Are you a small business owner looking for ways to grow your
business? Are you looking to attract more leads to your business, or
have heard about Social Media Marketing, and now want to try it?
As
a small business owner you face many challenges - limited capital,
minimal support staff and having too much to do in what seems like very
little time. So, how do you grow your small business without heavy
investment in marketing and advertising? Answer - through the use of
technology. Web 2.0 provides you with various tools and techniques that
help you to generate leads and increase the exposure of your home-based
business. Social media is one such tool. Here's all you need to know as a
small business owner to begin increasing revenues using social media.
What is Social Media?
Social Media is a category of online media where people are talking,
participating, sharing, networking, and bookmarking online. Examples
include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, GooglePlus, and MySpace.
What is Social Media Marketing?
Social media marketing is using the above mentioned platforms to
reach a new audience of consumers and create product brand awareness. By
spreading word of a product from user to user, Social Media Marketing
strives to gain greater legitimacy for a message because it is shared
between trusted "friends."
Which Social Media Channels are most popular?
Studies show that Facebook & Twitter are most popular social
media channels followed closely by YouTube and LinkedIn, GooglePlus.
Why should Social Media Marketing Interest me?
If you think this kind of Marketing is not for you, think again.
These platforms offer a large bundle of benefits to small business
owners. Here are some reasons why you should consider using Social Media
for your business.
Exposure: As a small business owner you rely
largely on network marketing to channel leads to your business - which,
in turn relies on your interaction with people. This is the core notion
of what Social Media is! But Social Media offers virtually unlimited
opportunities to interact with people - millions of them! With this
interesting form of marketing, your business is no longer limited to
local leads; you will find leads coming in from a diversified geographic
market!
Zero-cost: While other marketing media would be
expensive, this type of marketing is relatively free, or requires
negligible monetary investment. It's a great low-cost way to get your
message across.
Improved web presence: Being on popular social
media platforms strengthens your web presence. The more people talk
about you on Facebook or Twitter, the greater are the chances of your
business being found on relevant web searches such as Google, Yahoo!, or
Bing.
Direct contact with prospects: These platforms put you in
touch with your customers directly. You can have one-on-one contact with
them, know what they really want.
Go viral: Such marketing offers
you the opportunity to go viral with your marketing. Think about this.
You put up a video about your business on YouTube. 10 people like it,
and five of them share it with their friends, who in-turn share it with
20 more people. This is known as "viral marketing," and it can be a very
effective method to increase your lead generation.
What is a Social Media "game plan" and why should you have one?
A social media game plan is a process consisting of a few simple
steps that can help you achieve your social media marketing objectives.
The social media arena is large and you can get lost in it if you don't
play by the rules. There's a lot of competition and you have to have a
clear plan if you want to stand out of the crowd and get noticed.
Your ideal Social Media game plan
A typical game plan for your business should consist of these four steps
- Build your network
- Propagate your presence
- Stay connected
- Monitor
Step 1 - build your network: The first
step is to search for and add those users to your network whom you think
fall into your target audience segment. When placing a request to add
users to your network, it is always better to accompany such requests
with a personalized message. You can also look for and join groups that
pertain to your line of business. For example, if you are a business
selling Health drinks and other health-related products, you could join
groups where topics such as nutrition, diet or health are discussed.
Such groups provide you audience for the products you have to offer.
However, when in a group, do remember to ADD VALUE. Answer questions
that you are equipped to answer, actively participate in discussions, be
subtle and don't aggressively "push" your products.
Step
2-propagate: The next step is to announce your Social Media presence.
You can do this by adding links to your social media pages on your
website, e-mail signature line or newsletter, if you have one. You are
out there with your business-announce it!
Step 3-stay
connected:The third step is to stay connected with your fans and group
members. Social media marketing initiative is easy to start, but
requires effort to maintain. And like many networking efforts, results
are usually not immediate. Acquire permission from group members and
others on your network to send e-mails. You can then e-mail relevant
content to people on your network. The key here is to send RELEVANT,
VALUE ADDING content-not an advertisement of your products/services. If
you are a health-drink selling company who is also a part of the diet
and nutrition group, you can send links such as '10 Best Anti-Oxidant
Rich Fruits' and then perhaps add an image and some information about
your product, encouraging people to get in touch with you if they're
interested. This approach will be better-received than just sending the
prospects an e-mail flyer totally dedicated to your product.
