Engaging Your Tribe Using Social Media

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Social Media Marketing is a huge part of online marketing and involves the use of social media sites which include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube and many other sites where users create personal profiles and interact with friends. These sites, like Facebook, are large and have millions of users, give you great opportunities to deliver your marketing message to your target market and gain some important intel about the wants and needs of your audience.

Mainly we use social media in two ways for our marketing. Option one is to post content with links to your blogs, videos or other media to your social media profile. The second option is to place ads on the social media site and use their ad networks.

Best Uses

Every business can benefit from social media, especially local businesses. The geographical features on social media sites make it easy for people in your local area to find your profile through searches.

You can use your social media profile in some cases like your list and offer exclusive deals to your fans. Also providing content on your profile will help increase loyalty to your brand too.

Advantages

With social media you can interact directly with your clients, this adds a personal touch to your communications that can’t be touched by other methods creating more loyalty and engagement with your brand and you.

You can also reach a wider audience using social media because you also have access to the friends of your fans. For example, on Facebook when a fan interacts with you, it allows their friends to see the interaction as well in their news feeds.

Social media can also provide valuable feedback from your clients because they can contact you directly there. This allows you to also learn more about them. It’s easy to look at the profiles of your fans in most cases to see their interests. In the past marketing firms have paid big bucks for this in the past years.

And let’s not forget the SEO benefits. Your profile appears in searches and gives you a ready-made platform with millions of users.

Disadvantages

Social media is always changing and requires constant maintenance to be used effectively. Each page and profile you have will require updating and interaction with your fans which doe require time and depending on how many profiles you have it could get quite time-consuming and overwhelming.

You will also want to note that each social media site has its own set of rules that you will need to abide by. Not following these rules can get you penalized or banned from the site.

You also don’t have total control of your content on social media sites. If some leaves a nasty comment on social media like Twitter you can’t delete it, unlike those left on your blog which can be easily deleted.

Getting the Most Out of Social Media Marketing

While taking care of your multiple profiles is a lot of work, it is well worth it in the long run and some of us actually find it a fun and enjoyable daily task. I personally enjoy engaging with people on my Facebook page, it’s refreshing when you work from home and can engage with others so easily.

Here’s how you can make social media marketing work for you:

• Although it might seem like a chore, sign up for each social media site that may be appealing to your target market.
• Focus on interactivity and engagement. Try to get your fans and followers engaged in your profile as much as possible.
• Use tools like widgets and plug-ins to make profile management easier and foster interactivity. I use HootSuite personally but have heard great things about many others including Buffer and Edgar.

The key to success is to keep your involvement social. Be proactive. Get out there and make friends. Don’t create your profile and content and then wait for the fans and comments to roll in. Comment on other people’s profiles and join groups for increased visibility. This brands you as an outgoing person with your own distinct personality that people will want to get to know better.

So what will be your first step for Social Media Marketing? I’d love to hear from you.
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