How Social Media Marketing Can
Benefit Your Business
By Joel Peart
"The Facebook", as
my mother calls it, sends her into a state of nervousness as soon as it's
mentioned. It's as if she's just been asked to pilot a mission to Mars by NASA.
Although it's associated with the younger generations, Facebook should not
strike fear into the hearts of those who aren't familiar with it. Instead, they
should embrace it and allow it to cast a rainbow in their life. And as for
those who "don't do Facebook"... shame on you. Since I personally
arrived on "Facey B" back in '04, I've witnessed first-hand the dizzy
heights to which it has grown. I've also witnessed, like many of you, the weird
and wonderful, the mesmerising and beautiful and, quite frankly, the utterly
insane. Yet, I wouldn't change it for the world. Throughout my student years
Facebook was a sanctuary of escapism. Distracting me from my devilish
dissertation, it allowed me to procrastinate in peace. Nowadays, it's much more
than that. Facebook can inspire, influence and educate - it's a powerful animal
and a great marketing tool, as long as it's used effectively. They key is to
hold no fear and explore the freedom.
Facebook
& relevance... does it matter? Not from what I've seen. Some
of the most watched, liked and shared posts are rather ridiculous or absurd and
not really contextualised - so whatever you decide to post, it doesn't always
have to be relevant or topical but it does help. You've just got to back
yourself that it's right for your audience. Of course, there's a level of
professionalism and your companies identity to consider but wouldn't you rather
have some persona than none at all? Surely it's about creating an awareness for
your brand? Therefore, Mr Miyagi exercising the infamous Karate Kid stance,
with the title of the track hit from the movie - which happens to include our
company name - is perfect for us. Yet, it has no real relevance to anything in
particular.
As a creative agency, as
within any business, you have to show a little initiative. Facebook is a
playground and you should aim to engage and entertain your audience however you
can. For me, this post wasn't about revolutionising the world of marketing or
causing a wave of hysteria because it was never going to do that. For me, it
was about hoping that someone else, from my era, would relate to it and maybe
crack a smile on a Monday morning, and take notice of who posted it whilst
doing so. After all, Mr Miyagi was an influential mentor and an iconic figure
from many people's childhood and deserves all the accolades he gets, in my
opinion. However, what may cause more hysteria is that the Karate Kid himself,
Ralph George Macchio Jr. aka Daniel LaRusso, is now 56! Perhaps, I should've
gone with that stat instead? The point is not to stand silently still on
Facebook but to make a bit of a noise all whilst not to taking yourself too
seriously.
There's a time for seriousness
and more targeted informative posts. Look, we do that too and, as it happens,
these were a lot more popular than Mr Miyagi for some reason. It turns out
people do like to read after all! More topical or specific content sparks an
element of intrigue for your audiences. Maybe, it's because they're genuinely
interested or genuinely nosey, either way the fact that you've got something on
your page for consumers or passers-by to access, share or like is the real
beauty.
How
can you benefit from Facebook? Essentially, the more activity
on your page the better. Even if it's a post per day it will hopefully increase
brand awareness. Ensuring you are recognised, remembered or familiar to your
audience is paramount - but for the right reasons - you don't want to swamp
them, which is why you need to carefully consider your content whilst remaining
creatively confident. Moreover, the more quality content you produce, the wider
audience it will reach and you never know where it may end up or who will
eventually read it. One post could prove to be a golden touch. Communicating
regularly will only heighten your SEO too. Search engines will trawl content
associated to you and your web pages and reward you for it.
By rewarding - I
mean ranking you higher on their specific search pages. An alternative to this,
in order to increase brand awareness and improve click-through rates at a
greater speed, are Facebook Ads. In terms of a display & remarketing tool,
Facebook Ads are one of the best around and can provide you with that quick
win, similar to a PPC campaign. By using Facebook's Ad builder you can target
specific audiences based on age, gender, hobbies and interests and then through
the use of analytical software you can monitor the performance and
effectiveness of each ad. This gives you a great insight to the successfulness
of your ads and your customer behaviour which can all be taken on board for
future campaigns. The joy is you can spend from as little as £5 to £5000 pounds
and still recoup some reward. You may decide to allocate yourself with a
monthly advertising budget and it may not work, at first, but trialling things
out and learning from them is the foundation of most success stories.
Make
sure you're good looking...That's easy for some to say, I know.
Nevertheless, if you're going to embrace "The Facebook" and embark on
a social journey by inviting your audiences to observe and engage with what
you're doing, it's important to give them something aesthetically pleasing to
look at. Well branded, organised posts and Facebook pages are more likely to be
taken seriously within the business sector. Ensuring your logo is present and
your images are within the correct dimensions are just the basics. Don't be
afraid to play around with different design ideas, once they're changed they
don't become cemented or unchangeable - you can always change them back. In
fact, it's sometimes nice to refresh the look of your page so that it doesn't
become stagnated. At the same time, you may prefer to keep it consistent for
familiarity. Either way, just ensure the colour scheme and branding goes hand
in hand with your page. One final tip is to check your page is compatible on
your mobile or tablet as they can often appear slightly different.
Finally...We
appreciate that this can all be very time consuming but as Gary Barlow once
sang: "have a little patience". Unless you have a colossal marketing
or thousands and thousands of pounds, this'll all take time. We've seen how
Facebook can single-handedly transform a business for the better, so if you're
not utilising it, we suggest you start. They're a leader within the social
marketing mix and are constantly updating and reinventing ways that can hugely
benefit your business. So don't fear "The Facebook"... cuddle it,
nurture it and be bold with it.
What's more is that there are
agencies, like us, that love to assist businesses with any social media
strategies. When it all gets a little too much, we're here to help. If you
require anything from the above explaining or need assistance with your
Facebook marketing, please do not hesitate to get in touch. T: 01482 242600 ; Article
Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Joel_Peart/2204522
