signs, brochures and invoices so that your existing customers will want to jump on the social media train as well. You can also ask your customers to check in to Foursquare or one of the other geo-location sites once they arrive in the general proximity of your store, offering them special promotions to entice them to come in.

Fourth, keep an eye on your competitors.  Social Media is a great medium to keep an eye on your competitors and stay ahead of the game.  It is a great way to research whether your competitors are offering special promotions, how active they are on social media, who is following them and what they are saying.  Always remember to stay on top of what your competition is doing by reading everything that they post.  Remember that you and other businesses are always fighting to stay on top.

Fifth, become a community.  People want to feel like they belong to something i.e. a community.  This is your job and social media provides a perfect platform for this. People are more likely to purchase from people they know, like, and trust.  The way to achieve this is by having live events at your business location as well as events online.  Promote unique deals, give advice and be there for your community.

Sixth, listen and learn.  Are you aware of what your existing customers and potential customers are saying about your business, products and services, and brand?  Pay special attention to the comments that people are posting online.  It is also a good idea to set up Google alerts and to immediately handle issues as they occur.  This is your chance to show people how much you care about them.  Help them to solve their problems and address whatever concerns they have.  Generally people are okay if a mistake is made, as long as you resolve it.

Seventh, offer giveaways. You can use social media to give away free products from your store. This is sure to attract attention.  People will want to interact with you and will want to be the first to know when you introduce new products and services.  Be careful, however, of not over doing the promotion and competitions.

As soon as you have looked at and evaluated all of the reasons, you’ll be able to find out for yourself whether or not a convincing case might be made in favor of your knowing far more about the use of social media marketing to get results in your business.

Just think about it.  Possibly, just maybe you truly, seriously, should learn more about the use of social media marketing to get results in your business.  Social Media is here.  Many consumers are spending hours online, so it makes sense to have a presence as well for your business. The real results will come when you are strategic about your social media marketing.  It’s all about taking your business into the 21st century.  If you are ready to embrace it, so will your clients. Then watch your business grow.

Social Media Presence – 3 Insider Tips to Gain a Social Media Presence

Social Media- Making It Count

Social media is a great tool for a business, but only if used correctly.  Your social media presence puts your message into the hands of the consumers; they can post bad reviews, trash your product, and advise their friends to never come to your establishment. Consumers can list what’s great that you offer and what could use some redesign. They can also provide rave reviews that result in your sales going up exponentially. Quite simply, that is a lot of power to put in the hands of a consumer – use it wisely.

There are three key elements that you should keep in mind.

- Relationships

Many businesses make the mistake of trying to use social media as a platform for sales pitches. If you do this, at best you will be ignored; at worse, trashed for trying a cheap ploy to make a sale. Either way, you are wasting a great tool for your business. Instead, focus on making connections with people and developing professional relationships.

When you post acknowledgements, such as a consultant posting “Congrats to XYZ Company for getting the ABC project” or a restaurant posting about an event it is hosting, you promote your product or service while making a personal connection. Those types of posting draw to mind questions to the reader, such as “How did XYZ Company get the ABC project?” The answer is, of course, through the work of the consultant. In the same token, why is the event being hosted by the restaurant? Maybe it was a prize won in a monthly promotion or it could be because the restaurant has a belly dancer the first Monday of every month. In this manner, your business is promoted subliminally while a relationship is built with your clientele.

Additionally, these examples demonstrate how a professional posting would read. You want to establish a professional relationship with your customers, not a social one. By and large, they do not care about your personal life – remember that.

- Exposure

Having an active social media presence also affords your business exposure. If your business is involved in social media, it makes it easier for someone to post a comment. While people can do this with or without your business having an online presence, if you are involved in social media, you can respond to the comment, start a conversation, or develop a poll for the issue.

- Local

Lastly, social media for your business should have a local element. You can connect and build professional relationships with other businesses in your area, be they complimentary products/services, businesses with the same demographic, or businesses with similar offerings. The connections you make can serve to create a micro-network with the other businesses. Not only will it serve to increase awareness of your business, but it can also lead to promotional events and other mutually beneficial opportunities.

By and large, social media is free to individuals and businesses to use. It can be tempting to read whatever article about how Facebook saved this business or Twitter revitalized that business. You may be so inspired that you start a Facebook page or Twitter account for your business and start posting and promoting your business right away, but think again. Social media for business is light years away from the way you use your social account. If you try to approach social media like you do your friends, you will likely be unsuccessful. Additionally, if you try to make social media into a sales vehicle, it will simply not work. Remember, when gaining a major social media presence, you are putting a great deal of power in your consumers; while the rewards can be great, so can failure. To make sure this does not happen to your business, make sure that you are using social media properly.