The average social media “guru” could tell you her or his top 10 do’s and don’ts for social media marketing, however we’d suggest taking them all with a kilo of salt.
Any google or YouTube search on this topic will deliver you a countless number of people and their ideas for marketing a product and getting sales from social media. But how much can you bank on this advice?
What They Know and Will Tell You About Social Media Marketing
Growing a business following on any social media platform (Facebook, Instagram, etc, etc) takes more than just:
- Post every day.
- Run promotions.
- Use Facebook Messenger.
- Share testimonials on your page.
- Go live.
- Get your business on every platform.
- Etc Etc
But these are the kind of tips you’ll read free from anyone who has an opinion.
These are the tips that have been shared and taught over the last 10 years of digital marketing. They get shared and taught over and over again.
They have unfortunately become the foundation of social media marketing, even if this type of advice is weak and mostly useless if implemented alone.
What They Don’t Know and Therefore Can’t Tell You
Using the same examples, we just mentioned above let’s dive a little deeper into the depths of social media marketing advice that all business owners should be looking for, and that “gurus” online should be teaching (if they knew it themselves).
- Post every day. (Every day if appropriate and only posts that support your overall message, image, brand. And posts that talk to your target market).
- Run promotions. (That appeal to your target market and are designed to close the gap between someone who was interested in your product but had some reservations. Plus use sparingly and timely).
- Use Facebook Messenger. (And understand which of your customers will be most willing to engage with you with Facebook messenger. Also learn what to use Facebook messenger for and during what part of your sales process/funnel).
- Share testimonials on your page. (And choose the right kind of testimonial that will promote more sales, rather than every or any testimonial you have available).
- Go live. (And have a clear objective for the LIVE. What’s the message, what’s in it for your customer and how are you sticking to your main points and sales messages?).
- Get your business on every platform. (Maybe this is true, maybe it’s not needed. Better yet, understand your target customers and know what platform will be the best for your business to communicate with them on).
All this is just the tip of the iceberg as they say.
Marketing your business or your boss’ business on social media is less about the ‘what you’re going to use’ to do it, and more about the ‘what you’re going to say’ when you’re on it!
Being clear about your key sales messages, your few pillars that you will always speak from is more important than just ‘going live’, for example.
What you should say is what you know resonates with your customers, and what has…
- Won you sales.
- Got you the business.
- Scheduled those quotes. Or
- Achieved whatever it is your goal was in the past!
Yes, be social with social media marketing. But don’t just talk. Enter the conversation with a strategy and outcome in mind and then execute on that.
Your plan may not work on first attempt. Tweak or change your plan and redeploy.
No one gets it right on the first go, and we hope that’s comforting and prepares you for the speed bumps you’ll bounce over along the way.
