An increasingly popular growth strategy is to engage in social media marketing. For many businesses, there is confusion on how to do so effectively. The most common complaint I hear is, “I don’t have the resources or knowledge to do social media.” Fueling that complaint is the belief tha
t social media is an isolated marketing tactic. It’s not!
Your social media tactics should be part of your marketing plan, which should be in support of your business objectives. Another way of putting it, your “inbound marketing” (social media, search engine optimization and blogging) must be linked to your “outbound marketing” (advertising, publicity and sales), to achieve a synergistic effect.
Like it or not, social networking is here to stay. The platform and channels will evolve, but it has legitimate business applications and incorporating social media makes good business sense. Here is a three-step overview on how to integrate social media into your current marketing mix.
Step 1: Choose the best channels. There are literally thousands of social media outlets (most are niche networks). For business-to-business (B2B) companies, LinkedIn and blogging are the most effective. For business-to-consumer (B2C), Facebook and Twitter are preferable.
In a recent study conducted by B2B Magazine, the “big three” social media channels being used by business are LinkedIn (72 percent), Facebook (71 percent) and Twitter (67 percent). YouTube and blogging are also gaining popularity, at 48 and 44 percent respectively. Choose the best channels based on your target market and marketing objectives.
Step 2: Integrate your tactics. Begin this step by reviewing the objectives (what you want to accomplish) and strategies (how you position and promote your brand) in your marketing plan. Then brainstorm how you can align social media tactics to your existing marketing.
A simple exercise is create a two-column flip chart with all of your current marketing tactics on the left side of the sheet, and the social media channels you select on the right (with plenty of space under each channel). Then notate ideas on how to use each channel to extend your existing promotion. Example: Tweet the webpage address (URL) of a white paper or tip sheet.
Step 3: Create your content. The key difference between outbound and inbound marketing is that outbound involves selling and talking while inbound, specifically social media, entails sharing and listening. If you use social media to blatantly sell, you’ll lose your connections, fans and followers.
The key to engaging content is it must be compelling and captivating. Based on your market’s interests, share relevant information. If you become the “go-to” source for useful information; you’ll likely become the “go-to” place for purchases.
In addition to these three steps, there are two important rules of social media marketing. First, track your results and responses. It’s nearly impossible to optimize any marketing stimulus without tracking results. Also, social media is about a conversation, so you should reply to postings and responses.
The second rule is to assign a social media champion in your organization. You wouldn’t launch an outbound marketing initiative without a person assigned. The same goes for inbound marketing. Generating results from social media marketing requires a long-term commitment.
Our technology director, Dan Byrd, says, “Social media marketing is like planting a garden, it doesn’t bear fruit immediately. You have to sow the seeds and cultivate the garden for an extended period before reaping the harvest.”
Don’t isolate, integrate social media into your existing marketing plan, long term, to grow your business.
Andrew Ballard is the president of Marketing Solutions, a local agency specializing in growth strategies. For more information, call 425-337-1100 or go to www.mktg-solutions.com.
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