Social Media Marketing: A Game Changer in Business

The traditional approach to marketing a product or service to potential customers has always been through television, radio, billboards, and even newspapers. Technology is constantly evolving and people rely on their phone and tablet devices for everything. Our society has grown into a “screen” generation, and businesses are experiencing the adverse effects on how they can get a message across to consumers. The answer: social media marketing; a complete game-changer in business.

Out with the old, in with the new. Change may be scary to business owners, especially if they have been performing the same strategies year after year, but there are customers who are on social media and they are ready to buy.

• Utilize Facebook by creating a business page that is unique to what your company offers. This will allow you to develop an ongoing relationship with both new and current customers. Think of it as the new word of mouth marketing; friends and families will see the picture or post that your customer liked from your page.

• Sign up for Twitter. Don’t be afraid to communicate with your customers. Engage with them and take their reviews and criticism back to the drawing board so you can improve on products or services. Sometimes an unsatisfied customer will become more than satisfied if they see that your business is willing to make things right. Also, your Twitter followers will notice your company’s act of integrity.

• Post pictures on Instagram and use hashtags. Hashtags may seem unprofessional, or something that only teenagers use, but think of hashtags as easy access to your marketing collection by the touch of a finger. “#YourCompanyName” and in an instant your customer will see every picture or post you have made. This will allow your followers to get to know “#YourCompanyName” and what you have to offer.

Do use social media marketing for your company, but don’t create accounts only to abandon them.

• Keep your information updated. There is nothing worse than having a potential customer turn away because your contact number is incorrect.

• Your company’s responsiveness is key. Answer important questions through your social media platforms to let customers know that you are reliable and that you care.

• Avoid ghosting your accounts. No one will follow your account if they see that your last tweet was posted more than a year ago.

• Build credibility through your engagement with followers. This will have a positive effect on the number of followers you will receive by the end of each month.

Cost-efficient, and sometimes even free marketing. It is free to sign your business up to social media networks. There is no monthly membership or hidden fee unless you decide you want to build traction and attract customers through their marketing options.

• Facebook allows you to pay a fee to promote your business page to new customers, and as a result, your page will show up on your target market’s news feed by default. Single posts made on your page may also be “boosted” for a small fee to reinforce your marketing strategy.

• Twitter lets its users convey messages in 140 characters, which keeps the message short, simple, and straight to the point. Sometimes less is more and marketing through Twitter can be efficient and free.
• Instagram has adopted a promotion technique that is being executed by popular account holders. The account holder promotes the product by posting a picture of the product with a caption that contains a 20% referral code, along with a direct link to the product. This generates traffic to the company’s website which then exposes customers to other products.
Go ahead and change your traditional approach to marketing with social media marketing: a game-changer in your business.