Why Research Is the Key to Successful Social Media Marketing
In recent times, there are many different social media sites to choose from, each with its own unique set of features and tools.
It's amazing how many business owners don't know about the wide range of features that are available on sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn, and to this end, they could be missing out on potential sales prospects.
Certainly, social media sites look set to stay, Facebook alone is now estimated to have in excess of 700 million users! Also remember that the majority of social media sites are completely free to join, even for businesses, so this could be a very productive way to source prospects and make new business connections.
So, when you are developing a marketing plan, how do you make the correct choice for you and your business? To start with, you'll need to perform some research.
It's a good idea to learn the basics of how a site works before you 'sign up' and create a profile.
Start by taking a look at existing profiles on several social media sites.
Try to find out how other users are utilizing the platform for networking, and to gain exposure for their company or brand.
Also take a look at the many groups available within your business sector on social media sites, and find out who joins these groups.
Word-of-mouth can also be very useful when researching sites.
Ask your colleagues, business contacts and friends/family about the sites they current use, and why they use them.
Connections can be very fruitful, so ask them to forward an invite request to you - it really is true that it's 'who you know' that counts on social media.
Sites such as LinkedIn allow you to search the people that your contacts are connected to.
This can be a great way to find new affiliates and customers, especially if you are looking to implement a B2B plan.
On Twitter, you can 'follow' individuals or companies, and find out who else if following them, again, this is a great way to find other people or companies who are likely to be interested in your products or services.
If possible, try to find out which social media sites are likely to be around for a while during your research- longevity is vital when you are building your marketing strategy.
After all, you don't want to spend time building a profile on a site that's likely to disappear in the near future.
Yes, smaller social media sites can be fairly productive for some companies, but most tend to favor the 'big players' such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
Generally speaking, if a site is interesting, engaging (and is in the press a lot!), there is a higher chance that it will still be around in years, possibly decades to come.
This makes the larger social networking sites preferable for long-term marketing campaigns.
It's amazing how many business owners don't know about the wide range of features that are available on sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn, and to this end, they could be missing out on potential sales prospects.
Certainly, social media sites look set to stay, Facebook alone is now estimated to have in excess of 700 million users! Also remember that the majority of social media sites are completely free to join, even for businesses, so this could be a very productive way to source prospects and make new business connections.
So, when you are developing a marketing plan, how do you make the correct choice for you and your business? To start with, you'll need to perform some research.
It's a good idea to learn the basics of how a site works before you 'sign up' and create a profile.
Start by taking a look at existing profiles on several social media sites.
Try to find out how other users are utilizing the platform for networking, and to gain exposure for their company or brand.
Also take a look at the many groups available within your business sector on social media sites, and find out who joins these groups.
Word-of-mouth can also be very useful when researching sites.
Ask your colleagues, business contacts and friends/family about the sites they current use, and why they use them.
Connections can be very fruitful, so ask them to forward an invite request to you - it really is true that it's 'who you know' that counts on social media.
Sites such as LinkedIn allow you to search the people that your contacts are connected to.
This can be a great way to find new affiliates and customers, especially if you are looking to implement a B2B plan.
On Twitter, you can 'follow' individuals or companies, and find out who else if following them, again, this is a great way to find other people or companies who are likely to be interested in your products or services.
If possible, try to find out which social media sites are likely to be around for a while during your research- longevity is vital when you are building your marketing strategy.
After all, you don't want to spend time building a profile on a site that's likely to disappear in the near future.
Yes, smaller social media sites can be fairly productive for some companies, but most tend to favor the 'big players' such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
Generally speaking, if a site is interesting, engaging (and is in the press a lot!), there is a higher chance that it will still be around in years, possibly decades to come.
This makes the larger social networking sites preferable for long-term marketing campaigns.
Source...