How Social Media Can Work for You

So you decided to enter the world of social media marketing and advertising for your company. It seems easy right? Just create a profile on various sites such as Facebook, Twitter, or Google+, fill out your company’s information, add your logo, and maybe post a cat video or two. While this is a decent start, you will not be satisfied with the results. Successful social media marketing is a tricky business. It’s hit or miss for most. However there is hope. There are a slew of tactics your company can use to target the right customer. More importantly, target the right social advertising site for you!

First and foremost, your number one priority is your customer. To attract a customer you have to relate with your customer. Almost (if not) all of the top Fortune 500 companies use market analytics to see trends that their customers are leaning towards. Take for instance, the fast food market. The trend today is to “go green.” And that doesn’t just apply to cars and energy. Food took a huge hit in recent years about trans-fat, HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup) and other artery clogging chemicals. So, in order to avoid being stuck in the stone age, they changed their ways. Fast food joints like McDonalds and Burger King researched what their customers wanted in terms of “going green,” and whether that meant offering salads with value meals, using different frying oils to reduce fat or simply placing the nutritional facts on their packaging. This type of response has been positive. How does this transcend to social media marketing? Well, you must adapt with your customer. How many times have you heard the phrase, “We don’t do that?” There’s a simple answer: DO IT! Offer promotions or contests that relate to your customer to attract not only online traffic to your social sites, but will help your business grow in the long run.

We all know that the list of social media marketing sites in the past few years has skyrocketed. Some of which have seen exponential growth in a very short amount of time, but not all of them are right for your business. It’s easy to pick the leaders such as: Facebook, Twitter, or Google+. But there are a lot more out there that can work to your advantage. So which do you pick? You shouldn’t start this journey without taking your first step. You don’t walk before you crawl, so to speak. Facebook is obviously the leader in social media marketing, so the wise choice is to pick them. However, you can use a number of other sites to your advantage along with Facebook. For example, you opened a brand new restaurant, centrally located in a busy metropolitan business center. You created a Facebook page about your grand opening in a couple weeks but you’re not getting the feedback you want. Don’t fret, there is still time! Sites like LivingSocial and Groupon make social media advertising for your new place very easy. Not only do they offer the user a great deal (usually it’s 50% off a check, one time use with certain limitations such as: the number of coupons available, which often leads to the customer feeling “exclusive” that they have this sort of offer) but they basically do the marketing for you. Every morning I wake up and check my Email to see both of these sites have already Emailed me a few deals from various businesses in my area. The temptation to get the deal sometimes is almost unbearable. Coming from the consumer end, if the business is willing to take a hit to make your experience that much better, the customer is more than likely to come back time and time again. Who doesn’t love a deal or free products? From there, you can use other sites that target how a place is rated. Yelp and FourSquare are easily some consumer favorites when it comes to reviews. I use them to check reviews from…well, other customers! So think about it, if you attract a client who is already very excited about the deal they just received and your business delivers on that promise, they will in turn go on one of these review sites and give you an excellent review. Future customers will read these reviews and feel confident in your establishment because of the little hit you took in the beginning by giving away a deal (the future customer may/may not even know about the promotion you had.) So it’s a win-win for you!

Social media marketing can be your business’ new best friend. If you are diligent in your research about your customer and the surrounding area you can find plenty of opportunities for growth. But remember, these sites are tools. They do not do the work for you, only help you get there.