Do you sense the need to give your online marketing a boost?
Adding new things can be refreshing and fun, for both the marketer and his customer.
This report offers an A to Z guide, with 26 ways of harnessing social media for huge profits.
- Add Audio
If audio is not a part of your social media foray, it is time to begin a new adventure.
Successful use of audio involves selecting your message, choosing the program for recording and editing, choosing a microphone that is within your budget yet meets your needs, and deciding where to post the finished product.
In some instances, you may also need to choose an app or person to convert the audio file to text for website visitors that prefer reading.
- Beefier Blogging
There are different ways to blog — image only, long-form, microblogging or short-form and more.
Longer-form posts work well in your regular blog. However, you will get the most out of your efforts when the blog is mobile friendly. Google offers a Mobile-Friendly Test where you are can test these longer posts.
Use Instagram for shorter posts. With Instagram posts, the best approach is following the approach of “less is more.”
Regardless of how and when you post blogs, select the option that fits your schedule and preferred style, then post updates constantly.
- Coax New Life out of Old Content
Find your popular posts from the past that rank highly and make any needed updates. Then repost them on your social networks in order to draw new attention to them.
Ensure the information you post is the most up-to-date by finding reliable sources within your industry.
- Draw Information from Your Community
Let your community help answer your customer questions. Consider beginning a forum on your web page that allows more experienced users assist your new visitors.
- Encourage Feedback from Customers
Increase your feedback by offering incentives. They should be something of value that comes from your business model. Discounts or opportunities to win a prize are great motivators.
Once you find an incentive that works, build future offers around with similar offers.
- Find New Tools for Editing Photos
There are available tools that take some of the time and effort out of creating and editing original images. PicMonkey and Canva work well on your desktop, Over, Snapseed and PicTapGo work well with mobile devices.
- Generate Interest Using Infographics
Infographics help to explain information in a clear and concise manner. Create them yourself or hire a professional to help, but always include your company name and URL in the graphics, so they travel with the graphic as it is shared on social networks.
Request that people sharing the graphic link back to your site too, further increasing your traffic. Make sure any explanatory text is deep linked to previous articles you have published with relevant content.
- Harness SlideShare’s Power
Upload the slide decks you create for a company presentation to SlideShare. Embed it as a part of a blog article, share it at conferences or email it to prospects.
- Install Pinterest’s Pin It Button
This makes is easy for people to share your images. Your visual concept can spread in a matter of seconds when a viewer presses this single button.
- Join With Your Customer’s in Their Experience
Walk in the customer’s shoes to understand his experience with your company.
Try using your own product or service. Call your customer service department as a customer with a problem.
Take an outsider’s perspective of your business to understand their experience and gain insight into what is meaningful to them. Then decide how to meet those needs.
- Keep a Learning Attitude
Successful marketers have to extend their reach into unfamiliar territory. Effective use of social media requires you continue to learn and master new skills.
To continue engaging the audience, the marketer must learn new tools.
- Learn from Younger Generations
Younger generations are digital natives. Millennials have grown up online with easy access to content whenever they want it.
Their online proficiency causes them to expect features on the websites they use, including fast response times, clear navigation and mobile-friendly options.
They are generally more willing to share personal opinions and information with the businesses they use online.
Take the expectations and behaviors of the digital native into consideration and use them in social media, customer service and website updates.
- Maximize Your Impact Using Visuals
Effective online communication requires use of text and links to give the information context and bring traffic. However, they depend on visual content, especially photos to tell the story, quickly and simply.
Tumblr and Exposure are both imaging sites. This type of exposure is effective in microblogging.
- Nurture Sharing of Content
Regardless of the size of your social networking department, you can find help from other departments. The people who work with current projects and goals daily have the best understanding of them.
Employees in customer service have success stories of ways to meet the customers’ needs. Sales have the best understanding of items that are hot for a season. Product development has information on new releases.
Tapping into these resources makes your job easier and ensures the most important information is shared.
- Offer Products with Added Value
Added value products help to keep a business in the top of the customers mind and meet his needs. It helps you to become a trusted resource.
Examples of added value products include downloadable ebooks, free webinars, discounts and free consultations. They give the customer immediate assistance with products in which they are already interested.
- Participate in Customer Conversations
Read and comment on what your prospects post on social media. Learn where they hang out and connect with them. Add them to Twitter lists, Google+ circles and Linkedin leads.
- Question Ads on Social Networks
Many social networks now require business pay to play, so they should determine the best investment for their money.
While Facebook ads have been popular for several years, there are other options. Depending on your business, Linkedin, SlideShare or Instagram may be more effective.
There are a number of factors to consider, and each platform has its pros and cons. For the best option, take some time to do some homework before placing ads on social media.
- Ramp up Reviews Online
Good reviews influence decisions about who customers choose to do business with. Encourage customers to tell others about working with your business.
Yelp and TripAdvisor are two online listing platforms relevant to the hospitality industry. If they are relevant to your business, ask customers leave feedback there. Respond to the posts, to improve their effectiveness.
- Share using Instagram
Use Instagram to share brand photos or videos and capture other’s attention. Showcase services and products and call the view to action. Include relevant and popular hashtags to improve your business’ presence on Instagram.
- Tap into SnapChat
This messaging app allows you to share photos and chat messages. It is possible to clear or save messages and photos disappear. However, it is a good tool to share a business story and raise awareness of what you do.
- Use Vine
Post short looping videos on Vine as a cost-effective means to promote your services or products. Take some time to review other business’ posts in order to develop you own creative videos.
- Visit and Revisit Your Strategy for Posting on Social Media
No matter how long your business has been on social media, it’s always prudent to review your company’s goals and assess along with your success before you make any necessary changes.
- Wrap Effective Use of Twitter
Determine who you want for followers. Consider if it is better to retweet a post or mark it as a favorite. When it is best to include a hashtag and when should you include a website. Check Twitter’s glossary for business users to learn more.
Take time to understand Twitter cards. Consider ways to make the most effective use of the tweets you make.
- Experiment to Find What Works
Stop using ineffective campaigns. Use split testing to determine what is most effective.
Google Analytics can help you to discover what works best. Further testing on popular platforms shows you the most effective posts. Learn if your ads on Facebook are doing all they can.
- Yield Results Using Geolocation Offers
Gather locations from people on social media to reach users with targeted messages.
Customers are using geolocation to look for bargains when they shop and eat.
- Zero in With YouTube
Use YouTube to create brand awareness by posting quality videos.
Keep in mind that YouTube can be used to develop a channel the remains consistent with the company’s brand identity. Choose colors and graphics within videos to increase such awareness.
As you design your look, take time to review YouTube’s cover specifications.
Conclusion
Marketing through social media has evolved greatly. Businesses have new avenues for exploration and places where they can stand out.
