Web Marketing Strategy Update

Social media has become the gathering place of the modern world. Less than a century ago, cities, towns and communities were smaller and families were larger; people gathered in marketplaces to buy, sell, gossip, debate, worship, and interact. This meant that your product or business, if it was good, was guaranteed success if the customers liked it. “Word of mouth” was really the best (and only) form of marketing available.

That hasn’t changed; instead it is the platform on which people communicate that has changed. Understanding the mechanisms of social media can help you build your brand and get people talking about it, virtually and physically!

Be visible on all the major social media platforms

Make sure that you don’t only have a Facebook or twitter account, but that your business is also visible and easy to engage with on multiple platforms. Most young people use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, YouTube, and many more several times a day. It is also important to realise that different social media platforms are used for different kinds of communication. You can use Facebook to post more content-rich material, while Twitter is for short, sharp announcements and links.

If you spend enough time on these sites you’ll learn that different kinds of language are responded to on different sites. Twitter is known for sharp witticism and debate, so if you package your marketing in such a way, you are likely to attract more followers there. Make sure that your accounts are linked, i.e., post links to Facebook on Twitter, and make sure tweets appear on Facebook. This is so that potential customers can choose to follow your business on more than one platform.

Pinterest might be the more appropriate platform for a specific post, (if you want to show off excellently photographed products in a beautiful space), whereas Facebook might be the best platform to get followers to comment on them. Or, if you put an ad on YouTube, you might want to disable comments on that site, but allow comment if you post the link on Facebook.

Engage with your followers

Nobody likes feeling ignored. When you reply to complaints made on your Facebook page, followers are more likely to trust your brand. You can also use the platform to get your followers to tell you where they would like the brand to go. Get them to vote on their favourite colours or shapes for future products. It’s a wonderful way to do marketing research, as you have direct access to people who use your product, and most people enjoy feeling included! Tweeters love being retweeted and they will continue to engage with you if you engage with them. After all, being retweet can potentially get them new followers and it also shows your current followers that your brand is popular and talked about.

One Golden Rule

Never engage in antisocial behaviour on social media sites, even if you are simply responding to a rude commenter. When followers post insensitive material you can easily block them, but you can do your brand an incredible amount of damage if a rude comment goes viral.

Louisa Theart writes for Regs to Riches; which provides business tips, especially for small business owners.

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Direct Effects

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