Just as many businesses and politicians alike have come to learn the hard way that Social Media is a very powerful thing and can be the downfall of an organisation, astute companies have learned that this power can be harnessed in the form of effective marketing to become their greatest ally!
Social Media Marketing is a big subject. Books have been written about it and it can be an intricate affair, with strategies, tools and digital devices all combining to devise ways to get a brand noticed in the maze of information available on the internet.
This article and our subsequent series for this month will take a look at just 4 important aspects of Social Media Marketing to consider to ensure your business can truly harness the power of Social Media Marketing…
Why do we need it?
It’s important to understand why we should all be marketing our businesses through Social Media. Simply put, it greatly benefits the reach and recognition of your brand! Remember in Social Media Marketing you are never ‘hard-selling.’ You build relationships and establish trust in the brand. This leads to engagement and your target market will come to you!
So, what are some of these benefits?
Remember too that compared to other forms of marketing it is extremely cost-effective and some forms of it (organic marketing) are even free.
Choose the right platforms
First and foremost, you need to ascertain where your target market is on the internet and be playing the game on the right fields for maximum exposure. Your choices are numerous – Facebook, Linked In, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest etc. So, it’s vital that your ad-spend, or engagement, is happening in the right places.
Decide on the personality of your brand. Are you very visually based or more intellectual? – storytellers or moviemakers? etc. The best advice is to work with professional Social Media Marketing people to ascertain where you should be and devise your marketing strategy accordingly.
Repetition gets results
Like the saying in Real Estate that success in property is based on ‘Location, location, location’’ in SM Marketing it is based on ‘repetition, repetition, repetition.’ Once you have established your presence on the right platforms you need to start engaging with others through posts, pictures, videos etc and this needs to be done consistently! If not – you are quickly forgotten.
Posting well written, insightful content on social media also helps you to build a reputation as a ‘Thought-leader’ in your industry. So constantly communicate with your audience, share content, respond to comments and promote your authority.
One of the great differences between this form of marketing and any other is that the mood and behaviours of your target market are constantly changing. This means that the monitoring of your SM marketing is essential so that you can remain “in tune” with your audience.
How VA’s can help
This is where Virtual Assistants can be so helpful. We at V-Assist handle every aspect of Social Media Marketing, from deciding your targets and choosing your platforms, creating a content calendar for you, writing your blogs and posts or organising videos and photo shoots – to devising strategies, monitoring your engagement ratios and adjusting strategies accordingly, to attain the best possible R.O.I in the end.
Watch this space as we unpack each of these key points in more detail in our weekly blogs – and talk to us – we are always there for you and would love to help your brand harness the power of Social Media marketing!
