Social Media Marketing

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Social media is the fastest growing space in online marketing. Incredibly, one in every six minutes online is now spent on social networks. Every day more and more people connect, communicate and share their thoughts and opinions about places, products and services via status updates, likes, tweets, links, photos, and videos.

So what does this mean for your business? How can you use social media to your advantage?

Social media marketing is the process of generating exposure for your business through social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Linkedln. Done right social media marketing can increase the awareness of your brand, facilitate more engagement with your target audience and assist in generating more prospects and customers.

Smart businesses know how to harness social media to better tell their ‘stories’, create more meaningful connections and ultimately make more sales. In fact, social media ranks just behind search engine optimisation as the best sources of new enquires and leads for business.


The power of social.

These days people turn to their favourite social network or daily deal site to find and research local businesses. While word-of-mouth has always been important, its scope was previously limited to the people you knew and interacted with on a regular basis. Social media has removed that limitation and given new power to consumers.

In fact, social media is transforming the way consumers make purchase decisions. Consumer decisions and behaviours are increasingly driven by the opinions, tastes and preferences of an exponentially larger, global pool of friends, peers and influencers. Of those using social media, a recent survey revealed 70% will hear about other users’ experiences; 65% will learn more about businesses, brands, products and services; 53% will compliment brands; while 50% will express concerns about brands, products and services. [Source: Nielsen]

Customers are more informed than ever before and they’re not afraid to voice their opinions online. As such, social media marketing can be a very powerful tool for businesses wanting to strengthen their brand and build trust through word-of-mouth & viral promotion. However, get it wrong and even the smallest of slips ups could result in your business getting savaged by users on social media. [for more details see our reputation management service]


Higher search rankings.

The main factors that determine search rankings are backlinks, content, and social signals. Backlinks remain immensely important when it comes to search rankings – all things being equal the more quality backlinks your website has, the higher you will rank. Content also plays a crucial role in SEO and sites that consistently push out quality content tend to rank higher than sites that produce poor content.

These days social signals play a very important role in how well a website ranks. Sites with a strong social presence and a high amount of social user engagement tend to perform better. The more social signals [likes, shares, comments, plus ones, tweets etc.] you have, the more powerful your SEO becomes.

In order to generate social signals you need to make your content interesting and easy to share. Ideally you should have a website with a blog, some social sharing buttons to allow your users to spread the message, as well as a bunch of social connect buttons to encourage users to stay in contact with you across your preferred social media platforms.


Branding & Marketing.

Social media is a great for branding. A branded social presence can help build word-of-mouth and get you more customers, mentions, and links.

You should think about branding your social presence in three key ways. Make sure all your profile names and descriptions are branded and link to your main website. Ideally your username and social URL should be linked to your business name. Next, ensure the look and feel of your site carries through to your social profile layouts and design. Finally, share content in your brand’s voice on a consistent basis. This doesn’t mean that you should never share personal details, however always ensure it is ‘appropriate’ for your customers and followers.

You don’t have to be everywhere to get results. Instead, decide which social media platforms are going to be the most effective for your business. The best strategy takes into account the social behaviours of your target customers – are they video people, Facebook addicts or Pinterest peeps? Whatever platform you choose you’ll need to spend your time cultivating a ‘following’ that generates social activity and connects users to your business’ overall mission.


Getting started…

The best way to build some buzz on social media is to simply get out there and get connected. You should think about your social presence as a conversation. Share valuable and interesting content and engage with your users, rather than sell to them. Engagement also means sharing other people’s content, thanking people for re-tweets and shares, and joining people in discussions.

Compared with traditional advertising, social media marketing is cheap. In fact, if you do it yourself it’s usually free! However, it will cost you time and depending how much your time is worth, it’s usually better to hire a marketing expert to do it all for you.

We’ve got you covered! We’ll help you create greater brand awareness, make stronger connections, engage users, grow trust, build loyalty and generate more leads and sales.

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