Social media has become an effective way for businesses to promote their companies. Social media marketing does not simply mean creating a Facebook or Twitter page and then never touching it again, it means creating a Facebook or Twitter page and keeping up with it on a day-to-day, or weekly basis. In this article I will discuss the key factors to a company successfully utilizing social media pages, these include:
- Design a fresh, relevant experience
- Make an effort with posts
- Make sure your stream is not solely self-promotional
- Stay professional, while remaining playful
- Target potential clients
With that being said, the first thing that should go into an effective social media page is the design. Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, or Instagram, they all allow users some type of custom design. With Twitter and YouTube, you can set a background that is related to your business. Make sure the design is creative and up-to-date. Changing the background every so often will show users that you are keeping up with that page and mindful of the design.
Make an Effort with Your Social Media Marketing
Another important factor to being socially successful is effort. If the only posts you are creating are posting direct links from the Internet on to your social media site then there is definitely a lack of effort being put in. Although it does not hurt to occasionally post direct links from the Internet, that should most definitely not be the only activity on the site. For example, creating your own blogs, posting pictures of your team, or posts about what you are currently working on are all great custom material.
Curate Relevant, Helpful, and Insightful Posts
However, you should be careful when creating blogs and posts about the company that you do not come across as only using social media to self-promote yourself. Although social media marketing is a great source of advertising, just remember: everything in moderation. Another great way to utilize social media is allowing your clients to have their questions answered. Twitter and Facebook are both great for this. By clients tweeting or posting a question on your page, you can directly answer their questions.
Just because you’re on a social media site, however, doesn’t mean you don’t still need to keep it professional. Grammar should not be sacrificed on Facebook or Twitter. (Let’s face it, “Ornaldo scocial medai” will be harder to reference later than “Orlando Social Media”.) The same goes for keeping posts appropriate and inoffensive. That being said, keeping it professional does not in any way mean not being able to have some fun. Social media is actually a fantastic way to showcase the culture and personality of your business and its team. Posting some goofy photos and funny posts never (okay, almost never) hurt anyone!
Keep Your Target Audience in Mind
The last important key factor is to target people that could turn into potential clients. As fun as social media sites are, why not use them as another way to build up traffic and attract potential clients? You can do this by focusing your posts on topics that your clients would be interested in.
Overall, social media marketing is a great tool for any business to utilize!