Getting started with Social Media Marketing

The product and/or service you offer will indicate the best approach to take with social media marketing. Presence alone on social media networks such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Instagram can increase opportunities for online exchanges with potential and existing clients. However you need to consider what channels of social media will be more relevant to you; business-to-business brands may not find Facebook as useful in generating leads as LinkedIn and vice versa if your target market is teenagers. Twitter is one social media channel that is becoming more of an even keel when it comes to B2B or B2C marketing and there is always new social media crazes coming up on the radar.

The time you realistically have to dedicate to social media marketing and the potential it has to increase business for you is what you need to identify from the outset. Pinterest can be quite low maintenance, if your product offering doesn’t differ often it won’t require the daily/weekly updates as much as other channels. A good place to start is to check out what your competitors are up to on social media or if they are on it at all… it doesn’t have to be a thorough time-consuming competitor analysis, just to give you an idea initially of how to do it better!

Consider reasons why potential and existing clients would want to ‘Follow you’ on Twitter for example – to hear about offer codes, a flash sale on your website/in-store or to hear about your next industry related blog post. What ever it is always make sure you have an even balance of content that is related to your company and content that provides more engaging information to reach a broader audience and encourage followers.

It’s important to remember Social Media is about transparency; it gives clients past and present a platform to recommend you to others and to receive those all-important testimonials in a far simpler and more regular manor. That said if you aren’t fully confident yet in the product and/or service you offer it could lead to negative comments or complaints on your social media sites, so advertise what your proud of and know you can deliver.

Don’t be too afraid of negative reviews or comments in isolated cases that are brought up on social media; you can turn it around so they can work in your favour dependent on their nature i.e. late delivery, damaged product etc. A company is often judged more closely on how they rectify a mistake rather than when they more often than not get it right. People appreciate honesty, so don’t be scared of all negative comments online, just respond openly with your apology and resolution to right a wrong.

Social media channels all offer an analytics summary of your activity, so it’s never been simpler to track how you’re doing and take note of what posts are most popular with your followers to capitalise on and keep in mind for future posts/campaigns.

There is no denying how social media has transformed how businesses can connect and interact with potential clients all around the world, and the huge impact it’s had on marketing as a whole. It’s allowed SME’S (small to medium enterprises) to compete with larger competitors on a more even playing field, without needing to spend a fortune on advertising costs. Whatever your sector or target market, it’s worth considering.

Here at Kensa Creative, we got caught up for many years solely perfecting our lovely clients social media campaigns and neglecting our own, so we can identify with both sides closely and we are now putting our expertise to use on our own sites, making that all important time to interact with followers and encourage new ones whilst reaping the benefits. If you want inspiration for your own social media marketing campaigns get in touch or to hear about more marketing tips follow us!