Marketing Your Small Business with Social Media
As is true of most anything in business, things go better with a plan. This is very true of marketing small business. Spend some time developing your business’s marketing plan; it will save you time and money as you move forward.
When developing your plan you need to consider the mindset of your prospects, what your competition is doing and what your personal and business strengths and weaknesses are along with any opportunities that you may be able to take advantage up.
Determine your revenue goals, including the number of leads needed to convert to sales in order for you to achieve your goals.
One way of keeping your cost down is using social media which normally is free. Unlike traditional methods social media gives you the ability to come in contact with hundreds of millions of potential prospects that may be interested in the products or services that you offer.
These days, a business web site is de rigueur, and adding a blog to your website can greatly enhance your ability to engage your customers and attract prospects. With quality content, consistently delivered, you’ll be perceived as a thought leader that people will want to turn to when they need your business’ products or services. Other social media marketing opportunities, which include platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and forums, are a boon for small businesses that may be short of marketing funds. Using these channels, much of your marketing will cost you nothing but a little time and effort, and it’s easy and fun!
When we look at sites like Facebook which has over 500 million users and tools that allow you to target potential customers and prospects by keywords or geographical locations, it’s easy to understand why many businesses are turning to social media. With social media is easy to control your advertising spend which is important for small and large businesses alike. Setting up a business page is free and you can attract people to like your page and these people can not only engage you but can also follow you. Social media also gives you the ability to share photos, videos discussions and even and even events.
Using twitter you can monitor and even listen to your customers and prospects to learn what their concerns might be. This alone gives you valuable marketing information that you couldn’t pay for. You can also tweet about your business and work on developing your own list of followers that share a common interest in your products or services. LinkedIn has a business networking platform focused on networking with professionals. With LinkedIn you can join groups with similar interests and these groups can be a source of potential clients. There are numerous people who would rather watch and read then talk. You can also use YouTube to promote your business through videos or PowerPoint presentations that have been saved as videos. Doing this helps you present your product or services to potential prospects that you may have never met through the normal traditional marketing methods.
Forms are also another source of potential prospects and is also another way of connecting with businesses. By becoming a valuable member and adding insightful posts members will soon realize that you understand what you’re talking about when it comes to your particular products or services. This works for small businesses as well as large businesses. Traditional methods of doing business are usually more expensive and much more time-consuming and slower to develop leads. Using social media such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn you’re able to communicate with customers within minutes of creating your page.
To really make your social media marketing take off, be sure to visit MaxSteingart.com to find out about the best methods available to help you develop leads for your business today!