The plain truth is social media is becoming increasingly popular and people are becoming social media addicts. Small businesses can now no longer afford to neglect social media marketing and if they will be heavily losing sales to their competitors.
Small businesses must learn to be active on social media sites and develop an appropriate social media marketing strategy in keeping with the size and nature of their small business. Here are a few things every small business owner should know about social media:
- You have to necessarily devote time and be active – constantly updating and providing interesting and informative content on your site, your blog, and all your chosen social media sites. You must identify your target audience and you must be present where they are.
- Apart from updating and keeping your content fresh, you must be tolerant and be open to criticism as long as they are constructive. If a customer justifiably complains about your product/services, you must immediately respond and offer solutions. This will send a signal that you care for your customers. By offering your customers/prospects a forum to interact with you, you can build customer loyalty.
- Needless to say, social media is a place where you have to be social. This means you must initiate conversations, participate in discussions, answer queries and engage with your customers on regular basis. Make the most out of the time you spend online and attempt to forge robust relationships.
- Blogging is an extraordinary way to bring customers/prospects to your fold. You need to provide a lot of information about your business/ industry and rest assured people love to, read meaningful content. Do a bit of research before blogging. Try to get a feel of the nature of content users post and what type of posts attracts most interaction.
- Be selective and confine yourself only to few major social media platforms. Do not initially opt for too many social media sites and have a thin presence everywhere. This way you can never create the right type of impact. Select sites that are best suited for your business and where your prospects abound. Your target audience is out there on the social media wanting to buy your product/services. You must enable them to find you and then strategically build a robust relationship.