Website design By BotEap.comSocial Media Marketing is now an essential component of any company’s marketing plan. Anyone who has a product or service that needs promotion can turn to Social Media Marketing to present it, share it, get feedback, engage with consumers, and ultimately sell.

Website design By BotEap.comAsk any business owner what or who their best quality leads are and they’ll probably tell you ‘references’. Referrals are generated from a person sharing their experience with another person within their SOCIAL circle.

Website design By BotEap.comAnd this is the power of Social Media Marketing. By placing yourself or your company in a social space, you increase your chances of receiving more business because someone is found, searched, read about or referred directly to you.

Website design By BotEap.comBut like any marketing platform, there are always certain principles to adhere to and pitfalls to avoid. In this article we are focusing on the 4 steps to success in Social Media Marketing…

Website design By BotEap.comStep 1: WHO?

Website design By BotEap.comAny well-planned marketing campaign must start with the question, who are we targeting? If you are an accountant promoting to teenagers, how successful will your campaign be? You have to know who is likely to want or even better; NEED your product or service.

Website design By BotEap.comOnce you determine who you are targeting, EVERYTHING in your marketing material, whether online or offline, needs to be fully aligned with this target market. This includes the fonts used, images, language style, colors, offers, and the general psychology behind your campaign.

Website design By BotEap.comIf not, you are likely to have little success with your social marketing campaign.

Website design By BotEap.comStep 2: HOW?

Website design By BotEap.comThe next essential step for a successful social marketing campaign is determining how you will reach your target market.

Website design By BotEap.comEach of the four major social networking websites lends itself to different marketing opportunities. Depending on the type of campaign you plan to start, it will determine which social website will be the most suitable.

Website design By BotEap.comThe four most popular social websites are Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter. If you plan to use all four sites to market your product or service, having a thorough understanding of each is essential to ensure your campaign is successful.

Website design By BotEap.comStep 3: OFFER

Website design By BotEap.comWithout an offer or incentive, a social marketing campaign falls under the ‘brand’ category. And how can the brand be measured? you can not

Website design By BotEap.comA successful marketing campaign, whether online or offline, must be measurable. If you spend ‘x’ amount of time or money on a campaign, it should return measurable results in terms of dollars or leads created.

Website design By BotEap.comYour offer must include these elements if you are going to generate a sale or lead…

Website design By BotEap.comOnly – Why would someone accept your offer if they can get the same or a similar offer elsewhere?

Website design By BotEap.comScarce – We value things that are scarce. Why is gold so valuable? Because there isn’t much of that.

Website design By BotEap.comDate of Expiry – having an offer available all year will not create the motivation in your prospect to ‘get it now before it’s too late’.

Website design By BotEap.comImportant – fonts, colors, images, layout, etc. of your online marketing must be aligned with your target market.

Website design By BotEap.comQualify – Not everyone who comes across your offer will be qualified. In addition to needing the money to pay for your product or service, they must also be motivated to act today (or whatever timeframe works best for their business model).

Website design By BotEap.comStep 4: STRATEGY

Website design By BotEap.comA successful social marketing campaign must have one or more strategies in place to ensure that the target market follows your sales process.

Website design By BotEap.comWhat does your marketing funnel look like for each strategy for each social media website? Will you have a strategy that simply sparks the prospect’s interest by getting them to visit your website? Do you have another strategy that works well for the sale? What about an email marketing strategy that gives the customer time to build trust and motivation to buy your product or service? Will you have a follow-up telemarketing service to increase conversion rates of incoming leads?

Website design By BotEap.comThese are all important questions to answer and implement solutions if you want to maximize the results of your social marketing campaign.

Website design By BotEap.comMany business owners believe that they simply need to ‘be’ on social media for it to magically happen for them. They believe that prospects will somehow flow through their virtual doors to get their product or service. This is simply not realistic.

Website design By BotEap.comA social marketing campaign must be integrated with one or more traditional sales and marketing techniques if you want to maximize your results.

Website design By BotEap.comNow that you know the four steps to a successful social marketing campaign, use this article as a checklist before, during, and after implementing your campaign to determine what went well and what could be improved in your next campaign.