Advancing Your Brand Through Social Media Marketing

In the past few years, modern technology has evolved more than it ever has in past decades. One of the beneficiaries of these advances is the marketing world. Leading the charge in this fast-paced, ever-changing, industry is the emergence of social media networks. You are undoubtedly missing out on a successful marketing strategy if you don’t utilize social media to its fullest extent.

Let’s discuss the basics; how social media marketing can help you spread the word about your brand and products.

The 3 Faces of Social Media Marketing

Truth be told, there are certainly more than 3 social media platforms to include in your marketing arsenal. But no matter what else comes along, no matter the sexy technology developed to enhance your marketing reach, these 3 will remain a constant, at least in the foreseeable future.

» Blogs

Blogs are one of the most popular ways to go about social media marketing. A blog helps you to increase revenue through advertisements; article marketing through your blog helps increase traffic as well. When you set-up your blog, ensure that the content relates to your business and products. The purpose of your blog is to let consumers know how your products can help them.  You do this as you provide factual as well as insider information to your readers.

» Twitter

Twitter is a very popular social media platform that business owners use. While you may be hampered by its very limited character use, Twitter still provides a quick way to market products. You need to be very smart how you approach marketing through Twitter as it isn’t as straightforward as using Facebook. You won’t be able to insert links or straight out create a meaningful relationship with your followers.

» Facebook

This brings up the next point, which is: always use Twitter in combination with another platform, such as Facebook, to build solid relationships. Facebook has so many great features that it is hard to name one that stands. However, the most notable feature that comes to mind is the fact that you aren’t limited in your posts as you are with Twitter.

When you join you will start setting up your profile. You will fill out information about yourself, your business, contact information and mission statement, all of which will be public. Since your goal is to build relationships with your readers, you have the golden opportunity to do so by holding discussions, joining groups, and by holding contests if you want to.

Social Media Do’s and Don’ts

These are just a few of the popular social media platforms. You can also take a look at LinkedIn. This social media platform is largely considered the go-to site for professionals. Then there are the two wildly popular sites that took the social media world by storm; Pinterest and Instagram.

However many social media sites you join, be sure to stay active, being mindful not to spam your followers. That’s just rude and a turn-off, in my humble opinion. Your social media marketing campaigns will be for naught.

Update once a day or maybe several times a week. Also, be sure you are posting quality content that is relevant to the interests of your readers. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: avoid constant, flat out marketing. Don’t just hard-sell your product. Rather identify a problem your audience might have and create posts describing how your product would benefit them.

And finally, don’t be anonymous in your dealings on social media. It may seem like an obvious thing to say but use your real name or nickname. For example, if your name is Robert, don’t make posts using a silly name such as BillyBobxo2012. People want to interact with a real person. Visitors are more likely to deal with your company if you interact with them on a one-on-one basis using a real identity.

Conclusion

Social media marketing provides many opportunities for business owners to promote themselves and their business. This article has discussed some of the ways you can utilize social media marketing so that it works for you. Use what you have just read, and you will already have a good head start on branding your business through social media marketing!