Are you thinking like your customers and prospects when creating a social media marketing strategy?
Social media has changed the way businesses market their products and services, but it can be overwhelming and counter-productive to sign up for every new social media platform that comes along.
The best social media platforms for your business are the ones where your prospects spend their time.
How do you determine which sites your prospects will use?
1. Take note of how your current customers interact with you or ask them which social sites they use/prefer
2. Find out where your competitors spend their time
3. Research leaders and influencers in your industry to find out where they are reaching people
This is a great marketing quote that sums it up well:
To be successful and grow your business and revenues, you must match the way you market your products with the way your prospects learn about and shop for your products. Brian Halligan, Co-Author of Inbound Marketing, Chief Executive Officer, Hubspot
It usually makes sense for almost any type of business to create a Facebook Page; but what other social networks should you spend time and resources on?
Here are some recent stats (as of April 2018) on the most popular social networks, from Statista:
Facebook: over 2 billion users
YouTube: 1.5 billion users
WhatsApp: 1.5 billion users
Facebook Messenger App: 1.3 billion users
Instagram: 813 million users
Twitter: 330 million users
LinkedIn: 260 million users
Snapchat: 255 million users
Pinterest: 200 million users
So if your business revolves around fashion or retail, then you may want to add a profile on the more “visual” social media networks – Pinterest, Instagram or Tumblr.
If you are a Business-to-Business company, then do some research on LinkedIn and Twitter, where you may find your ideal prospects.
Maybe you own a Local Business (coffee shop, bakery, auto shop) and determine that your ideal prospects use Facebook check-ins and would love to get real-time updates, specials or coupons for your store.
Whatever business you are in, spend time identifying your ideal prospect, find out which social media networks they visit and then develop your social media marketing strategy from your research.
And remember: your social media marketing plan should focus on the long-term: you are building relationships online. Your target audience wants to know, like and trust you (which doesn’t happen overnight) before they buy.
Updated 5/23/18
Image courtesy of Pixabay
About Terry League