Part 2 Social Media Question and Answer Series: What Do I Do If I Tried Using Social Media for My Business and Didn’t Get Any Results?
Social media marketing can bring a company an unprecedented level of success. The key is to utilize it correctly. Many companies tend to jump the social media ship if their efforts aren’t instantly rewarded. The main reason most companies initially fail to obtain results from their social media marketing campaigns is because they go into the endeavor without a strategy or even a set of solid goals. These same companies, however, can refocus their efforts with a few simple tips to help boost their online reputation.
Target Audience – Not all social media sites are created equal. Some are aimed at young people and some are aimed at more mature users. Some are based on specific interests and some prefer people with a variety of interests. The key is to research the range of social media networks to find the ones with the people that will most likely be attracted to your services. Marketing on the wrong social networks is a waste of time and resources if that particular site’s users aren’t directly interested in what you have to offer.
Keep it tight – Just because there may be twenty social networks that match your company’s criteria does not mean you should work on employing the uses of all of them. Devoting your social networking efforts to a few highly researched sites is much more valuable (in the long run) than straining to work on twenty of them.
Search Engine Optimization – Implementing SEO tactics is not only crucial to your company’s website, but also to any social media marketing it pursues. It is important to use words and terms that hold high value as search engine entries (i.e.- ensuring your company descriptions are accurate and well-worded, addresses are correct, staff lists are current, etc.) This way, search engines will be more likely to deem your company’s profiles “valuable” and list them higher in search results.
Content – When using social media marketing, the material posted on your company’s sites translates (whether consciously or not) to a direct reflection of your company’s beliefs and values. Utilizing timely, reputable sources of mixed media types (i.e.- magazine articles, YouTube videos, and/ or applicable graphics) helps solidify your company’s reputation and gain the trust (and hopeful business) of the profile viewers who consume it. That being said, it’s also important to remember to protect yourself from liability by limiting the amount of professional “advice” you make public. This simply translates to using more news than opinion-based material. Using a variety of posts keeps your page interesting and draws more users in to view it.
Recognize the Individual– It’s a conversation, not a commercial. Social media as a whole began, and remains, a very personal medium (ironic, we know). Profile viewers, especially if you ever want to engage in interacting with them, need to know that you (or your company) are interested in who they are as an individual- not just what you can sell them. Therefore, as we discussed in our blog on internet civility, it’s imperative that you remain attuned to any content profile viewers might deem offensive. Above all, you want to “connect” with other social media users, foster their education with your professional expertise, but don’t preach. Be receptive to their feedback and realize that you may just be able to learn something from them in the process that could strengthen your business. Drawing people in with your words rather than your services is an important first step to successful social networking.
The main factor to remember about social media is that it’s not an instant, guaranteed ticket to business success. Social media is only one part of an effective marketing strategy, and should work with the other marketing campaigns you already have in place. Fruitful social media campaigns take time to research, plan, implement, and grow before any tangible results can be obtained. The potential is there, but just as the case with business in a brick-and-mortar setting, social media campaigns are not going to grow your business unless you take the time and effort to properly plan and attend to any strategy you implement.
If you wish to learn more about digital marketing or have further questions about social media, visit the McCauley Marketing Services website and read our blog.