When new clients come to us asking which social media sites they should use for marketing, our stock answer boils down to: “the ones your customers are using.” When they aren’t sure, however, our backup solution is to point them at the four most important platforms for small and medium-sized businesses: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
If you’re new to promoting your business on any or all of them, you might be looking for some fast tips to get started. Our first piece of advice would be to get complete, customized, and verified accounts for your company on each platform. That way you’ll be easier to find and engage with.
Once you’ve taken that step, here are a few things you can keep in mind when working on each site or app…
Marketing Your Business on Facebook
The key thing to remember about Facebook is that people go on the site to have fun and connect with friends and family. They aren’t typically in a buying mood. So, you want to engage them in a quick and entertaining way.
- Post fun pictures and video snippets.
- Look for ways to increase your likes and shares since these increase exposure.
- Be aggressive in trying to grow your base of fans and followers.
- Use Facebook’s demographic advertising features to target your perfect customers.
Getting the Word Out on Twitter
280 characters doesn’t leave you a lot of room to make a big impression on customers, but you can tweet your way to business growth.
- Schedule your messages ahead of time so that your account doesn’t go quiet or dormant.
- Use hashtags to comment on current events, industry news, and other items of interest to your customers
- When possible, use images in your tweets for maximum visibility.
- Be sure to promote blog posts, discounts, and special events through your Twitter feed.
Using Instagram to Boost Sales and Visibility
If you have images you can capitalize on, then Instagram might be a hot marketing channel. The site has more than 500 million users and is convenient for business owners with access to a camera-ready mobile phone.
- Think carefully about the images you use and don’t post anything inappropriate to your account.
- Try to build regular themes and stories that draw customers and prospects into your brand.
- Use hashtags and subheadings to draw more attention to your content.
- Don’t go overboard with filters and effects when posting pictures to your Instagram account.
Building Your Brand and Reputation on LinkedIn
As the only social media platform that’s devoted to business, LinkedIn can be a great platform for networking and marketing.
- Always keep your profiles up-to-date and make as many connections as possible.
- Consider participating in industry-focused groups and discussions.
- Follow major customers, colleagues, and vendors to see what they’ve been up to.
- Don’t forget you can use LinkedIn to share blog posts and videos.
Want Help Making Sense of Digital Marketing?
If you find that your eyes start to glaze over when you spend too much time thinking about the ins and outs of SEO, PPC advertising, social networking, and other digital age strategies, then you might want help from a team who can put the pieces together for you.
Contact the business growth experts at Biondo Creative in Philadelphia today so we can schedule a free consultation. It won’t take long for us to generate a customized plan of actions perfect for your business and situation.