So you have a great idea, great product or great content. How do people realize that what you have is valuable? They don’t. You have to tell them. One of the fastest, simplest and cheapest ways to market yourself is social media marketing. Lets learn more.
Do you want to use Facebook or Instagram to promote your business? Are you looking to make some extra money by growing an account or by selling paid promotion? We have some information for you.
What’s the plan, Sam?
You’ll first need to spend some time planning. What is it you are trying to accomplish using social media? Do you want to promote a product? Find a partner? See our article on dating in 2020. Are you trying to become an influencer? Without a strategy for social media marketing, it will be easy to get overwhelmed by all the different directions you can go in.
The direction you want to take this social media campaign will dictate your niche, your target audience, the message you want to send your target audience and even how that message is communicated. For example, a business that reviews food would do great on Instagram, where the colors can come to life and people love to see delicious plated food. On the other hand, a business that designs websites for other small businesses may find that they can reach their audience better on LinkedIn or Reddit.
Social Media Marketing: Know the Markets
Snapchat is used by a younger, mostly teenage crowd. I have a younger cousin who doesn’t even use her messaging app. Her friends all message each other on snapchat, so thats the only thing she uses. A friend of mine is a writer, and all of his colleagues write about their articles and reviews of others on Twitter. Even though he has a facebook and an instagram as well, he spends most of his time there, because that is where his people are. Which platform would your business thrive on? Place your social media marketing there!
Create. Then create some more!
A good media campaign will have some things that are consistent across the board. A logo that is easily recognizable should be the profile photo for all the accounts. A quick, to-the-point, and easy to remember tagline will help imprint the goal of your business on the minds of your target audience. These things require time and creativity, so establish a meeting with your business partners where you all can decide on how these things should look.
Create content that helps to push your campaign. Many products/brands can benefit from having videos, blogs, how-to guides, interviews and infographics about what they’re trying to do. When you create, be creative! As Steve Jobs said in a keynote to Apple:
“But the best example of all and one of the greatest jobs of marketing that the universe has ever seen is Nike. Remember, Nike sells a commodity. They sell shoes. And yet when you think of NIke, you feel something different than a shoe company. In their ads as you know, they don’t ever talk about the product. They don’t ever tell you about their AirSoles and why they’re better than Reebok’s AirSoles. What does Nike do in their advertising? They honor great athletes and they honor great athletics. That’s who they are, that’s what they are about.”
What we can take away from this is that sometimes the content with which you advertise yourself or your prodcut doesn’t always have to be straightforward or cut and dry. Take a different approach! Come at it from a different angle and have fun with it! Target puts out tons of great commercials, and most of them feature people dancing in target clothing. Their advertising isn’t about the product as much as it is about the lifestyle behind the product.
Form Relationships
Its called the world wide web because it spans so many nations and different types of people. Relationships between people on social media can bridge so many gaps. If you end up finding your soul mate on social media, don’t forget to get our tips on dating! Try to support another small business and repost some of their content on one of the media platforms. Ask them if they’d do the same for you the next week! Creating that intersection between your businesses can help customers and followers find brands and products that they like. Don’t be afraid to jump out there and create that relationship.
Paid advertising for social media marketing
Paid promotion is sweeping social media. Facebook Ads are a divisive subject, with some small business owners swearing by it and others merely swearing at it. Facebook has a pretty good tool that you can use to promote your business. Instagram is famous for paid models who are selling the newest tea or protein shake. All of this is paid promotion for your product. If an influencer has an audience of 50,000 followers and engagement is reasonable, it might be worth a small price to have them hold your invention or wear your t-shirt in a video. Twitter has paid promotion as well, but it is a little more tricky. Be intentional and do your research.
Stay Consistent
When on social media, you create connections and (if all things go well), people will start to look forward to what it is you have to offer. Don’t let them down! If you post twice a day, keep it up. Get a friend to help you if you need help staying on top of things. It is especially important to stay consistent when you are first starting out. How will you know if what you’re doing is working if you’re not consistently doing it? Start a campaign and follow it through. After a couple of months, check your analytics and see how people are responding to what you’re doing.
Have you grown an Instagram or Twitter account with tons of followers? How did you do it? Leave us some insight in the comments!
Recent Comments