In today’s market, social media marketing is a must if you want to grow your business and your brand. It's also one of the least expensive ways to promote your business. When executed well, social media can go a long way toward putting a business on the map.
Mastering social media, overall, isn’t rocket science: A combination of common sense and fundamentals goes a long way. Here are four ways entrepreneurs can win at social media.
1. Be an Active Listener
If you want to understand what consumers want, you have to listen to what they're saying. Monitor consumers' online opinions by simply “listening.” Your business can gain valuable marketing insights from this feedback.
"The goal is to listen for relevant conversations, discerning who the applicable influencers are in your specific field," says Shonali Burke, president and CEO of social public relations consulting firm Shonali Burke Consulting. "Once you know who the influencers are, you can influence them, which then spreads your message to others of the same ilk."
2. Make a Plan
Similarly to the way you do everything else in the world of business, you must make a plan before executing. Same goes for social media. An editorial calendar provides a smart way for entrepreneurial businesses to manage multiple social media marketing strategies, which can get complicated otherwise.
"An editorial calendar helps you thematically recognize the social media content you have planned over the next few weeks," Burke says. "It helps organize your schedule so the whole process is a lot less challenging."
3. Amplify
Rather than just churning out social media content and calling it a day, make sure you also help customers so that they amplify their positive experiences in their social media conversations. In order to do this, you must be sensitive to a customer's lifestyle and personal needs.
"You can't help the audience if you don't know their pain points, which means they don't have anything positive to amplify to others," says Andrew Moravick, a research analyst in Aberdeen Group's marketing and sales effectiveness practice. "The solution is not to ask questions of current customers such as, 'How do you like our brand?' but rather to engage in a personal relationship. Ask them what their struggles are. Social media is about life."
4. Understand Your Analytics
Resources like Facebook Page Insights and Twitter analytics provide you with all the information you need to see what is working and what isn’t. Check these daily and stay on top of your campaigns.
"You need objective-based benchmarks and clear measurements for success that you can track on a systematic basis to ensure the messaging is working and is repeatable," says Moravick. "This requires that you first define what it is you're looking to achieve, such as the number of people talking about your business in their social media conversations."
Have any great social media tips of your own? Share them in the comments below!
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