Tag: #SocialMediaStrategy

What Are Your Social Media Marketing Expectations?

Obviously, I have lots of conversations with small business owners about social media marketing. It’s my favorite subject to talk about even! One of the things I’ve noticed over the years, from both conversation and working with people, is that their expectations regarding social media for their business often don’t match the reality of implementing social media into their marketing.

While there are many examples, these three expectations I find the most common (and most important) conversations to have when considering social media marketing (and in hiring a social media manager).

Posting = Sales

If this were ever true, it was only realistic during the early days of Facebook. I have my doubts about how viable it was even then. People are not scrolling social media for the opportunity to spend money with you. That’s not why people use these apps. Understanding the motivation behind why users download and use each platform is key to getting to know your audience.

Can small businesses make money by building a social media strategy and showing up consistently? Absolutely. However, it’s not as simple as posting a sale and then getting back to work. Social media is meant to be social. Your customers are following you for the chance to connect with you – to have a direct line to the individual behind the brand. A post it and forget it strategy will be obvious to your audience, and they’ll move on to another influencer or business who is serious about building a relationship with their people instead.

Going Viral

Many on social media are seeking the elusive goal of going viral. Why? Because it’s a numbers game. More people seeing and engaging with your posts means more opportunity to convert strangers into buyers, right?

I’ve had the opportunity to see a couple of viral posts with my clients in the time I’ve been a social media manager. While those posts got a lot of attention, what they didn’t do was convert into sales. Why? Because being viral is for entertainment. Unless you are in the media or entertainment business, going viral on one post is not going to be enough to find and create loyal brand advocates who are going to want to do business with you. You know what works instead? Genuine concern and connection with the people who want to like, follow, comment, and share your posts.

Marketing is Free

Boy, have we really gotten carried away with the idea that marketing our businesses shouldn’t cost us any money. Before social media, or even the Internet, the only way to get in front of an audience was to pay for a newspaper, radio, yellow pages, or TV ad. There wasn’t much personalization happening since these ads were for the general public but there also weren’t many (if any) opportunities to get in front of people for businesses with no marketing budget.

As more people embrace social media, and the user base increases, we are seeing a saturated market online and it’s getting harder to get in front of the people we want to see and engage with our business. Business owners are going to have to get comfortable with the idea that to really gain traction in their marketing, they are going to need to invest in it. There are so many opportunities today to market a business – networking, affiliate marketing, sponsorships, speaking, advertising,

***** Is it becoming more difficult to create content for your small business to use in social media? Is there just not enough time in the day to be as consistent and present as you’d like to be online? The Social Media Advisor team can create a custom editorial calendar for your posts, create messaging and images that are aligned with your brand and culture, and schedule posts so you can take social media marketing off your very busy plate. Hire us to do the work so you don’t have to. *****

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Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, and the tools to manage them.

Click here for Social Media Training, Speaking and Strategy Consultations.

 

#SocialMediaStrategy – Can I Grow My Business by Incorporating Strategy in Social Media?

Deciding how much of your limited resources to dedicate to social media can be a difficult decision. It’s clear that you need to be doing something, but it’s not enough to simply throw up some posts, and off you go. To use social media to grow your business, you need to incorporate strategy into your social media. That means that you’ll have a reason for what you do, what platforms you take advantage of, and what kind of content you post.

When social media is powered by strategy, it can do a lot to help you grow your business. Here are five key ways that social media strategy can help you grow.

  • Generate Leads: One of the key ways that social media can help you grow is by increasing your business leads. Remember, the whole point of social media is to help you increase visibility and strengthen relationships. When you are successful at doing this, you’ll get more (and better) leads and in turn, generate more sales.
  • Drive Website Traffic: Whether you sell products online or use your website to ensure that customers have the information they need about your products and how to buy them, social media can be a valuable tool in getting people to access your website.
  • Improve Your Brand Recognition and Customer Service: Social media users are active and vocal. Having a strong social media presence gives you access to the giant megaphone of satisfied customers.
  • Strengthen Relationships: To be successful on social media, you have to produce content that doesn’t just get follows and likes, but fosters genuine engagement. That means shares and comments. Moreover, remember engagement is a two-way street so that you will be interacting with your audience as well. In doing so, you can grow strong bonds with your customers. That means they are more likely to return to you when they have needs and more likely to bring others along with them.
  • Bolster All Your Marketing Efforts: Social media is a powerful companion to other elements of marketing. You can use it to build your email marketing list, better understand your customers, and generate word-of-mouth advertising.

