Five Golden Rules for Social Media Success.

Some of the most frequently asked questions towards Social Media is how to make it work to generate web traffic and ROI (Return On Investment). Many searches occur on Google from businesses looking to get to understand the source of Social Media and how it works to improve brand exposure online and it is still a topic that mystifies many. Unlike other forms of marketing where over the years the general public have accepted quotes such as:

Advertise on our radio channel, we’ve got two million listeners or:

Take a full page colour advert, our magazine goes out to 20,000 readers or:

Let us build you a new website, it will engage your browsers for longer.

For some reason Social Media and it’s 1 billion audience doesn’t seem to appeal as much even though you can say:

With time and effort you can build a live target audience on social media that you can market to at your convenience or:

A correctly scripted and filmed video placed on YouTube can go viral and make your brand famous in days.

So, let us at Marketme give you our five golden rules for Social Media success that might get you thinking that you are potentially missing out on the next big thing in digital marketing:

1. The content that you deliver is key. Think about how your clients think as nowdays they are experts in anything they research as information online is readily available. Stay clear from describing your business how you see it, explain what you do in a way that your potential clients wants to see it.
2. Study when and on which platform content should be delivered. Where is your target audience and what time of day are they active. Many clients are best active during the evening when they are on ‘second screens’ and weekends. What social media platform is best for your business and where is your target audience to engage with them?
3. Where are you sending people after communicating with them on social media? There is no point in building relationships on social media to send them to a half finished website or any other web page that does look professional and trustworthy as this will simply increase your bounce rate and potentially lose you interaction on social media and even negative feedback.
4. Create related groups, pages, hashtags and even awards. Been seen as the guru from within your industry across social media. The likes of Facebook and Linkedin allow you to create groups and fan pages so think about topics that relate to your industry and build communities that will in turn create brand awareness for your business. For example, if you are an estate agent in Manchester, create a group on Facebook dedicated to ‘lifestyle in Manchester’ or ‘The best places to shop in Manchester’ as this is likely to attract a local target audience. If you are really feeling confident then stretch to awards and rewarding other businesses on social media, ie research #SBS, #SmartSocial #WOW on Twitter.
5. Remain active. People study the activity of accounts on social media when deciding to both follow / like and also if they should or shouldn’t communicate directly with Tweets / Posts etc. You can not expect to Tweet frequently on day and then not log back in for several months and remember… If you are not present on social media to talk about your business then someone else will be out there!