Social media used to only be for big businesses with big marketing budgets. Now small and medium sized businesses can greatly benefit from social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google+, Blogging, Tumblr, Flickr and others. With all these social media websites to choose from it may seem daunting to figure out the right social media strategy for your business.
Many small businesses find it difficult to allocate the proper time and resources to the social media platform(s) that will benefit their business the most. However, social media marketing should not be ignored considering the very real benefit and quantifiable results that social media marketing offers.
Some benefits of social media marketing include:
- Word-of-mouth advertising
- Increased customer loyalty
- Increased website traffic
- Increased exposure
- Improved sales
- Higher search engine rankings
- Company branding
A well planned social media marketing strategy involves planning and developing a course of action which will result in achievable and optimized goals. In order to determine how effective your social media strategy is and which social media platforms are paying off, you need to track your results with quantifiable tools and analytics.
Tips to start your social media marketing campaign:
- Integrate social media websites with your business and marketing materials
- Share valuable, educational and engaging content
- Start discussions and keep your audience engaged by asking questions
- Use a social media platform for customer support and feedback
- Choose the social media platforms that make sense for your business. This should be where most of your target audience spends their online time.
