Wednesday, 25 January 2017

Social Media - Do You Have a Strategy?



Social media has the same principles as face to face networking and is the most important part of your marketing. It not only enhances your relationship building but reinforces the outcomes you want from your business. We need to have strategies for our social media to help us achieve what we have created by making sure it is in both our business and marketing plans.

Most small businesses are not aware of how important it is to have both a business and marketing plans so that they are moving in the right direction. If we do not know what we want our business to be in the future, we can't create it, so the clarity of our VISION for our business is very important. Social media gives us the opportunity to market ourselves to a wider group of people and businesses whom we would never have the opportunity to connect.

Are you aware that when you are using a social media platform, no matter which one, your aim is to create your likeability both personally and as a business. Then you can become known for your skill set and expertise in your subject by gaining the trust that you do know what you are speaking about.

Social media can make or break you and your reputation in business. Your efforts on social media will play an enormous role in achieving what you want for you and your business. I believe that you and your business come together as one if they are congruent. In today's business world, we as small business owners are viewed personally as much as our businesses are. If someone does not like you, they will not do business with you and use your products or services.

When we firstly commence business we are full of enthusiasm and if we do not create systems to support ourselves and the business in general we will be behind the eight-ball. So, a one-page business plan of what you want to create for the next year is important. Create a one-page marketing plan as well noting that social media is a large part of marketing in today's small business world. This does not mean you do no other market though!!

When you are creating your marketing plan it is important to know what your objectives are. Find out the social media platforms that suit you and your business best i.e. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest being the main ones. It is important that you work out what campaigns you plan to run to achieve your marketing goals.

If you have an electronic newsletter and or magazine these can be used very effectively in your social media plan. Remember that your website is also another way you can boost your social media presence. It is important that you link everything including your flyers and brochures, your business card and signage too, so you can have a story that is consistent and congruent.

I like personally to use for myself and show my clients how they can create a social media diary to make sure that they get a good coverage that will be of interest to their clients. Every day it is essential to have different posts posted that show off you and your business. If you have many pages, this can be a quite detailed process initially but by pre scheduling our posts, we can make sure we are well planned with what needs to go out i.e. Monday post videos, Tuesday may be articles, Wednesday has testimonial, Thursday quotes etc.

I suggest that if you are not savvy with social media, learn how to make it happen for you. There are plenty of people teaching the different platforms and if you find it all too hard, get someone to do it for you.



By Jennie Gorman Article Source: EzineArticles.com/9597630

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