Social media can no longer be thought of as a just a fad. Businesses that are not taking advantage of marketing opportunities offered by social media are being left in the dust. The two most well-known social media sites are Facebook and Twitter. Marketing does not need to extend to every new social media site that comes around. It is actually better to concentrate on one or two platforms, rather than spreading yourself too thin trying to cover too many separate platforms all at once. That is why I am going to concentrate on Twitter and Facebook.
Facebook is the largest social media site in the world. You can post text, pictures, and even videos to Facebook. Around 75% of all adults who are on the internet belong to Facebook.
Build up your Facebook audience by inviting people to become a fan. A smart way to get more Facebook followers is to offer special deals for people who follow you, or for people who share your Facebook page on their page. You should add new posts regularly to your Facebook page. Avoid posting straight-up advertisements except for once in a while. Your main post content should be general topics that your target audience will find interesting or helpful. People will follow your Facebook page to get access to special deals, and to learn more about you. They do not really want to be bombarded with ads. Connect with your followers by engaging in conversation with them if they post responses to your original posts. You don’t want to put on an air of being a public relations person. Just interact with your followers naturally, like you would with friends in person. You should follow businesses similar to your own. This could help you make contacts in your field, and will increase the amount of people who receive suggestions from Facebook that they might be interested in your page.
Twitter was designed as a micro-blogging site. The posts on twitter are limited to fit into a regular SMS message (140 characters long). Users can either use their computer or cell phone to access twitter.
Set your Twitter profile to match your Facebook page. Not only should you be looking to gather followers for your Twitter, you should follow a lot of people yourself, including people within your own field. You can “re-tweet” other people’s tweets once in a while. Mainly, you should try to post original tweets similar to the content you are posting on your Facebook page. Also, interact with people in conversations. Again, try to stay away from advertisements. You can create links to use your Twitter account to try to drive traffic to your Facebook page.