If you aren’t sure how to incorporate strategy into your social media or need help getting started, the Social Media Advisor can help. Its Quarterly Strategy Road Map Development program can jump start your efforts and help ensure you are on the right track. You’ll get a comprehensive introduction to the strategy tools you need as well as practical, tactical information to help you make the most of your efforts. Now is the perfect time to get started. So let’s get strategic and start growing!

Be sure to Follow us and Let’s Engage!

Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedInFacebookTwitterBlogGoogle+YouTubePinterestInstagram, and the tools to manage them.

Click here for Social Media TrainingSpeaking and Strategy Consultations.

#SocialMediaStrategy – Top Questions to Ask a Social Media Strategist

Whether you are hiring a social media strategist to join your team full time or engaging a strategist on a contract basis, you need to make sure that the person who will be responsible for what the public sees on social media is a good fit for you and your company. Asking a series of key questions can also give you a head start on gathering the information you need for developing an effective social media strategy.

What are we doing right on social media, and what can we do to improve?

An experienced social media strategist can give you valuable insight into how your current efforts are performing. He or she will have an objective outlook that can help spot things you may have missed since you are so close to the content.

What is the best way to measure success?

There are a variety of ways to determine if your efforts are working, but clicks and shares only give you part of the picture. Your social media strategist can help you establish comprehensive metrics so that you can measure the success of your efforts both incrementally and long term.

What are some examples of successful social media strategies have you managed in the past? How are they similar to what we should do? How are they different?

An experienced social media strategist will be thrilled to describe the experience he or she has working under similar circumstances. Be sure to inquire about specific campaigns and how they made the most of the strengths and weakness of the various social media platforms.

How long will it take to get results?

Executing a successful social media strategy isn’t magic and it won’t happen overnight. A good social media strategist will give you a realistic picture of what kind of changes you can expect to see and how quickly.

What are the first three steps we should take in establishing our social media strategy?

There is no one right answer when it comes to how to get started on developing a strategy, but there are a few things that should be at the top of the list. Among these are understanding your audience, defining your goals and objectives, and determining how you will measure success.

If the prospect of determining whether or not a social media strategist has the answers you need seems overwhelming, then there is another option. You can take advantage of the Social Media Advisor’s offer to provide you with their Quarterly Strategy Road Map Development program. This valuable program will provide you with insight into storytelling, strategy, and program development. You’ll come away with practical tools that you can use to make sure you are making the most of social media to grow your business.

Be sure to Follow us and Let’s Engage!

Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedInFacebookTwitterBlogGoogle+YouTubePinterestInstagram, and the tools to manage them.

Click here for Social Media TrainingSpeaking and Strategy Consultations.

#SocialMediaStrategy – What is Strategy Road Map Development?

Without a doubt, social media is one of the most diverse and powerful tools you can have in your marketing toolbox. However, to use social media effectively, you have to understand it and determine how you can best harness its power.

Social media isn’t really one thing. It’s a collection of platforms, each with its own unique strengths and weaknesses. That means that to make the most of it, you need to understand its components and make a plan for how you will take advantage of them, and the best way to do that is to develop a strategy road map. Yes, that means you need a plan. The roadmap will help you navigate the winding path from content creation to execution.

A social media roadmap is a strategy that includes your overall goals, your targets, and your tactical plan. Among the elements your roadmap should include are:

  • Your objectives: Unless you know what you hope to accomplish with your social media, you are destined to spin your wheels. Are you looking to strengthen your brand, grow your customer base, develop leads, or all of the above?
  • Your audience: Like any marketing effort, you need to tailor your message to your audience. That means you need to understand their needs, their problems, and what you can do to help them.
  • The platforms: Whether you are talking about Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or some other channel, you need to understand what it can and cannot do, as well as what types of techniques and content work best.
  • What success looks like: To keep your strategy in tiptop shape, you need to be able to measure whether or not your content is hitting its mark. That means you need to establish goals and metrics so you can determine if you are accomplishing your objectives.
  • What resources you need: While social media may be free, it takes resources to create content and respond to your community.

Creating an effective social media roadmap does not have to be a daunting task. Start small and build up. Over time you will see what works and what doesn’t and you can fine tune from there. An even better alternative than starting from scratch is to benefit from the expertise of The Social Media Advisor by taking advantage of its quarterly strategy development program. Their team of social media experts can help you get a quick start on building a successful social media strategy and help you grow your business.

Be sure to Follow us and Let’s Engage!

Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedInFacebookTwitterBlogGoogle+YouTubePinterestInstagram, and the tools to manage them.

Click here for Social Media TrainingSpeaking and Strategy Consultations.

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