Social media is rapidly becoming one of the most important elements in online marketing. In a whitepaper published recently by Search Metrics it was confirmed that social signals from Facebook, Twitter and Google+ are now correlating strongly with good rankings in Google's index. So how can businesses use this to their advantage and build their brand up using social channels?
Firstly, it is important not to shove your marketing message down the throat of your followers. People do not use social media to be blatantly advertised to, so it is important to make them aware of your brand through posting interesting information and reacting quickly and positively to anyone who follows you rather than posting over and over again about how wonderful your brand is.
Secondly, you need to figure out how people can relate to you. If you are using something like Pinterest then you can post images of the things you like and the things you think your customer demographic likes rather than just images of your own products (which again is too hardcore sell for social media). If you are using Facebook or Google + try to talk around the topic and not just about what's going on in your business.
Thirdly you need to get creative! Think outside the box and use images where you can to attract attention. When using channels such as Twitter you don't get many characters so you need to choose your words wisely and think about your how you want your message to be received - remember that you are not trying to sell but build up brand awareness.
Fourthly - think about who you are trying to connect with - other businesses or potential customers? The message will be different to each demographic and which one will ultimately listen? Recent surveys have shown that women use social media more than men and that women are responsible for around 85% of purchases online - so tapping into this female audience could be an important part of your social media strategy.
Finally - there is no other way around social media other than to spend time on it. You need to be active across as many networks as possible if you want to reap the rewards. Blogging, tweeting, liking and +1ing may be time consuming but if you do it right you will get a positive return on your investment.
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