“Social Media will soon pretty much BECOME the web.”
That quote is from Nick Usborne, an expert web copywriter and coach.
There’s no doubt about it, social media has taken the world by storm—including the business world. And there’s no sign of it relenting. In fact, every indication is that it will only get stronger.
So what are some keys for your business to take full advantage of this surge?
In his article 5 Social Media Mistakes and How to Avoid Them, (Entrepreneur.com, June 3, 2014) Brett Relander explains some pitfalls. I’ll paraphrase them for you:
- Trying to be everywhere. You need to know where your audience hangs out, and be there with them. A very basic example: If your business is B2C, Facebook is much more likely to be the hangout for your customer base than LinkedIn.
- Using social media only to toot your own horn. This is amazingly common. Businesses everywhere are using social media to talk about themselves. That’s not what social media is for—people are looking to interact, not read company updates or sales pitches. The 80/20 rule works great (80% of your content is focused on your reader, 20% on your business offers).
- Not having or following a plan. Social media marketing must follow a plan just like every other marketing strategy you use. Followings are built by consistency.
- Boring content. Again, social media is about interaction. If you want your content read, it’s got to be engaging, valuable and even entertaining.
- Losing steam when you don’t see results in a couple of months. Think “marathon” not “sprint”.
I’ll leave you with more words of wisdom from the Entrepreneur.com blog (this time by Geoff Weiss, July 16, 2014):
“Social media has the potential to grow small businesses in ways that would have been unthinkable just 10 years ago. But only for those who realize it’s a dialogue, not a monologue.”
Starting and keeping up with social media marketing in addition to your other marketing strategies can seem (and be) overwhelming.
If you’d like a partner to help with your social media marketing so you can focus on running your business, give me a call today, send me an email or fill out the Contact Form.
Have you already been using social media and seen results? Let us know in the comments!