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It’s hard to imagine a business functioning today without some form of social media marketing. Think of a company and no matter what field it’s in, it’s a safe bet you can find them on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or at least some form of social media platform.

Hand Holding A Social Media 3D Sphere

But social media can be a challenging frontier for businesses if they fail to learn how to most effectively execute their strategies, or worse yet, don’t even have one. There’s a lot of ways social media can actually damage your business if it’s mishandled.

Here are some ideas for using social media marketing to its full potential for your business.

1) Experiment With Different Platforms- Not every social media outlet is going to be a good fit for your business. It’s important to figure out where your customers are interacting with your brand. Not all businesses thrive on the same social media platform.

What might work great for one doesn’t mean it will necessarily get the same results for another. You might discover your customers prefer to interact with your brand on Twitter as opposed to Facebook.

Or perhaps they follow your company on your Pinterest page more than anything else. It’s up to you to observe where your company is getting the most meaningful interaction with your customers and pursue relationships there.

2) Social Media Is About Much More Than Advertising- This can’t be stressed enough. Social media is so much bigger than simply advertising your products and services.

It’s about developing and maintaining meaningful relationships with long term customers and reaching out to new ones.

That means keeping advertising out of it for the most part. Especially if you’re just getting started with social media marketing. Your company’s Facebook and Twitter are not the place for making sales.

They are for making friends and building and participating in a community. If your social media is helpful and informative, it will generate sales.

3) Remember That It’s Not About You- Your company’s social media shouldn’t be about a single personality or character. Don’t let individual egos hijack your online marketing campaign.

There’s no room for showboating, bragging, or trying to become an internet sensation.

Remember, if you’re running your company’s social media, you’re participating in a community and trying to interact with your followers. Keep your posts relevant to the brand.

Keep your posts about your brand, your field, and the events and people involved.

Social network concept

4) Get Your Followers Involved- Your social media should actively engage your followers. Encourage them to participate by asking questions and getting feedback on what it is they want.

Try to answer questions and thank your followers for participating. It’s also just polite to thank folks for retweets and any mentions. And if you are mentioned in a conversation, take part in it.

Calls to action can really get your followers involved. Ask them to post photos or videos with your product in action. Provide incentives for followers to like/share your content with contests and access to exclusives.

Don’t over do it, though. You don’t want your followers and customers to think you are desperate or annoying. And always follow back anyone who follows you.

If you really want to make an impression (and hopefully a friend), share someone’s content with your followers. One on one conversations is what social media is all about, so don’t hesitate to participate in them.

5) Stay Engaged- Nothing is worse than going to a business’ Facebook page or other outlet and seeing that no one has bothered to post anything on it in the past six months. Not posting is the antithesis of social media.

If you can’t be bothered to post anything about your brand, it’s going to be pretty hard for people to get excited about it. And no one is going to follow you. What would be the point if you have nothing to say? If maintaining your social media becomes a challenge, take advantage of scheduling tools like Hootsuite.

Also, if you do enlist help managing your social media, at the very least, check it frequently and maintain input regarding content. Handing the reins of your social media over to someone unmonitored can derail your strategy.

These are just a few core ideas to keep in mind as you begin building your company’s social media strategy. Every company, no matter the field, can greatly benefit from online marketing. Do some experimenting to figure out what works best for your company.

Try applying these ideas to your brand or business’ social media strategy. You’ll be happy with the results.

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These are just a few ways you can ensure that your Facebook advertising and promotions will have maximum benefits for your business. Opportunities abound in the area of growing your business with Internet marketing strategies.

Contact us or leave a comment and let us know your thoughts?

If you would like any help or have questions, contact us anytime.

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Oliver and Sam
Co-Founders and Social Media Masters
Loud Media Solutions

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