The Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing

According to research, about 54% of social browsers use social media to search for products. With over 4.62 billion users worldwide spending time on social media, marketers, and companies alike are scrambling to get a piece of the pie and utilize this new platform for their business’s advantage.

This new type of marketing has many benefits, and your business should take advantage of it. The question is, how do you pull it off? Where do you start your social media marketing journey?

The following guide can greatly assist companies and individuals who wish to get the most out of their social media campaigns. Whether your industry is digital marketing or gardening, this article will provide you with all of the necessary information that you need to establish a successful online presence on several prominent social networking sites.

Social media marketing can be defined as gaining traffic or attention through social sites like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and more. These platforms provide opportunities for companies to market their product or service by engaging customers where they prefer to spend time online. For many consumers today, social media has become a place to ask questions, post reviews, and get advice.

Businesses can take advantage of the popularity and convenience that social media offers and use it as a platform for attracting customers through free advertisements.

Social media marketing aims to create an appealing image for your business, whether it be through Facebook posts, Instagram photos, or tweets. This type of marketing is designed to increase your online presence and attract new customers, resulting in increased website traffic and higher revenue.

Currently, anyone and everyone can benefit from utilizing social media marketing in their business. Social media is so mainstream that it has become one of the world’s most powerful customer service tools. According to Social Media Examiner, 93% of all companies are using social media for marketing purposes.

People spend an average of 2 hours and 24 minutes a day on social networking sites, and it is one of the fastest-growing demographics in America. This explosive growth has made social media marketing a very attractive option for any business looking to expand its customer base.

Although social media marketing might seem like an extremely difficult undertaking, it’s actually quite straightforward. A successful campaign only requires a little planning and the right tools. Here are seven tips on how to start your social media marketing campaign.

Create a Schedule for Your Posts

Opening accounts on several social networking sites is not enough to ensure success. To build a strong online presence, it’s imperative that you post regularly and consistently. You see, each site has its own unique algorithm that decides how often users see your content in their newsfeeds.

Figure out the best days and times for your posts. It’s helpful to consider which times are best for engaging with your particular audience. Your posts also need to align with your SEO and website content so you can rank high when users search for you.

Having just a few profiles will not give you the exposure you need. If you want your business to be recognized, then take time to fill out every profile completely.

This way, when someone searches for your company’s name or brand name, they’ll see all of your profiles and get an idea about the wide range of services you have to offer.

Companies that fail to keep their messages consistent across multiple channels usually do not see success in their social media marketing campaigns.

If you use different language and messaging on each site, it could lead to confusion for potential customers trying to get a clear idea about what your business has to offer.

Sharing interesting articles, videos, infographics, etc., is an excellent way to engage potential customers and turn them into loyal followers of your company. It’ll also help you gain the attention of influencers who might want to share your content with their audiences.

Connect With Customers Who Have Similar Interests

You can also use social media to identify your target audience and/or find people already interested in your company. All you have to do is search hashtags, keywords, etc., that are relevant to your business or industry.

You should also monitor any mentions of your company name on social media so you can reach out to customers who have expressed interest.

Get Feedback

Finally, make sure you get feedback from your customers and followers. If you ask them what they like or dislike about your campaign, you can use that information to improve your strategy.

Social media marketing is without a doubt an extremely powerful tool for any business looking to expand its customer base. All it takes is a little planning and the right tools, not to mention time and dedication. Here are a few tips on how to get started.

Use The Right Tools

There are many different social media platforms out there. Each with their strengths that make them particularly more or less effective for your business. As you begin using social media sites to market your business, make sure you use the right tool for the job at hand.

For example, suppose you’re looking to use social media as a way of engaging with your existing customers. In that case, you should consider using a platform like Twitter, which is less visual and more conversation-based.

Suppose you’re looking to use social media as a tool to draw in potential customers or promote your business online. In that case, you’ll want to use platforms that have a high level of visibility, such as Facebook.

While keeping up with current social media trends is important for any business, it’s even more critical when marketing your company on sites like Twitter and Facebook.

