Social Marketing

With each passing day, social media marketing is gaining more and more popularity. Businesses from different parts of the world are using social media to gain exposure and to enhance the success and development of their business operations. Following are a few of the many benefits brought on by social marketing:

Increased Brand Awareness and Visibility

Social networking sites are communication channels that increase brand recognition and awareness by showcasing a brand's content and voice. A Facebook or Twitter user can learn about your brand and business after stumbling upon information being displayed in their newsfeed.

Social media creates a chain link of information that gets spread far and wide; thus, creating opportunities of discovery and visibility that can lead back to your website and products by way of links.

Enhanced Brand Loyalty

Businesses and brands that use social media platforms to engage with their target audience enjoy high levels of loyalty from their customer base. They also grab the attention of potential customers during the process. This happens because connecting with customers becomes easier through the use of social marketing.

Greater Insight about Target Audience

The key to success with every business is knowledge and insight about their customers. When you know your customers well, you can better cater to their needs. Customers state their likes and dislikes, preferences, comments and suggestions on social network sites. And businesses should use these insights to provide products and services to better suit the needs and wants of their target audience.

Decreased Costs of Marketing

As opposed to the excessive costs of advertising through television, print media and out of home media, advertising on social media websites is relatively cheaper. It is also easier to tap into different market segments, reaching more customers.

Improved Search Engine Rankings and Website Traffic

SEO is the best method of capturing traffic via search engines but with constantly changing requirements, this is not the only method of ensuring website traffic. Social media presence is a major factor is determining the strength of a brand's credibility and trustworthiness. Therefore, a brand's presence on social media is as important as keyword rankings for the generation of website traffic.

Enhanced Customer Experiences

Social media is a communication channel at its core as it connects people all over the globe. Interaction with customers is a great opportunity to convey to them the level of customer service and care provided by the business organization.

Customer complaints and queries on Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking sites can be answered and addressed almost instantly. You can thank them and also recommend additional products and services. Prompt responses relate to customers that the company cares about them and this leads to the goodwill and worth of a company being enhanced.

Social marketing is beneficial for your business no matter what industry you operate in or the customer base you cater to. With social marketing, you can successfully target your audience and stay ahead of your competition by building a strong a firm brand presence.

Competition is high today so you need to improve business connections by being different from your competitors. Since the majority of individuals are making use of social networking sites such as Facebook, you need a Facebook presence. Doing so will provide you the opportunity to reach millions of people around the globe.

Understanding the Facebook Fan Page

Fan pages, are primarily used by businesses to promote brand awareness and reach new markets and consumer. These pages are also referred to as Facebook Business pages.

Two things you need to consider in setting your business pages

1. Have a Plan: When preparing the fan page profile, you need to define an objective and set up goals to achieve your objective. Remember that this will represent your business on social networking sites and will be seen by millions so it should be aesthetically pleasing, professional, and easy to navigate.

2. Provide a clear picture of who you are; what products and services are being offered; and how you are notably different from your competitors.

Facebook Fan Page Benefits

Unlimited Fans: Where a regular Facebook pages limits friends and family to 5,000, you're allowed an unlimited number of fans on your business pages, and you can continue to add to increase your fan base without additional time and work.

Interactive Community: Through your fan page, you can establish a community, and interact with them daily. This provides you a new channel to obtain feedback on a daily basis. You can easily determine your viewer's thoughts about your company by their comments. You can provide instant updates about new products, special offers, and upcoming events. Facebook has provided various tools that you can use to promote events, products and brand recognition.

Connectivity: Linking is no longer difficult. From your fan page you can lead visitor to your blog or website or vice-versa.

Free: Facebook pages are inexpensive and extend your reach to a wider audience. Check your page several times a day and making sure it's regularly updated.

They also provide fee-based advertising and business page promotion to get the exposure you want at a quicker rate. You can also use your page to provide your fans with a way to sign up for special offers, newsletters, etc.

Focusing these efforts on a greater target market than you ever imagined at no-cost or at a relatively low cost, it's easy to see the value of a Facebook Fan Page. It's not that hard to set up-Facebook has step by step instructions, or outsource it if you don't have the time. Someone familiar with fan pages and sets them up on a regular basis can get it done for you faster and at a reasonable cost when you consider the value of your time that you can devote your to getting visitors to view your page(s).

Facebook is one of THE most popular social networking platforms and has substantial potential. Over and beyond social networking, Facebook can be leveraged smartly to boost your online business. You can use it to promote your products and services, to sustain customer loyalty, to acquire new customers, or to drive traffic to your site. Facebook offers a lot of possibilities that any marketer can be benefited from, and ushering in traffic is one of its prime paybacks.

Here's how you take advantage of what Facebook has to offer. First and foremost, ensure that your profile is captivating and interesting. Cover all pivotal information that you wish to convey in an entertaining way, in a way that warrants people's attention. Make sure that your profile page is accessible to everyone and is made public. Allow your imagination to run its course, use pictures and videos and enhance your informative content to be exciting and meaningful. Be as creative as you can be.

Network as much as you can, build it up. Networking is key. A social networking platform such as Facebook allows you to build your network considerably, reaching far and wide. Invite friends, family, acquaintances, and partners to join and support your page. It's recommended, that you reach out to those who have similar pages and same interests such as you, and spread your wings without stepping on toes.

The base content on your page might be interesting and impressive, but at the same time you must keep publishing new content regularly. A couple of posts a week should do. But ensure the content you publish is short, crisp, interesting, attractive and related to what your business is all about. This will send the message. If you slow down on publishing new content, the traffic will invariably slow down too. So it's important to keep your existing customers and potential customer engaged.

While taking considerable measures from your end on your page, make time to visit other pages, take part in their discussions and initiatives, and keep the ball rolling. Be seen and be heard, constantly. Social networking enables you to be more frequent and active in all your activities. It's a fast paced medium, and people are all about immediacy today. So if you want to be part of the trend you got to get in sync and in time with it!

Research and check up on how Facebook apps, widgets, modules and plugins might work for you. Further there are Facebook social ads which is quite similar to how Google AdWords function. You can try implementing those too and see if there is substantial increase in your traffic. By trying some of the tips mentioned above, it could simply be the basic building blocks of success for your business via Facebook. A great profile, an impressive network, and posting regularly are simply part and parcel of the recipe for success on Facebook.