Social Media Marketing Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Nadine MullingsNadine Mullings

October

28 2013

21 Things You Must Do to Get Amazing Results from Your Social Media Marketing (Part 3)

In the last post of 21 Things You Must Do to Get Amazing Results from Your Social Media Marketing, I discussed 7 simple tips to grow your social networks organically, for this post, I will discuss how to grow your social networks using paid methods.

Each social network is different in the types of advertising that they offer, but it helps to look into the following options of advertising for the particular social network you are using.

Here are 7 simple tips to grow your social networks using paid methods:

Purchase an Ad– consider paying to place an ad that is targeted to reach your particular target market as a way to grow your network. The ad must have a good image and good copy to attract attention and get results.
Pay to Promote- this is a great way to use existing content that has gotten a good response from your followers and fans, and pay to promote that content to a larger audience. This can include a promoted post on Facebook, a promoted tweet on Twitter, a promoted pin on Pinterest, etc.
Sponsored Stories– This is popular on Facebook, sponsored stories are messages coming from friends about them engaging with a Page, app or event that a business, organization or individual has paid to highlight so there’s a better chance people see them. It allows you to promote a story on a person’s timeline, so if they liked your page it will say “Jane likes (the name of your business)” and allows people to click to your page to also like it or get more information.
Referral Marketing– connect with someone with a large audience that fits your target market, and ask him to promote your business, you can offer some type of incentive for each fan/follower you get from that particular person’s network. This may take a little bit of work to figure out the tracking and an appropriate incentive.
Create a Contest or Sweepstakes where someone will win something for connecting with you on social media. Depending on the prize the cost of this method could be minimal or expensive. You can use tools such as Constant Contact’s Social Campaigns or Woobox to create all the necessary pieces to execute the contest or sweepstakes correctly.
Promoted Profile– this is popular on Twitter. It allows you to pay to promote your profile so you can gain new followers. Promoted Accounts are suggested based on a user’s public list of whom they follow. When an advertiser promotes an account, Twitter’s algorithm looks at that account’s followers and determines other accounts that those users tend to follow. If a user follows some of those accounts, but not the advertiser’s account, then Twitter may recommend the advertiser’s Promoted Account to that user.
Promoted Page– this is popular on Facebook. You can pay to simply promote your page without having a special ad or offer. Your business page will show up for your target market as a suggested page to like.

What paid methods do you use to grow your social networks?

To download the complete checklist of 21 Things You Must Do in Order to Get Amazing Results from Your Social Media Click Here or go to 21 Things You Must Do in Order to Get Amazing Results from Your Social Media Marketing!

Posted by Nadine Mullings | Comments Off | in Business, Business Development, Marketing, Social Media

October

25 2013

21 Things You Must Do to Get Amazing Results from Your Social Media Marketing (Part 2)

In the last post of 21 Things You Must Do to Get Amazing Results from Your Social Media Marketing, I discussed 7 tips for creating engaging content on social media, for this post, I will discuss how to grow your social networks organically.

You can grow your social networks organically and/or pay for exposure via advertising on various social networks. Organic growth is the most affordable because you don’t have to pay money for it, and if you consistently post good content, you will be able to easily grow your network organically.

Here are 7 simple tips to grow your social networks organically.

Offline Tips:

Encourage people to connect with you online by placing your social network information on your business card. If you are out networking and meeting new people, then your business card is a great promotional tool to promote and encourage connecting with you on social networks.
If you do speaking engagements for your business, be sure to promote connecting with you on your social networks by placing your social network information at the beginning and/or at the end of your presentation.
If you have a retail space or an office that is open to the public, place signs around your establishment encouraging your customers to connect with you on social networks.

Online Tips:

4. Promote connecting with you on social networks by adding links to your social networks on your e-mail signature line. You probably send out tons of e-mails every day, adding your social networks to your e-mail signature is an easy and effective way to promote connecting with you.

5. Email your current customers inviting them to join you on a social network. It helps to offer some type of incentive for joining like a discount, coupon, e-Book, report, checklist, etc.

6. Encourage your current fans and followers on your social networks to promote your page to their network.

7. Post good content and encourage your network to share your information with their network, by asking them to like, share, retweet, repin, etc.

What techniques and ways do you use to organically grow your social networks?

Just as equally important as growing your social networks organically, is strategically using paid methods to grow your social networks. The next blog post in this series will discuss how to grow your social networks using affordable paid methods . Stay tuned for the next blog post or click here to download the complete checklist of 21 Things You Must Do in Order to Get Amazing Results from Your Social Media Marketing!

Posted by Nadine Mullings | Comments Off | in Business, Business Development, Marketing, Social Media

October

09 2013

3 C’s to Get Amazing Results from Social Media Marketing

Over the last eight years or so, Social Media has become very popular for personal use and business use. Businesses are learning how to use various social networks to reach out to current customers and get new prospects just by having an active presence on social media. Some businesses are doing this very successfully, and other businesses not so much!

