Advertising on Social Media
Although relatively new in the grand scheme of things, this form of marketing has exploded over recent years.
However, as with all forms of marketing, promotion via social media is laden with potential pitfalls. It’s no good simply throwing time and money at it. In order to reap the rewards you desire, it’s vital that you bear some key principles in mind.
Target the right audience
For example, it’s important that you have a targeted approach. There are lots of social media websites on offer, with the most popular including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Tumblr and Instagram. Be sure to focus your marketing efforts on the sites your customers actually use. There’s no sense in splashing all-important cash on Facebook campaigns if your audience prefers to use Twitter and LinkedIn, for instance.
As well as focussing on front-end updates on social media sites, spend time researching the sort of people you want to follow. Over the medium to long term, this extra effort will pay off.
Set a budget
It’s a good idea to set a clear budget at the very start of your campaign and stick to it. As well as helping to prevent overspend, this can make it easier for you to determine the ROI from specific projects.
Engage
Social media marketing should never been viewed as a one-way process. Although this takes some time and resources, it’s well worth it. When it comes to social media, you really do get out what you put in. There are no shortcuts.
Similarly, the content that you create should be relevant and interesting to your audience, and it’s important to encourage people to comment or share your posts using questions or calls to action. Competitions, offers and freebies tend to get plenty of attention.
Track your campaigns
Tracking your campaigns is a must too. For example, it’s important to check your ads and posts for likes, clicks, comments and so on. If they are not getting enough attention and exposure, it could be time to rethink your targeting or content. If you don’t keep a close eye on the performance of your social media projects, you could end up wasting precious time.
Getting social media advertising right isn’t necessarily straightforward, but if you target the right people with the right messages, the rewards can be immense!
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