I recently had the pleasure of attending a Master Class with Social Media Strategy Consultant, Amy Porterfield. Let me start by saying, Amy is my kind of gal – she began product and event marketing for Harley Davidson Motorcycles straight out of college, then went on to be the Director of Content Development for renowned life coach Tony Robbins and co-write the Facebook for Dummies book, before starting her own company. When it comes to positioning a business for online success, there’s nobody I’d rather learn from.
Social media is crucial to business success.
The traditional sales funnel has evolved. The internet, websites and social media have changed the buying process for your customers. Not only is the sales funnel more marketing heavy than ever before, much more of the process is happening without your direct involvement. This means that whether your business is online or brick and mortar, no matter who your demographic might be, not having a well-developed online presence is hurting your business.
There’s a reason traditional marketing outlets have fallen away – social media is easy to use, and it’s cheap if not free. There’s really no excuse not to integrate it into your marketing mix. If you’re not so internet savvy, there are tons of management tools and services (like Tweak!) ready to assist you. It may seem overwhelming at the start, but before long you’ll have a well-developed online presence generating automatic interest in your business around the clock.
Facebook is not a stand-alone tool.
The biggest mistake I see companies making daily is starting a Facebook page and stopping there. Facebook is a great tool, but it can’t effectively work alone. Building an audience on Facebook and sharing content that educates, entertains and builds trust is invaluable. But that alone will rarely covert to sales for your business.
When Facebook is utilized as an integral part of a larger marketing mix, you see results. The goal is to prompt your audience to take the next step. For example, using your social media interactions to draw traffic to your website or business location, to complete an offer, and therefore capturing their information along the way. From there you can interact with your ideal customers in additional ways, like direct mail or email, as part of your overall marketing plan.
Without bombarding your audience to the point of annoyance, it’s important to remain consistently in their view. Once you have their attention, offer them content that matters to them. This is accomplished by learning as much as you can about your audience through the use of insights and analytics.
For more specific assistance marketing your business online, visit tweakdoorcounty.com.
Erika Block is the Director of Professional Development for Tweak Social Media & Marketing. She is the owner of Creative Studios, a branding and design agency working exclusively with the art, publishing, music and fashion industries.
