Marketing your Small Business using Social Media

Marketing your Small Business using Social Media

Conference Speakers -

There is a huge shift and transformation going on in the online world. Social media has made an interesting and very effective marketing medium available to small business. This gives clever marketers a free tool to not only communicate with their market place, but to also receive feedback almost instantly as well. This feedback is a fantastic way of getting to understand the needs within your market and to get to understand new or changing trends that you can turn into opportunities.

Social media allows people in your market to communicate with the person behind the product. The smart marketers must understand the soft triggers within their markets and must direct their message toward influencing people to want to purchase your product. Customers can get involved in a conversation with a real person and if they need support they will be communicating with someone that can assist them, either by phone or email.

The real art of using social media to market your business is not about starting a facebook page, writing a daily blog or tweeting throughout the day. It is about emotion, listening and communicating to a select few people that want what you have to offer for sale.

Building massive lists of people that do not need what you offer is pointless and will merely consume your valuable time. Success in social media is not about the size of your lists on facebook, twitter and your blog. It is all about how you manage to convert the people on your lists into long term customers. Use technology to speak to the right people and awaken their emotion. Get them to know, like, trust and see value in what you have to offer and you will become very successful.

To successfully market your business using social media, requires thought, planning and a commitment to listen to the conversation on facebook, twitter and LinkedIN. When you get a feel for where the people that would use your products and services can be found and you understand what they want. Then and only then is it time to become part of the conversation.

It would also serve you well to take a look at the corporate trend setters such as Kodak, dell computers and Starbucks. Take a look at what they are doing with blogs, facebook fan pages, their strategy on twitter and YouTube. They are all doing a pretty good job of using all these forms of media to promote their companies. Observing what they are up to, will give you a great background and feel for what is working right now.

Dell for example uses their facebook fan page to build loyalty with their customers. www.facebook.com/DellSocialMedia This page was created to offer a social media resource that allows Dell to target a demographic outside of their traditional market. The Coco Cola fan page on facebook is run by two people not employed by Coca Cola. www.facebook.com/cocacola was a page started by two fans of Coca Cola. They rewarded the two people that started the page with a free trip to Altanta for their efforts in starting the page. This free trip was widely publicized as Coca Cola was hoping that more people would become loyal fans too.

If you are to succeed with the social media strategy, you must be authentic, passionate and you must be transparent in all your communications. When you commit to make social media work for your business you cannot just dip your toe in to the conversation pool and hope to become successful. You must commit to become a leader and be viewed as an expert in your field. Constantly provide good quality content and lead your conversations with integrity.
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