Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Social Media for Small Business: What You Need to Know

Every business, big or small, may feel like they’re missing something if they don’t include social media as part of their marketing strategy. However, there are several aspects that a business should consider first before taking the leap.

Below are three elements of social media campaigns that could help establish your online channel.

Customer Interaction

Social media promotes a two-way interaction between you and your customer. Therefore, doing it right will gain you a more engaged audience; while doing it wrong can damage your brand. Keep this in mind: customer and non-customers can answer easily and in a very public forum in social media. Hence, it’s recommended that you identify your most loyal customers. Feel free to ask for their suggestions about the most ideal content that you could share in your social media campaign.

Maintaining Online Presence

Initially, having a dedicated Facebook or Twitter page for their brand makes business owners excited. But they didn’t know is that social media campaigns require constant update. Although it can become a chore, a regular update is a surefire way of attracting your audience’s attention. Social media campaigns are not an instant and a winning marketing solution. It will take weeks, months or even years to build up an established and loyal fan base who are really interested with your brand. If you can’t devote enough man-hour time per week on your social media campaigns, the best thing you can do is focus on just one channel first. Additionally, plan what content you’re going to share in advance.

Informative and Entertaining Content

While the goal of creating social media campaigns is to attract customers and revenue, the content that you’ll generate should not depend solely on that objective. People choose to be a fan or a follower of a particular brand in order to be informed or entertained. Using social media only to highlight your business’ latest deal is impractical for acquiring loyal, interested and relevant followers. Unless you share informative and entertaining content to your fan base, you have a slim chance of engaging your target market.

Social media enables owners of small businesses to interact with their clients at a very personal level. However, reaching your target market and keeping them hooked to your products is not an easy task. Bottom line: knowing your customers’ needs and how you can deliver it is definitely a rewarding and cost effective addition to your business’ marketing strategy.

Article written by: Maricris Libo-on
Ref: http://dailyseotip.com/social-media-for-small-business-what-you-need-to-know/2076/