Social Media Marketing: The Ultimate Guide

“If you are not using social media to communicate and connect, you might as well live in a cave, or the grounded shell of a space shuttle.”– Online Business Strategist

What is Social Media?

• “Social media is an umbrella term that defines the various activities that integrate technology, social interaction and the construction of words and pictures.”–Wikipedia
• “It’s media (content that is published) with a social (anyone can add to it) component.”–Mike Volpe

Key benefits of social media

• Social media can encourage participation, conversation, and community
  – all of which can help spread key messages, influence decision making, and promote behavior change.
• It helps to reach people when, where, and how it is convenient for them, which improves the availability of content and might influence satisfaction and trust in messages delivered.
• It is also a key tool in building awareness and credibility

Which Social Media to choose?

• Know your target audience!
• Know your capabilities of communicating through that media!
• Use appropriate social media for audience segmentation.

Where to Start?

Social Media Platforms:

• Pinterest
• Google Plus
• YouTube
• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Blogs
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Whatsapp
• NextDoor

Importance Social Media Marketing

• Finds you customers and builds clientele
• It gives businesses the ability to find out what people are saying about them (and others) in their industries and introduces your brand
• It gives you feedback about your brand
• Provides a test audience (vs. focus groups)
• Solidifies your reputation as a valuable and knowledgeable resource

Goals for Social Media Marketing:

• Increase customer base
• Generate leads
• Drive sales
• Build awareness
• Make money from your content
• Establish thought leadership
• Educate customers
• Customer-source part of your product development
• Reach internal communication

Social Media Marketing Strategy

• Identify your goals

• Identify your target audience

  • Who are your customers?
  • What characteristics do they have and age group do they come from?
  • What are their spending or shopping habits?
  • Do they shop online?
  • What social media applications are they using?

• Create a profile or brand

  • As you create your online profiles, think about your screen name
    • Website Domain Name
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • E-mail

• Find the social media that’s right for you

  • Which ones are your customers using?
  • Start with one – Understand it, utilize it effectively and then expand your online presence
  • Write good and appropriate content
  • Build relationships; listen and engage with your followers

• Plan a time frame

  • Map out a schedule for updating content
  • This should be accomplished on a regular basis
  • Follow the schedule

• Include Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

  • Focus on Good Phrases
  • Avoid “Vanity” keywords
  • Use Google’s AdWords
  • Keyword Tool
  • Remember the value of repetition
  • Guide your content strategy

• Measure progress toward goals

  • Did we learn something about our customers that we didn’t know before?
  • Did our customers learn something about us?
  • Were we able to engage our customers in new conversations?

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