An interactive guide on social media marketing for newbies.
Social Media Marketing – What Is It?
Social media marketing is another way of increasing awareness of yourself, your products, or your services using various social media networks.
Any social media marketing campaign’s ultimate purpose is to generate traffic to a website, boost the visibility of a product, attract more social media followers, or find new customers.
Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram, and LinkedIn are the most prominent social media networks nowadays.
The Significance of Social Media Marketing?
Social media marketing is crucial for the following reasons:
It’s the latest marketing tool – In the past, marketers noticed that many people spent time in their cars travelling, so they developed billboards on the highways. People nowadays spend a lot of time on social media, so as a marketer, you need to adopt this mindset as well.
It’s the quickest way to get the word out about a new product, service, or piece of news. A tweet can become viral on the internet in moments, spreading a message faster than television or any other traditional media.
It is a trend: millions of individuals invest significant hours per day on social media platforms, so you know where to access them if you need them.
Social media marketing is the latest advertising medium. According to recent surveys, social media is becoming a wonderful sales channel, with an increasing number of businesses claiming that they obtain consumers via Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.
Social Media Marketing Tips For Starters
How can you take advantage of social media? How can beginners build a proper social media presence fast?
Below are 10 tips to get you started:
1. Determine which social media platform(s) will be used.
As a newbie on social media, you should focus on one or two social media platforms rather than attempting to work on all platforms simultaneously. This is a common mistake made by people who are just starting. As a result, they give up without reaping any benefit. Finding influencers and analysing where they have success is a good method to figure out which platform is best suited to your niche.
Do your research and identify who are the leaders in your niche, and look at the number of followers they have. Also, before choosing which social media platform to ride on, do your research and see which platform would better suit your business as each social media serves different demographics.
2. Optimize your social media profiles
Once you’ve decided which social media platforms you’ll utilise (at least initially), the next step is to improve your profiles on those sites. Optimizing your profiles increases your chances of gaining more followers and is also an excellent method to help your SEO efforts.
The following are some general rules that apply to all sites:
- Social media is all about connecting people, and if you want to be trustworthy, you must come out of your shell and put your face out there. Refrain using animals, places, or anything else that isn’t real. Instead, use a photo of yourself that shows your face.
- If you have a website, include the link. Include a link in the ‘About section’ of your Facebook page, and the ‘Website Section’ of your Twitter and Pinterest profiles. To put it another way, leverage your social media presence for SEO as well.
3. Link all of your social media profiles to your website or blog.
Once you’ve finished creating your social media profiles, the following step is to connect your website to your social media pages. Each platform has its policy that must be followed, and you must do so appropriately. When the two are properly linked, search engines and social media websites understand which website corresponds to which social media page.
4. Make social media links available on your website.
Aside from linking your website to the appropriate business sites on social media, you should also include social media buttons on your website so that people can simply share your material. Keep the buttons above the fold as a general rule of thumb to improve exposure, and remember that larger buttons generate more clicks than smaller buttons.
5. Maintain a healthy balance of followers and followers.
When you start following individuals, bear in mind that it’s best to maintain a balance between the number of people you follow and the number of people that follow you back.
This is crucial, particularly on Twitter and Instagram, for a variety of reasons:
- This ratio (followers/following) is used by algorithm tools to create recommendations on ‘who to follow,’ therefore if you have a very high ratio, you reduce your chances of gaining new quality followers.
- A well-balanced profile is preferable for SEO – In this situation, a strong profile is someone who has more followers than followers and is followed by people who are regarded influencers in the area.
6. Publish interesting content (text, images, videos)
This is where a good social media marketing campaign begins. We often say that ‘content is king’ when it comes to publishing, and this is also true in social media. You can boost the number of re-shares, visitors to your website, and, in certain situations, purchasers if you offer interesting and valuable material.
7. Post frequently throughout the day, but don’t overdo it.
The most common question from a newbie exploring social media marketing is, “How many times should I post every day?”. You don’t want to overload your audience, therefore it completely depends on the social media platform you’re using.
8. Follow Back
Most people are concerned with how to gain new followers, but often overlook the importance of following back those who have previously followed them. Every day, make it a practice to look at who is already following you and determine whom to follow back. If you don’t do this regularly, some people will unfollow you, hence why you may notice a drop in the number of followers from time to time.
9. Engage With Your Followers
When someone leaves a comment on your post, take some time to reply and interact with them. This will help you build a rapport with your followers and build trust.
Creating and managing a social media account can be tedious especially if you do not have the time at your disposal. That is why we at Innovative Hub are here to help ease some of your work. Contact us today to get started.