Social media is a powerful technology but it’s also misunderstood. In its simplest form, social media is a way to connect with old friends from childhood or college and a way to share snippets of your daily life. In its more complex form, social media is a unique way to market your business and products to the entire world in a short amount of time. While you can take months or years to study the intricacies of social media and craft business strategies, there are three common myths about social media that business owners can dispel today.
Expanding your reach is certainly a goal for business owners in all types of companies - that is what yields more sales and clients, which equals increased income. However, the real question to ask before signing up for every platform is: Where is my ideal client? Using Facebook just because it has over 1 billion users doesn’t mean those 1 billion users will find you and start purchasing. Identify your ideal client and find out where they hang out. Those are the platforms you should use. The Ideal Client Worksheet from Next Level U can help you build a clear profile of who you want your marketing message delivered to. Download it for FREE here!
It’s always fun to see a post go viral as they are usually entertaining or thought provoking, but of the viral campaigns you’ve noticed recently, could you say what company sponsored them? I can’t either. Aim to provide value in your posts mixed in with some of your personality as opposed to aiming for shock or entertainment value. Your ideal client wants to learn from you so your valuable lesson will be heard and remembered long after the latest viral video fades away. To use a baseball metaphor: a series of base hits will score more points than a single homerun.
It sure is an ego boost to see a large number of social media followers but are these followers interacting with you? Are they liking or sharing? Are they leaving comments? If not, then chances are they are not your ideal client and chances are they will never purchase one of your packages. Evaluate your own posts; it’s quite possible they are not relevant to your reader and that’s the reason for no response. Be more creative with your posts and watch for audience interaction. This directs back to the need for really knowing who your ideal customer is. You’re not appealing to everyone; you’re appealing to a small fraction of the world’s population. Pay attention to finding that demographic and the number of engaged audience members will follow, as will the profits.
If you are a small business owner (or want to be one), whether you are just starting out, or have been in business for awhile, I hope you will become part of the Next Level family. Visit our Facebook page (www.Facebook.com/NextLevelAd) for tips, tools, and resources to help grow your business. We now have a Facebook Group, Next Level U, for those who are interested in joining a private community of small business owners and marketers.
To your success!
Laura
Some of the links in this publication are Affiliate Links, meaning that – at no additional cost to you – Next Level Advertising may earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. Please know that when you see an Affiliate link from Next Level Marketing it is for a product or service that we use ourselves or that we have thoroughly researched and reviewed!
Laura Olson-Oxley is an entrepreneur, coach, speaker, marketing and business consultant, and sales professional. She has over 25 years experience working with small businesses in a variety of industries, focusing on strategic business growth through effective marketing and advertising. Also a strategist, numbers nut, project manager, and life-long learner, Laura looks at the big picture to analyze and recommend the most effective tools to take businesses to the Next Level.
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