By Justin Sachs
Social media has been the game changer in almost everything that surrounds us. With the birth of social platforms, custom targeting of prospective customers is easier than ever. One of the greatest innovations of technology is social media, not just in our ability to communicate but in our ability to market directly to those we want to reach.
At my company, we are so specific with whom we target that we even identify our prospect by the books they are reading, the movies they are watching, and the industry experts they are a fan of. We guide our clients on how to significantly expand their reach to those that best match their customer profile. One of the best features social media marketing has for businesses today is its low barrier to entry. Gone are the days where a business is required to spend thousands of dollars on advertising to reach its prospect. You can now reach your audience spending as little as five dollars per week!
But which platforms are the best for businesses to use? In order to create a successful social strategy, you have to be familiar with how they work. We've provided a list of our favorite platforms for marketing our business and acquiring new clients.
1. Facebook
With more than 1.59 billion users, Facebook comprises of the largest blend of demographics of any social platform. It provides an extraordinary medium for your business to connect with your prospective customers all around the world. And from an advertising perspective, it's the easiest to manage and allows for the best possible targeting. We use Facebook Ads to match our current buyers with over two million similar prospects who possess similar characteristics. We then push them to an opt-in page where we can capture their name and email.
2. Twitter
Twitter's value lies in its ability for your posts to go viral: the more people share your posts and "retweet" your content, the more followers you will attain. We post recent news, updates and articles we have in major media. Hashtags make a big difference in building momentum for your posts, so pay attention to what is trending today and include relevant hashtags. We also retweet people who have many followers to increase the likelihood of them following us back.
3. LinkedIn
If you are working in a B2B field, this is the social media network for you to focus on. Connecting with business professionals in any industry is easiest with LinkedIn as it allows you to target them by industry, job title, etc. As with all social media, LinkedIn prioritizes relationship building more than any other. Don't lead with a sales pitch; start by building a connection. One of the best features for businesses are LinkedIn Groups. Businesses should establish Groups in your target niche or industry and invite others in your target market to join.
At my company, we focus on building new relationships with key prospects whose professional titles we've identified. For example, we'll search "CEO Speaker" to find people who are the heads of their companies and who also are active speakers.
4. Instagram
We use this popular photo-sharing platform at events and tradeshows. Whenever we're hosting events, we always have an incentive for the attendees to post photos to Instagram using our event hashtag. We'll also offer a free giveaway or raffle for those who participate.
5. Pinterest
Only use this channel if you have great images to share. Quality images are likely to go viral on this site due to its visual nature. If your image is pinned by a highly-followed member, it has the potential to be viewed by millions. It's also great for promoting products. We post photos of book covers and images with quotes accredited to our authors to promote their books. Adding the Amazon link to their books also helps boost sales.
6. YouTube
Aside from being the second largest search engine, YouTube is owned by Google. So when it comes to search engine optimization, videos are more likely to appear in search results than other websites. With Google's acquisition of YouTube, we use Google Hangouts On Air to do interviews with our authors and industry leaders. Then our interview is automatically posted to YouTube under our account for added visibility.
7. Yelp
Yelp is critical for businesses today. If you don't have an active strategy to build reviews on Yelp, your customers may do it for you soon enough. All it takes is one poor review to harm your abilities to build your social platform. Asking your customers to review your business on Yelp prevents any negative review from standing out. We hold campaigns to get our authors to post reviews about us on Yelp in return for a reward. For example, if they post a review, we'll offer them 10 percent off their next order or give them an added service.
It's up to you which among these platforms will likely be a marketing paradise for your business. Just remember that it is not just the social media site that you have to check, but the compatibility it has for your business.
Justin Sachs is a highly-sought-after business and marketing expert and CEO of Motivational Press, an industry-leading book publishing company.
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