Make sure you’re aware of what new features are being added to these platforms, as well as how they might affect your strategy moving forward. Consider signing up for blog updates from popular social media sites to stay up-to-date.

Always make sure that you spend time developing a well-thought-out strategy and regularly adjusting and improving as necessary. Remember, social media marketing is about engaging with your customers rather than just pushing out information.

Make sure you are adjusting your strategy to meet your customers’ needs, and that means communicating with them regularly.

According to research, 73% of marketers believe that social media marketing is important to their overall marketing strategy. That should tell you something about the potential benefits of social media for your business.

Here are just a few:

Increased Visibility

Social media is a great way to promote your business and increase its visibility. Regardless of what industry you’re in, social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter can help bring your company and products attention and recognition.

Also, if you use social media platforms like Pinterest and Instagram correctly, then they can provide an even greater outlet for increasing your brand visibility online.

Engaging With Customers

Social media is a great way to engage with current customers and draw in potential new ones. It provides a platform for you to promote your business and get valuable feedback directly from customers.

One study found that 71% of consumers have said that they made a purchase as a result of social media marketing.

Greater Brand Loyalty

By connecting with customers on social platforms like Facebook and Twitter, you can build stronger relationships that translate into greater customer loyalty. Your customers will leave you positive reviews that will in turn attract even more customers.

The more loyal your customers are to your business, the more likely they will continue making purchases or recommending your company to others.

Easy to Track

Social media provides a familiar platform for promoting your brand and engaging with customers. It’s easy to measure the success of your efforts by tracking things like likes, followers, views, etc.

Therefore, if you’re doing a good job at using social media as a tool for drawing in new customers and increasing visibility for your business, then you’ll be able to see very positive results.

Increased Brand Awareness

Social media is a great way to increase brand awareness. Whether you’re targeting the average web surfer or looking for more exposure among specific demographics, social media sites can help you connect with just about anyone online.

Not only that, but your social media presence can help generate leads that you can then follow up with offline for a more targeted and personal approach.

Exposure to New Audiences

Even if your industry is very niche or local, social media can still be a great way to reach out and connect with people who have never heard of you before. One study found that 93% of small business marketers have noticed a positive impact on their business as a result of using social media marketing.

As more and more people start to use social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, and Pinterest, your ability to reach new audiences increases greatly.

The first step in creating a social media marketing strategy is to define your goals. Are you trying to increase brand awareness? Looking for more targeted, qualified leads?

Do you simply want to engage with existing customers and build stronger relationships with them? Whatever your goal may be, it should influence how you approach using social media as a marketing tool. Here are a few tips on creating a social media marketing strategy.

Choose a Target Audience

One of the first steps to take when creating a social media marketing strategy is to determine who your target audience is going to be. Once you have this segmented, it’ll be much easier for you to come up with a plan that connects with them on an individual level and drives them towards your business.

Create a Plan

One way to create a social media marketing strategy is to take time and map out all of your goals, then work on how you can best reach these people while staying within the constraints of each social media platform that you’re using (i.e., what type of content they like, etc.).

For example, if your target audience is young adults, you may want to focus more on Snapchat instead of LinkedIn. At this point, you may need to consider hiring a professional SEO and social media marketing company. They’ll take care of everything from web design and development to social and search advertising for you.

Stay Consistent

Once you have created a social media marketing plan that works for your business and the people who are interested in what you’re selling, it’s important that you stick with this plan.

While there are certainly going to be times when you’ll want to update or change things up a bit, it’s important that you keep this as consistent as possible.

Test the Waters

And finally, if you’re new to social media marketing and not sure where to start, then one great tip is simply to test the waters to see what works for you. Try using different posts, content, tactics, and strategies to see what drives the most engagement from your target audience.

This way, you can fine-tune things along the way. Even better, consider hiring a professional social media marketing agency to pull off this challenge for you.

While there are certainly a lot of benefits to using social media as a marketing tool for your business, it is important that you understand how to use it properly before you get started.

If you’re looking for some help along the way, feel free to contact us at Latitude Park with any questions that you may have.

You can never quit. Winners never quit, and quitters never win