Lately I hear more and more people, business owners to be exact, expressing frustration with Social Marketing. They don’t know how to plan for it, how to use it and for the most part it doesn’t appear that anyone does.
I just read an article in a major business publication that declared that noone understands Social Marketing yet and anyone that says they do, doesn’t. Take that all you online marketing companies (us included by the way).
I couldn’t believe what I had read. Facebook makes it as easy as possible to create ads, track progress and reach, yet General Motors announced that it was pulling a $10 Million dollar a year ad budget from Facebook. If GM can’t figure it out, maybe no one can, even though the concensus among the “experts” was GM is crazy to abandon Facebook.
Aren’t these the same experts the same magazine article said didn’t understand Social Media? Deep down every business owner understood exactly what was happening. GM isn’t something you socialize with or get social with. Chevy owners get social, Corvette clubs get social. GM figured out half of the equation, and not the other half.
Social Marketing is about engaging those people who have some level of influence. Having a celebrity tweet about your restaurant can work for a while, but the celebrity and the customers keep moving on to the “new” thing.
Social Marketing is about the “new” thing. Letting those people who have social influence know first is what Social Marketing is about. Keeping those followers engaged and active is the challenge of Social Marketing that creates the magic that every business owner is looking for.
Here are three tips to help you use Facebook to market your business better.
1. Create a Facebook Page. That sounds simple and you would think that everyone knows to do this already. Don’t know how to create a page? We can help. Make sure your page has real pictures of your business, not just stock photos you grabbed from some website.
2. Include Customers. If you add a picture with a customer ask them to like your business and then tag them in the photo so all of their friends know they were there.
3. Reach Out. Instead of creating ads for everyone, create ads just for people that already like your page. Give them a better deal that they can share with their friends and let them know it is just for them. That is the whole point of Social Marketing isn’t it?
If you want more tips, E-mail scott@firerockseo.com for your free copy of our report on Facebook Marketing for Small Business.
If you want us to help you engage your customers better, give us a call at 775-589-2655
