The Hub of Your Social Media Marketing: Blogging

 

Best Social Media Marketing Strategies

If you are reading this, you either, have no idea what blogging is, but know you should. Or, you know what blogging is, but don’t know how to use it. Don’t worry. I’m going to address both issues here. Blogging is one of the most effective social media strategies you can use to promote your business.

Just Words on a Page

First, let’s just get this out of the way. “Blog” is just short for “Web Log”. See, you’ve already learned something. Its purpose is typically used to inform, educate and entertain. For example, if you are a car dealer, your blogs may consist of DIY projects, like “How to Change Your Own Oil”, or “5 Ways to Prolong the Life of Your Car Battery”. Now, I know what the next questions you are probably going to ask are: “Why should I commit time to blogging?” and “How is a blog going to help me”?

Sticking with the car dealer example, let’s say that you wrote those blogs. Now what? Post it to your Facebook page, of course! If you don’t have a Facebook page for your business, stop reading here and call us immediately…you have some catching up to do. But of course, you are a modern business owner are well aware of the power of social media marketing. Fantastic! Post a link to the blog you just wrote on your Facebook fan page. One click and your fans are now reading your blog. Oh, did I mention that links to your website will be embedded in your blog? So, just by using this extremely simple example you’ve created original content and increased your SEO, you’ve engaged with a reader whom you’ve educated and shared information with and, ultimately, given them the opportunity to visit your website and use your services. With a consistently written blog, you are able to share potentially valuable information and demonstrate a valuable knowledge set to potential customers.

I Don’t Have Time For This…

Now don’t get too excited at the simplicity of a good social media marketing presence. This stuff takes a generous amount of time and consistency. It’s not a sprint; it’s a marathon. Plus, you have to remember that online marketing is as important as your traditional advertising, and should be treated as such. With traditional advertising, you don’t just sell the “Steak”, you sell the “SIZZLE”. Well, with a solid blog and Social Media representation you sell the “Steak” and the “SIZZLE”, but then you talk about “how it was prepared”, “what farm the meat came from” and probably end up following the rancher who raised the cow…you know, because he also has a blog called “Happy Cows Ranch”.

If you have any questions on how we can make a blog work in concert with your social media platforms, just contact us.

Increasing Brand Awareness via Linkedin

It’s super easy to get lost on Facebook. I can attest to that, in doing research for this article, I logged in and within 15 minutes, I had forgotten why I was there. It’s a common occurrence. But where do you turn when looking for business-related topics and keeping up with companies you follow and friends who work for those companies? Linkedin, that’s where. LinkedIn has just recently surpassed 200 million users and there’s no sign of it slowing down. Social media users are constantly looking for smaller niche networks to drill down their interests. Professional networks pique the interest of something most people care about, their jobs. For a small business, Linkedin can introduce you to the people who make the decisions regarding their business. A study done in January of 2012 noticed that 49% of Linkedin users household income is over $100K. That stat tells us that the people who are on it, are likely the decision-makers of the companies that employ them. If your business is a B2B company, you absolutely must stake your claim on Linkedin.

Once you stake your claim, how do you utilize it? That’s the real question, after all, the reason you are making an effort to promote your business is to develop a relationship with potential customers. Just like Facebook, every user has a news feed that keep you up-to-date with your professional relationships doings. If someone has a new job, is looking for someone to hire, or is touting the merits of their work, these will be put front and center. Use these status updates to showcase what your company can do, a blog post, or an announcement. This will be broadcast to all of your followers. Don’t over-do it, posting annoying sales pitches will definitely make sure your follower count goes down. You want to create a relationship and foster open discussion about your company. The people who are following your company are likely to never need your services, but the people they work with, their customers, even their close friends, will. Keeping your company front and center in their head-space is one of the keys to successful online marketing and brand awareness.

The Advantages of Facebook Ads For Your Business

Facebook ads have gotten a bad rap. I hear of people complaining of low click-through rates, wasted money and no conversions from their ads. GM even pulled their ads from the social media giant completely, only to announce that they were returning after an 11 month absence. One of the keys to running a successful ad campaign is knowing who you are advertising to and engaging them. You have to remember that Facebookers are not there to see ads, they are there to see what their friends are doing, or the newest cat video. Only if something catches their eye and is in line with their interests, will you see a response. Facebook ads allows you to specify the interests of the people who you are wanting to gain exposure to. We all know that Facebook is a data goldmine. Use that data to your advantage and target only the interests and groups that you know will respond to your product. Otherwise, you’re wasting money.

Once you figure out who your audience is, you have to figure out a way to get your message across to them.

Engaging content is the heart of making any social media campaign work. FB ads do not have the luxury of normal pay-per-click ads, you aren’t bidding on relevant keywords or phrases that describe your business, you have to actively seek out potential ‘likers’ and give them a reason to stay.  Contact us here at Baggies 47 if you’d like to explore your options for pay-per-click and Facebook ads.