If you’ve been running a business for any length of time, by now you’ll know how effective social media marketing can be. If you’re creating content on a regular basis, social media can be a handy, free distribution channel, as long as you have a big enough network. When it comes to social media marketing, the bigger your network, the more opportunities there will be for people to see your content and engage with your business.
Building up your social media network can take time, but here are a few tips to help you speed up the process on the main three platforms and give your social media marketing a jump start.
Facebook is the staple of social media marketing strategy for many businesses, especially those who are marketing B2C. Recently Facebook has evolved from being a free way for businesses to get their content out there to relying more on paid advertising. This doesn’t mean it isn’t effective or that you can’t grow your network organically, but it does take a bit more work.
Some great Facebook strategies include running competitions, posting great content that attracts likes and integrating your Facebook page with your website so that it’s easy for your blog readers to like posts. You can also encourage people to like your content with pop up boxes and call to action buttons on your blog or website.
Twitter may seem a bit out-dated and it lacks many of the bells and whistles of other social media platforms, but it has an enormous following and can be a great platform on which to move your content quickly. The distribution of content through Twitter can build links to your site and help your rankings, as well as giving your business more exposure.
There are a few things you can do to increase your followers on Twitter, including following more people yourself and using hashtags to join in conversations that might be relevant to your business. Retweeting valuable content from other people and letting them know by using the @ symbol can be a good way to get their attention and increase the chances of them becoming followers. The more often you tweet the more you will appear in your followers streams, so make sure you tweet regularly.
LinkedIn
LinkedIn is often overlooked when it comes to social media marketing, but it can be a valuable resource especially for B2B marketers. There is quite a lot of good content on LinkedIn and by adding your own you can be more visible and grow your connections.
When it comes to building your connections on LinkedIn, you need to work at it consistently. Regularly invite new people to connect with you by sending personalised invitations, join in discussions and stay active in at least a few relevant industry groups. Make sure you have links to your blog and website in your LinkedIn profile – this can help you build your credibility.
Spending a bit of time working on your social media networks can pay off in the long run, especially when it comes to distributing your content and getting more exposure for your business.
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About the Author:
Jo Macdermott is the Chief Marketing Consultant at Next Marketing in Melbourne. She has 15 years of marketing experience, is a Certified Practising Marketer and is a sought after marketing media commentator. Jo specialises in working with small and medium businesses. Follow her on Twitter here.