Capture more Facebook Fans than your competitors.
Business is competitive, by nature. When you immerse yourself in social media, you must try to win the competition. You want to out-market, out-sell and out-brand everyone else in your industry. Many owners who attempt to manage their own social media campaigns believe if they are spending countless hours per week on this project, they don't need to invest additional dollars on Facebook Ads. In reality, if any business wants to kick their social media strategy in to high gear, they should consider incorporating Facebook pay-per-click ads in the mix.
The beauty of Facebook's pay-per-click ads is they are displayed on the page of the user who fits your specified parameters. In essence, these targeted prospects will see your ad, and if they are motivated, they will click the "LIKE" button to become your fan. As mentioned in the last section, once they are your fan, they have opted in to your future marketing messages. When you post an update to your Facebook Fan Page, they will see it on their home page. Facebook Ads along with a consistent content strategy work fast and efficiently, and enable you as a business owner to capture more of the targeted audience pool.
Leveraging Social Networks to Cross-Promote with other Local Businesses
Have you ever attended a local networking event in your community? You meet other business professionals in your industry, talk about trends and changes that affect your peers and learn from one another.
Did you realize that you can actually partner with other local businesses in your city to create a super social media strategy?
Consider this scenario:
A motel holds a Facebook Fan Contest. The winner receives a free weekend stay for two, with complimentary dinner at any one of the major restaurants in town.
To add more fans for both the hotel and restaurants in their area, they simply work together to create a partnership for this contest.
Each business cross-promotes the other on their website and all of their social networks to create a win-win situation!
Social media is an excellent tool to work with other non-competitor companies in your town. Think about all of the ways in which you can set up a cross-promotion, and the possibilities are truly endless.
Getting the word out about your Social Media Campaign.
You've decided to take the plunge and get started on those high-impact social networks we've discussed previously. You need to let everyone you communicate with know where you're at, and how they can follow you.
If you're like most business professionals today, you regularly receive both voicemail and email. In order to let everyone know you're on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and the Blogosphere, you need to change your voicemail message to include:
"Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, etc." (be sure to mention all major networks you participate in.)
The best way to notify individuals you email is to update your signature. If you go in your mail settings, you can select "signature." Most people have their business name, personal name, title, website address, email address and office phone number listed as part of their signature. Drop down a line, and include a link to each of your major social networks. Save your new signature, and all of your email recipients will have instant access to your social media accounts.
I also recommend sending a personal invitation to all of the contacts in your address book, asking them to join you on Facebook, Twitter, etc. Make your invitations personalized, and give them a reason to join you.
Social Media Outsourcing.
Social media marketing can increase your bottom-line, and enhance your image in a very short amount of time. Considered to be a long-term marketing strategy because of the social media asset being created, the one negative most entrepreneurs and business owners have is the amount of time necessary to do it right. Managing your social media accounts, writing fresh daily content, producing short marketing videos, and integrating all of your accounts to maximize your website traffic can be overwhelming, to say the very least.
Fact: Social media outsourcing is underutilized. Only 28% of businesses are outsourcing some portion of their social media marketing.
The good news is there are companies you can outsource this work to, who will literally handle every facet of the social media set-up, design, implementation and integration from nuts to bolts. These SM experts specialize in small to mid-sized businesses and their social media needs. They work with the owner to create a strategy, then work as an extension of your team to grow your audience - one connection at a time.
Christina Archer is a Social Media Expert, Executive Recruiter, Entrepreneur and Author, based in St. Petersburg, Florida. Christina specializes in assisting small and mid-sized businesses plan and develop their social media strategy, as well as manage their accounts on an on-going basis.
Her company, SocialMediaAsset.com offers complimentary set-up and design of Facebook Fan Pages, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and WordPress Blogs with any monthly management service agreement. To learn more about SocialMediaAsset.com, visit their website. To contact Christina directly, email her at Christina@SocialMediaAsset.com.
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