Dos and Don'ts
While social networking is all about human interaction and cannot be
strait-jacketed, here are some tips that will come in handy.
What you should do?
Add value to your contacts: Always add value to your contacts.
Always! Provide them useful information, tips and other interesting
facts that they can use. For example, Jane, a home-based business owner
sells health drinks and weight loss products. So, it makes sense for her
to provide her audience with interesting articles on the topic of
weight loss.
Be consistent in your online participation: It is not
a one-time effort. It is about building a relationship... and
relationships take time. Be consistent in your social media
communication. Have an interesting tweet/post/update at least every day.
In some few cases, multiple postings a day are even better-but don't
forget rule#1-add value. Your posts shouldn't sound like pointless
ramblings or advertisements of your product/service.
Pay attention
to what's being discussed: If you have joined a forum or a group,
actively participate in relevant discussions. Use your specific,
professional knowledge to help others. Contribute to add depth and
dimension to a discussion.
Conversation is the key: As mentioned
before, social media marketing thrives on relationships. To build a
strong relationship with your prospects, you need to engage in a
conversation with them. Maintain a 2-way communication between you and
your audience. Take genuine interest in what they have to say and follow
up on comments or observations that are made.
Thoroughly know the
subject you are talking about: Position yourself as an expert on these
platforms. But be sure that you know what you're talking about. Research
if you aren't sure of something. Mistakes on these platforms spread
quickly and damage the reputation of your business.
Personalize
your interaction: It's advisable to personalize your interaction with
your audience. Inquire about an event or occasion posted on a Wall, such
as a recent trip, or "like" their vacation pictures on Facebook.
Portray
your individuality: The biggest advantage small business owners have
over large corporations is the fact that they are much smaller and
haven't lost that real-person feel. Let your audience know the person
behind the business. Make sure your interactions include a personal
side!
Respond to your customers' grievances ASAP: Did you know
that 88% of customers say unanswered complaints on social media sites
deter them from doing repeat business? And deleting customer complaints
is even worse! So make sure you resolve your customer's complaints on
social media platforms immediately. Even if you can't resolve them, at
least respond so that they know they're being heard. Acknowledge
everything.
Mention your Social Media presence: Advertise your
profiles. Always provide links to your social media profile in your
website, blog, e-mails and even print materials. For websites and blogs,
it's best to add Facebook and twitter widgets which provide a live feed
of what's happening on your Facebook/twitter page, right there on your
website or blog. Provide incentives or value adding information such as
whitepapers or articles in order to encourage people to follow you on
social media sites!
Monitor & moderate: Monitor your social
media presence. Find out where your name's coming up online and in what
context it has been used. A Google alert is the simplest way to do this,
though there are many free tools available online to monitor your web
presence. Also stay in-control of your social media pages. Read what
others are putting up on your page and respond promptly.
Syndicate
your Social Media content: Content creation takes time. So why not make
the most of the content you have? Post your content on all popular
social media sites and don't hesitate to re-use them. Turn a blog post
into a link and put it on Facebook. Convert it into a video and add to
YouTube and Facebook or turn it into a presentation and put it up on
SlideShare. The aim is to get maximum exposure for your content.
What you should not do?
DON'T overtly push your products/services: Social media is a platform
where you build relationships, to create value. It's NOT an advertising venue. Your audience
will shun you if all you talk about is the stuff you sell. Think about it, would you talk to your family
and friends about the products you sell all the time? Of course not! Then don't treat your
social media audience any differently.
DON'T
spam your contacts with pointless updates: OK, so now you added two new
products to your line-up. While it's great to share the news, don't
spam your contacts with ads. Put up a link to the new range of products;
monitor who is interested and share information on a need-to-know
basis.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7221968