If you follow the current business trends and read the marketing books, you probably know that you need to build a” social community around your brand.” If you’re like me, that last statement will make you scratch your head and say, “Huh?” Don’t worry. We’re going to break down the walls of jargon and give you some easy tips you can employ to market your business using social media.
In the interest of full disclosure, I must tell you that I am not a super expert at this, but I’m getting better. Believe me when I tell you that I think I’ve made every possible mistake in this area, but I’ve learned from them. Now, I will share what I’ve learned with you and save you the hassle of having to make these same mistakes yourself. Isn’t that so very nice of me?
If you’ve been on the Internet for any time at all, you are probably familiar with Facebook, Twitter and Google+. You also likely have an account with most (if not all) of them. If not, that’s the place to start. Once you have accounts set up and you’re ready to launch your social media marketing efforts, here are a few tips to help.
- Remember that everyone starts with zero friends and followers. This may seem simple, but it’s important to remember so that you don’t become discouraged. After all, it can be quite frustrating to see other pages with thousands of followers while you’re struggling to hit double digits. Everyone starts at the same place. Now, let’s work on building those numbers.
- Ask your current readers to join you. C’mon. You can do it. Don’t be shy. When you’re ready to launch your Facebook fan page or your new Twitter account, announce it on your blog or site and ask your current readers to “like” or “follow” you. After all, they already read what you write. It’s a natural for them to follow you in the social networking world as well. Be sure to promote your social networking pages on your primary website. Fortunately, there are many great plug-ins that will help you put Facebook and Twitter buttons on every post. Remember, your social networking efforts are not a separate part of your business, they are a primary building block for your brand. Before I forget, we just launched a Facebook page for HomeBiz Digest, please visit it and click the “like” button. Thanks for allowing me this shameless plug. :-)
- Encourage your readers to recommend your page to their friends and followers. We all tend to associate with people like ourselves. So, if your readers like your page, shouldn’t some of their friends like it as well? As friends share with friends who share with other friends, you start to accumulate exponential growth. That’s the “social” aspect of social marketing.
- Respond to every comment. As your list of followers grows, you may not be able to do that, but it’s critical in the beginning. Any time someone writes a question or posts a comment (good or bad), you should respond to it in a friendly and professional manner. Anytime someone sends you a message or tweets a question, respond to it. This shows your audience that you are there, you are active and you care about them and their concerns. It also encourages people to want to have discussions with you. After all, who likes to continually have a monologue with a brick wall?
- Start discussions. You can’t throw up a page and expect conversations to spontaneously appear. It just doesn’t happen that way. People will not flock to your page and automatically start firing of topics for discussion. Nope, at first, it has to start with you. In the beginning, try launching a new topic for conversation once or twice a week. Frame your topic as a question and ask your audience to answer it.
I’ve read some articles where people advise “being controversial.” I don’t know how I feel about that. Starting controversy just for the sake of it, can really backfire – especially if it projects a negative image on you and your business.
Another suggestion I’ve heard a lot is to run contests and it’s obvious that this works because a lot of major corporations do it. In fact, I entered one just this morning and all I had to do was click the “like” button on a businesses Facebook page. The major drawback here is that you have to be aware of the various laws governing contests. There are many rules and regulations and they differ between countries, states and even counties and towns. If you’re up to the challenge, go for it. This is not something I’ve tried yet, but it’s something I’m considering.
Well, here are just a few elementary ideas to help you get started. We’ll post more on the topic as we go along. If you are beyond these steps and you want to skyrocket your online marketing campaign, I suggest you contact my friend Traci Hayner Vanover (The Promo Diva) over at propabranda.com.
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