Do you feel like your business is behind the times because you don’t have much of an online presence? Are you looking to ramp up your online efforts in the coming year? Here are some tips to ensure your efforts get you results.
- Determine your goals. Why do you feel your business or organization needs to be on social media? To maintain a community presence? To build an email list of prospective customers? To increase online sales? Your goals will determine your approach to social media.
- Get focused. Don’t use the shotgun approach. Posting randomly on various platforms without a focus or plan will leave you feeling like you’re wasting your time. That’s why so many businesses start a blog, Facebook page or Twitter account only to have it disappear after a few weeks or months. First, determine your ideal customer(link to find customer blog). Once you’ve identified your intended audience, find out what social media channels they use regularly. In addition to your blog, choose only a two or three social media channels to start, while you ramp up a strategy.
- Find your voice. After you identify your target customer, consider the best way to connect with them on a meaningful level. Relationship marketing isn’t just a buzz phrase; it’s the way businesses grow these days. Who is your organization’s point person, it’s face? Is it you? A business partner? How can this person find common ground with customers and connect with them? In this day of information overload, prospective customers must perceive a personal connection with your organization.
- Consider video. Incorporating video into your marketing efforts can fast-track your online presence. If you love to talk about your business but you don’t like to write, video may be the perfect medium for you.
- Do the work. Keep at it! It’s easy to be “too busy” to blog or post to social media regularly, but it’s crucial to be as consistent as you can be. That doesn’t have to mean a daily blog post and dozens of social media updates. Whether you choose to blog daily or weekly or send out a monthly newsletter, create a plan and adhere to it as closely as possible. Let your audience, as it builds, know that it can count on hearing from you on a regular basis, and they’ll begin to look for your updates.
- Quality counts – there’s plenty of content out there that is not only not useless, but so poorly written it’s difficult to understand. Becoming a leader in your industry means sharing information people can use, whether it’s in written, video or graphic form. Where needed, hire professionals who can create this collateral for you.
- Ask for engagement. Building community requires that communication be a two-way street between you and your customers. Invite, monitor and answer comments on your posts.
- Look at the data. Every social media channel has a way to track number of views, post clicks and other forms of engagement. Google alone provides a treasure trove of information that can help you determine what type of posts and what days and times give you the biggest ROI, whether you’re looking for email sign-ups or sales. Learning to interpret and capitalize this data is a science unto itself.
Getting your company’s online presence up to speed is challenging. SweetWater Marketing can help you get started. Contact us today at (256) 617-2092 or hi@sweetwaterglobal.com.