A Real Social Media Marketing Expert Can be Hard to Find
Social media marketing is a mystery to many business owners because the term is not specific. Social media marketing can mean anything from doing a few meaningless tweets to developing and implementing a complete and integrated plan that generates revenue and new customers.
Social media marketing experts are popping out all over the place so how does a business owner know how to pick a real expert from someone just trying to earn a fast buck? The other question is what is social media marketing and how will it help my business grow?
What is Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing includes the use of social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, press releases, articles, podcasts and more to promote your business and get to know your customers. Sometimes it is even necessary to monitor these platforms to prevent negative things going out over social media and even untrue statements being spread across the Internet.
Most often social media marketing is used to reach potential customers that might not be available through other more traditional advertising and marketing resources. It requires a different approach, systems, and tactics to be effective. All businesses today should have a social media marketing plan included in their larger Internet marketing plan. The key to successful marketing in our new digital world is to include digital media in all of you promotional and marketing efforts.
Websites that Are True Marketing Tools
The combination of a website designed to be a true marketing tool by providing a method for your business to collect the names and emails of potential customers who visit your site and the use of social media marketing to drive people to that site is a proven strategy to increase your company’s sales and customer contact list. People do not usually decide to purchase on the first contact so it is imperative that you are able to continue to market to and provide added value to your potential customer base.
Building a larger customer list should be one of the goals of a social media marketing campaign. Your first goal with social media is to provide information and insight that is of value to people participating in social media sites. It is called social media because it is a place where people with common interests communicate and share ideas. Your goal is to join the conversation and add relevant input to it to the level that viewers want to find out more and choose to visit your site and offer their contact information to get a report, eBook, teleclass, or report that they desire.
SEO Alone is Not Enough
The world of the Internet has changed and it is more than likely that your website will not get top search engine ranking through search engine optimization alone. It is now necessary to drive people to your website through various uses of social media marketing and have a way to move the customer from the social media site to your contact list so that you can continue to market to them and provide added value throughout the buying process.
Hiring a Social Media Marketing Expert
Before you hire a “Social Media Marketing Expert” make sure that they give you a written plan outlining how they are going to accomplish the goals outlined in this article. Simply throwing out Tweets and Facebook updates is not enough. You should also ensure that your website is a true marketing website that has a method for collecting visitor contact information.