Beth Worthy
1/27/2016
Social media has become an essential and effective part of today's marketing. Without it, you run the risk of giving competitors an edge in building relationships with customers that can last many years. Here are some of the secrets to building a social media strategy that helps attract and nurture leads.
1. Create Multiple Social Media Profiles
There are several popular social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest, but there may also be social media platforms specific to your industry. You can even create your own proprietary social media network. The key is to use multiple platforms to maximize your reach with your target audience.
2. Complete Your Profiles
Make sure that you provide full summaries in your profiles so that followers have a clear picture of your business, as well as its location and contact information. It's also important to keep your profiles active so that people don't assume you've given up on building new business.
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3. Allow Interaction
It's very important to allow your profiles to be interactive with followers or they might ignore your posts. When you let people make comments on your posts you get valuable feedback that will help you refine your content.
4. Include Share Buttons on Your Web Properties
The share button has become vital to websites, blogs, and social media profiles. Although it's still possible for people to share your content without the button, seeing a visual call to action helps encourage people to share. These buttons should appear at the top, bottom or side of your web articles, blogs, newsletters, videos and other content that you want to distribute online.
5. Connect with Your Target Market
You need to use an active voice in your social media communities so that it invites people to respond to your posts. Don't limit your content to just products since your best chance at interacting with leads is to cover a broad range of topics, some of which might simply be about popular culture. Some of your target customers may not yet have knowledge about your products, but would be interested if you initiated contact through more popular topics.
6. Show Your Personality
Give your followers a sense that you are more than a marketer. Use humor to create entertaining posts to show that you enjoy interacting with people. Try to avoid getting too technical with industry jargon, so that your message is easily understood even by people outside of your target.
7. Ask for Product Reviews
One way to stimulate conversations in social media is to ask customers to review your products. Regardless of whether or not the responses are positive or negative, let them know you appreciate their feedback, which can help you learn about your market. Do not escalate the conflict over negative reviews. Instead, use the opportunity to explain the benefits of your products that customers may not realize.
8. Use Social Media Marketing Tools
There are a wide variety of tools you can use to maximize your social media marketing and online experiences for followers. Pointro, for example, sends you a notification when a customer enters your store. ManageFlitter helps you prioritize your most loyal Twitter followers.
AddShoppers is a suite of tools that let you make purchasing recommendations and offer rewards to customers. Tweet Jukebox is a marketing automation tool that allows you to schedule posts from content libraries, which helps you save time.
9. Stay Active and Committed
Sometimes it takes a while to establish a long list of followers on social media. It's important not to abandonsocial media just because it doesn't create a tidal wave of reaction right away. Evidence shows that the longer you use social media, the more it will help sales and conversions in the long run. Most businesses that have invested in social media for at least five years and commit to sharing valuable content usually see positive effects on revenue and leads.
Also Read: Social Media and Business: What is your fit?
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