In order to be successful with your social media marketing it is important to keep the 3 C’s of Social Media in mind. In this blog post, I will be go through the 3 C’s and why each one is important to your success on Social Media:

3 “CON”s:

CONnections- The reason why your business is on social media is to connect with people. These people could be your current customers and also potential customers. Your goal with your connections is to make sure you are connecting to people who are interested in your company and what you have to offer. When you keep this in mind, you concentrate on the quality and not the quantity of your fans or followers. It is more important to have 100 people who are interested in what you have to say than 1,000 people who couldn’t care less. When you concentrate on strategies to grow your network organically then you naturally attract individuals who are interested in your business.

CONversations- No matter what social network your business may be on, it is important that you are not TALKING TO or TALKING AT people, but you are STARTING CONVERSATIONS. The whole point of social networks is to be “Social” and the best way to be social is by having engaging conversations with people. Treat your followers and fans like a best friend that you are talking to online. When you create a conversation in a way that is geared to a more one on one feel, people will feel more connected to you and your business. Make sure your conversations are entertaining, informative and not “salesy”, nobody likes to feel “sold to”.

CONversions- your goal on social media should really be for your customers to become more loyal and your prospective customers to learn more about your business. The best way to accomplish this is to convert them to your other online marketing channels where you can build an even strong relationship. The three best places to convert your social media followers to are your website, your blog, and your e-mail list.

When you convert them to your website, they are able to learn more about your company and what you have to offer and if your website is designed correctly, they will also have an opportunity to purchase products or services they may be interested in, and/or sign-up for your e-mail list. Converting individuals to your e-mail list is important because you are able to create a strong relationship with an individual via e-mail because e-mail is more one-to-one while social networks tend to be one to many. The one-to-one areas are where you tend to create trust and this can help you build your business. Lastly, you want to convert your followers/fans to your blog because your blog is where you showcase your expertise and where people can learn from you. When someone is learning from you, they are more likely to buy from you.

Bonus C:

CONsistency- any marketing activity that you do, it is important for you to be consistent. If you are not consistent with your efforts, you will not see consistent results. Whether you decide to post several times a day, once a day, every other day, etc. be sure to do it consistently. This shows you are committed to building your relationship with your customers and prospects customers, and also show that your company is reliable.

What strategies for social media marketing success do you have for your company? Be sure to share your comments below.

Posted by Nadine Mullings | Comments Off | in Marketing, Social Media, Uncategorized

August

05 2013

Top 7 Reasons Why Your Social Media Marketing Efforts Don’t Work

Are you seeing the results you want from your social media marketing efforts? Many companies have reported that they have not seen significant results from their social media efforts, so I put together a list of the top 7 reasons your social media efforts may not be working for you:

You don’t know your target market. In order to be effective on any medium online or offline, you have to know your target audience. By knowing who you are talking to, you can cater your content to the needs of your target market. Take an in depth look into your target market including demographics (gender, age, income level, etc.) and psychographics (interests, likes, dislikes, etc.) and base your social media marketing on the needs of your target market.
You don’t have a plan. Many companies randomly post on social media sites without having a social media strategy or plan. Your goal should be to have a plan. Your plan should include a written strategy on what you would like to accomplish on that particular social network, a content calendar that shows what you will be promoting each month, and key indicators that you will use to judge the success of your social media marketing efforts.
You don’t post good content. Once you know your target market and you have a plan, you should be posting good content that your target audience will find entertaining, educating, and informative. Only a small percentage of what you post on social media should be a direct promotion of your product or service.
You don’t post consistently. Whether you decide to post daily or weekly depending on your strategy and the platform you are on, you have to be consistent about posting. There are many social media tools that can help you by enabling you to schedule your posts ahead of time. One of the most popular, and my favorite is HootSuite. This FREE tool can help you organize your posts and schedule when you want your posts to go out along with other features that they offer to manage your social networks.
You don’t have a strong call to action. When you do post about your product or service, make sure you have a strong call to action, tell your followers, fans, or friends exactly what you want them to do so that you can directly see the results of that promotion. It could be, “bring this coupon in for X”, or “register to attend this event”, or “download this eBook”, etc.
You’re not having conversations. Much of what happens on social media is conversational, so your posts should be conversational topics. You should also be responding to any comments to your posts to keep the conversation going.
You’re not participating in social listening. Social listening can be just as important, if not more important, than the social content that you post. Using tools like Google Alert will help you to be aware of what people are saying about your products and services, your industry, your competitors, etc. You can learn a lot by just listening to what people are saying and either responding directly or using that information to help create the content that your target market would find useful

What techniques do you use to make sure you are getting the best results from your social media marketing efforts?

Posted by Nadine Mullings | Comments Off | in Business, Marketing, Networking, Social Media, Uncategorized