The Social Media Marketer

3 Tips For A Successful Social Media Business Campaign

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One of the most inexpensive ways to grow your target market and increase traffic to your website is through the use of social media platforms.

Online users search for information, and smart small businesses and website owners lead them to the content they seek with a well-crafted social media business campaign. A well-thought out social media program will provide website traffic composed of internet users who reflect your target market.

A successful social media business campaign converts new users into satisfied and loyal customers, increasing sales for your business with little cost.  Get started on making social media work for your business with these three simple tips.

1. Know your customer. How old are they? What level of education have they attained? Are they male or female? What are they searching for online, and on which sites? Use this information to select a social media program  that fits for your business and the services you provide.

   Facebook is a good place for most businesses to start.  Create a business page and start building your brand.  Join Facebook interest pages aligned with the demographic of your target market. Identify potential Facebook followers by posting links to blog posts on community pages. Twitter is another good option as you can identify the subject of your tweets by including a hashtag (a word or phrase following a "#" ie. #contentmarketing.)

   Pinterest is a visual-bookmarking network where users "pin" images onto themed boards. It is one of the fastest growing social media programs and best used by businesses with a strong visual appeal. Users repin, like and follow other users, quickly building an online following. With thousands of new users every day, businesses can use Pinterest to pin digital pictures that enhance their brand and appeal to  followers and potential customer base. Spend some time and do your homework to find the social media platforms best suited to your customer base and business.

2. Encourage new social media followers by offering discounts, coupons and giveaways for a follow, like, pin, email address or RSS feed subscription. Capture their interest with intriguing status updates, tweets or pins encouraging readers to click on a link leading to a blog post, article, video or other fresh content. As online users have notoriously short attention spans, craft your social media messages carefully.

   The benefit of a social media program using Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest is the length of messages are limited, so make sure yours is short and sweet. Warnings, secrets, tips, free items, time-limited offers and promises of new information make eye-catching status updates, tweets and pins (remember that pins must be accompanied by a good quality clear image.)

   One popular technique on Twitter is to construct a tweet by making a hashtag of a keyword phrase from a blog title. Use this to entice readers to the blog post, article or other marketing content for the story behind the social media post. 

3. Don’t get so caught up with getting new followers for each social media program that you forget to service the followers you already have. Create and maintain customer loyalty by posting to a blog on a regular basis,  sharing news and other fresh and relevant web content.

   Monitor and review your blog or website traffic data and analyze the effectiveness of each social media program. Where are your new followers coming from, and which of your posts are most popular? Use SEO methods to create fresh web content based on the results of your analysis, and stay current on the latest in content marketing techniques. Give your followers a good reason to visit and bookmark your website with daily posts on a social media program, and update your website on a regular basis by writing your own material or hiring a content marketing writer.

Successful social media business campaigns include a variety of useful and relevant information without being overly promotional. Provide value in blog posts, articles, emailed newsletters and other content marketing pieces. Remember to keep sentences short and organize the content into easily-read sections using bullet points and suitable sub-headings.

Highlight the benefits of your product or service, and focus on how readers can save time and money.  Include personal interest stories or case studies that help develop and establish your brand.  Continually review the effectiveness of each social media program as part of your online marketing campaign, experiment, and make adjustments where necessary.