Is like going through the back door, when their guard is down. There is a vast audience of waiting participants waiting there which is the Social Web, that’s proving to be an effective and a low-cost method of showcasing your business brand and moving it forward.
Broadcasting your brand by using social media sites allows you to strengthen your existing contacts while developing new relationships, which leads towards effective word of mouth advertising, increased loyalty, and magnified brand awareness.
But where to begin. The prospects of doing so can be daunting at best, but like anything else, the process involves a bit of sweat equity by building a solid foundation and then putting together the pieces.
Once you begin developing your online destinations and connecting them with those who influence, you can then begin building your brand which in turn boosts your business.
Creating An Online Destination With Your Brand
In the attempts of initially raising the awareness of your brand loyalty quotient, companies are doing so by successfully using social media. They are able to surround their current and potential customers with memorable online experiences, which allows them to select how they want to interact with their product or brand.
So it’s recommended that to promote your product, experiment by using the following inexpensive and free mediums, such as: Google+, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn etc., and then apply a bit of elbow grease by forming social bonds. These sites are the most common and popular for good reason.
But since the majority of small businesses don’t have the manpower, resources, knowledge, or the time to effectively manage all of these destinations, test to determine which of the social media outlets will most likely work for your particular situation, and then make them your core method of attack.
Establishing Your Online Entry Points
One of the most effective methods of establishing your branded online destinations is by consistently publishing useful relevant content which adds value to your readers.
The goal is publishing information which people will want to talk about or share with their friends, or with their own customers. What this creates is additional avenues for others to find your branded destinations, while also increasing your rankings because of the backlinks that’s been created.
For instance, if you have a blog which has, say, over 100 pages of useful content and articles pertaining to your product, brand, or service, what you’re offering are initially 100 ways on how search engines can find your site.
So if you continue to write a new post once or twice a day for an entire year, you’ll then have anywhere from 350 to 700 ways on which Google can index your site which features and highlights your brand, service, or business website.
Finding Your Target Audience And Then Drawing Them To You
Where does your most focused ideal target audience spend their time. What you need to do is find them and then begin spending time with them. You’ll need to start going to these areas of the Web as well, and begin engaging in the conversation.
You can begin by conducting a Google or Facebook search by using specific keywords which your ideal consumers would most likely use when searching for a product which is similar to yours. Follow the exact path which these consumers are likely to use, and then you’ll most likely be able to find them.
Join the online forums and blogs, begin writing posts and publish your comments, or answer any questions. Once that particular audience begins to trust you, and they realize that you’re there to offer your knowledge and not to self-promote, you can then begin leading them towards your own core branded online destination.
Giving More Than Receiving
Gaining success in social media marketing is all about being as useful and trustworthy as possible while developing peer relationships. If you spend the majority of your time just promoting yourself, telling everyone how great you are, how much money you’ve made or are making, basically gloating, then no one will care, listen, or read.
So this isn’t just a short-term tactic to get that quick sale, but rather a long-term strategy which can deliver sustainable and repeatable organic growth through constant and consistent participation.
It’s always best to use the well known 80-20 rule when it comes to social media marketing. Spend 20% percent or so of your time promoting your product, service, or brand, while spending the other 80 percent on non-promotional activities. You’ll then eventually begin to see your business grow because of your efforts. It takes patience and strategically leveraging these fundamentals.
Connecting With Those Who Influence
When you’re searching for your target audience and where they’re located, you should also be identifying who all of the online influences are and then get on their radar. To do so, try leaving comments on their blog posts or Facebook postings, begin following them on Twitter and then re-tweet their content.
The key is that they know who you are, your name, and what you do. Make sure that they understand the value that you can add to the online conversation. What this does is it also exposes you to their audience as well.