Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Social Media Consulting Services Give 5 Reasons Social Media Rocks

Social media consulting services have numerous professionals who focus on social media marketing. These social media consulting firms push out the information they find from their efforts to help their own clients, and prospects that can benefit from the information too. Some of the experts in social media marketing cite five top reasons that all types of businesses should be using social media marketing to their advantage: (1) It’s inexpensive (2) It’s always there (3) Opens a two-way street of communication (4) Boosts brand recognition and (5) Facilitates brand monitoring. 

Inexpensive
 
Probably one of the biggest reasons businesses should be using social media is the cost. Aside from the investment of time, social media is free to use. Maintaining social media marketing doesn’t costs a dime either. Even in instances where a business wants to pay for a special application to run its marketing campaign, the cost for these applications is much less expensive than traditional marketing methods.

In addition to having profiles on social media networks, blogging is another social media tool businesses find highly effective. Blogging allows the business professionals to share their expertise and build credibility with their audience. Again, aside from the time it takes to write the blog posts, answer questions and monitor comments, it’s free.

It’s Always There

The key to turning prospects into customers is the communication. The key to maintaining customers and making them repeat customers is communication. With social media marketing, businesses have the opportunity to be omnipresent. They have the opportunity to be in front of prospects and customers at all times.

Not only can visitors to your social media networks access existing information, but you have the opportunity to continuously add new information. One of the key marketing rules is that the more you can get in front of your prospects and customers with useful and relevant information, the better your odds are of converting them into repeat customers.

Opens a Two-way Street of Communication

Today’s consumers are savvier than ever before. They are no longer accepting whatever marketing information businesses push in their faces. Today’s consumers want to be the media. This means that they will listen to what you have to say, but they also have some things to say too. Additionally, they want to know what their peers, friends, and even complete strangers are saying about you, your business and your products and services.

Social media creates a two-way street of communication. You can share. Your customers can share. Your prospects can share.

Boosts Brand Recognition

Brand recognition is all about someone acknowledging it is your service, product or business when they see your logo, colors, fonts or other symbols that represent your business. Creating brand awareness is all about getting in front of the people that are most likely to do business with you. Boosting brand recognition becomes a simple task when you have social media tools that allow you to easily get in front of your audience time and time again.

Facilitates Brand Monitoring

You also want to know what consumers think of your brand, your business, your products and services. Social media allows you to monitor the conversations the others are having about all of these things. Monitoring social media networks permits you to make changes, correct problems, address issues or even continue to do what everyone thinks you’re doing a great job doing.

Now you know the top five ways that social media consulting services say that social media rocks for business. For more information on social media consulting services, and the benefits it can bring your business, visit www.maximizesocialmedia.com.

Friday, July 27, 2012

Social Media Agency Gives Tips for Changing Social Media Game

When you work with a social media agency, you are working with professionals who provide advice on the most efficient and effective ways of using social media as part of your marketing strategy. Here are some social media agency tips on ways to ensure that your use of social media marketing provides you with the results you are seeking. Essentially, you want to create a social media campaign, set the campaign schedule and always provide exclusive content to your followers. 

Create a Campaign 

Your first step is to create a social media marketing campaign. When deciding what kind of campaign you are running, you first need to consider what you are doing in your other marketing avenues. Social media should be an additional tool you use in your marketing toolbox, rather than running social media campaigns that are completely separate from the rest of your strategy.

In other words, you want to run a social media campaign that is in line with the campaigns you are running through your other marketing channels. Keep in mind that running the same campaign via social media allows you to broaden your reach and use a different channel for disseminating your marketing message. 

Set and Stick to a Schedule 

Just like you plot out a calendar, schedule or timeline for your marketing campaigns in print, on your website or via the radio, you need to do the same with social media marketing. In fact, social media marketing even allows you to ramp up your schedule. Since social media marketing is free, you have the opportunity to use it on a higher frequency than paid avenues.

Create a schedule where you update your social media pages on a regular basis. Scheduling tools are even available so that you can plot out your social media updates for months at a time and set them on autopilot. In order to fully implement and test your social media marketing plan, make sure that you stick to your schedule, once you set it. 

Provide Exclusivity 

One of the biggest pieces of advice you can follow is to provide some sense of exclusivity via your social media marketing efforts. One of the biggest reasons followers on social media outlets say they follow a business, company or professional is to obtain exclusive deals, content, information sales, and more. Make sure your followers are receiving information before you send it out to the public.

Additionally, make sure these followers are receiving items that the public doesn’t ever have access to.
This might be in the form of:
  • Coupons
  • Private sales
  • Exclusive content
  • Special event invitations
  • Free products or service offerings
  • Bonus products or services
  • Access to information, products or services that are not publicly available
While a social media agency creates and manages your social media campaign for you, you can take their best advice in branching out on your own, too. As you plan marketing campaigns for your other marketing channels, you too have to plot and plan the campaigns you plan on rolling out via your social media networks.

As you are planning the campaign in general, you also want to set the updates and offers to a schedule. It should go without saying, but once you set the schedule, you also need to stick to that schedule. Sticking to the schedule is the only one to measure the effectiveness of the campaign and give followers what you promise them. Finally, when you make your followers feel special, they will remain loyal followers.
Need a social media agency to help you launch and maintain your social media campaign? Visit www.maximizesocialmedia.com without delay.