7 things you need to do before getting involved in social media marketing
Social media marketing is by no means a new method of marketing; however, it is one of the fastest growing and widely used strategies in the online marketplace. If you have started up a business and want to reach a greater number of people on a larger scale then this is definitely for you. Before you embark on this, there are 7 important things you need to consider.
1. Set your goals
It is useless to start any new marketing campaign is you have no idea where you are going. You have to sit down and think about your goals for your business. Think about practical things like your target audience, niche market, expenses as well as site hits and visitor response. Set realistic goals and change your strategy as you go along.2. Know what you are getting into
You have to understand how social media marketing works. You need to get to know the various social media platforms that are out there, and identify which would best suit your campaign. The amount of research you put in will determine just how strong a foundation you have at the beginning.
3. Know your competition
There are many people who use social media marketing strategies so you will be competing with them. It would be a good idea to check their profiles out and see how they have gone about the design, layout, and general approach. In this way you don't only get to learn about what is out there, but you are also able to see what works and what doesn't.
4. Have dedicated staff members
It doesn't matter how big or small your business is you won't be able to run this all alone. You already have so many other things to attend to and since social media marketing takes so much time and effort it is best to get a dedicated team to oversee this area. They will be responsible for keeping the profiles up and running and making changes along the way.
5. Get input from your target market
Many companies use their prospective target markets in order to assess how good their marketing plans are before they launch them. Once you have decided where it is you want to be and how you want to approach it, you can get some people who are regular users of social networking sites who fall into your target market, and make changes based on the response you receive. You could make it more interesting by having free gifts in return or a competition.
6. It gets personal
Social media marketing differs from traditional online marketing in a variety of ways, but one of the major aspects is that it gets personal. Just as all of your online contacts will get to see friends' posts, information and latest news, they will get the inside look at your business. Social media marketing requires you to put yourself out there. People who use these sites expect somewhat of a personal connection. Ensure that you have plans to keep your profile real, user friendly, and human.7. More than just an online forum
Social media marketing may be based online through various sites, but you have to consider what happens when people log off and go about their daily lives. Many businesses will have some sort of offline project in place that complements the online aspect. This is popularly done through marketing the social aspect using media on the ground like newspapers, flyers and magazines.
