Social media is a revolutionary change in communications that has leveled the playing field of media. There is no longer a time when traditional media control news. It is important to remember that news is no longer broadcast through on CNN or FOX, but it does on Twitter. Understanding how to successfully make use of this medium is crucial not just for success in business but also for professional success.
Social media is a must to business nowadays having an online presence on social media that is more than the “Hey, look at what I ate;” “Look at how much weight I lost,” or “I just saw a great movie!” The presence of your social media account is essential. You should start blogs on what you are skilled at to build a fan base and gain credibility and trust. In the end, you’re an item on the marketplace, and a business is purchasing it when they employ you. If your product isn’t NEW and improved, then you’re losing! A business is looking for individuals who can utilize this medium effectively to contribute value to the company.
The last week we reviewed the initial five (5) items to be considered:
What are the reasons people use social media?
The importance of interactivity
The 80/20 rule for content
Groups that specific marketing: Others and yours
Be aware of the ideal time to publish your content
Here are the rest of the five (5) with one extra
Your message: The Blog
Monitor your progress and grow
Automated – But not overly
Select a plan and set concrete objectives
Take control of the experience
Learn when to employ an expert
Let’s get started!
Your Message: The Blog
In the past, never before has an individual brand (and it’s true regardless of whether you’re a business or career-oriented person and you’re an individual) could communicate with the world without having to give up the creative freedom. In the past, If you were lucky enough to get a newspaper to take your press release (or an opinion editorial (OpEd), it was their job to modify it to a) be suitable for the space they had or) meet the needs of their readers.
Today, you can broadcast your message unadulterated to the world via your blog. Furthermore, with Article banks (like Ezine Articles, Article Trader, and Article Alley, to name just a few), you’re able to extend your reach beyond the social media world. However, the fact that you are granted the right to run an online blog does not necessarily mean that everyone will be reading it. Your blog is competing with other blogs to get the attention and time of the general public. Your blog should be well-written, engaging, and entertaining, as well as provide worth. Keep in mind the fact that your time is far more valuable than money. You may earn more money. However, you cannot purchase more time. Therefore, if you post a blog that is self-serving or sales using poor grammar or punctuation mistakes or with the incorrect spelling of words, you’ll lose in the eyes of public opinions. While you may have a second chance at some of them, you’ll not get it to get a second chance with the majority of them. You see, first impressions count. If your introduction isn’t excellent, people won’t even bother to read any other material they read about your name or your brand.
Therefore, ensure that you proofread it thoroughly; try it out in a small group of acquaintances and friends. If you are satisfied, upload it to the internet for everyone to view. Remember that how-to guides, tips, and case studies attract the most attention. In the end, people seek out assistance and guidance. Additionally, if you are able to compose it in a way to entertain (with humor, analogies, or a conversational tone, etc.) You will hit the jackpot.
Track Your Progress and Growth
If you don’t test it, how can you know if your efforts are efficient? It’s essential to be aware! It is possible to do this manually or automate.
The best way to do this is to make a spreadsheet and keep track of what you published and when it was posted, and the number of comments as well as shares, likes, and retweets you got. This will help you determine which posts draw the attention of your followers and what isn’t.
You should also keep track of your data. How many friends are on Facebook and connections on LinkedIn and who follow you on Twitter and are you part of groups in Google+: in both your personal account and groups. If you are on Twitter, you’ll be interested in determining which lists you are part of and also. Lists on Twitter are like groups of LinkedIn and Facebook. The difference is that people decide to include you in their lists in the event that they believe you are of high-quality and valuable content, and they can see their followers’ tweets. What this means for your followers is that you will be able to expand your reach into OTHER people’s networks by making sure that you post content that is relevant and useful.
You can decide to automate your posts; this is the method I suggest. There are various suites such as HootSuite, TweetDeck, and the website Klout that allow you to track your progress and statistics but also allow you to automate your postings.
Automate, but not too much!
Automation is a good thing. However, nothing can replace human interaction. The best things you can automate are your blog messages and greetings as long as you include the initials for the individual. Don’t make use of “Dear Friends” or anything generic. If I receive a response that appears to be automatized and general in nature, I remove it, and I’m not the only one. Respond to questions, comments, and other interactions in person. Your followers need to know you are genuine, compassionate, and available.
Choose a Strategy and Create Measurable Goals
Leads from sales aren’t the only option. There are customer service reputation management, trust and credibility, and traffic to your website to improve SEO, prospects, or some mixture of all three. For example, if your goal is to establish trust and credibility, which is measured by the number of shares and likes your content gets and how many followers you gain – because the content you publish is hosted on your site and drives traffic to your site. Therefore, you must know what your goal is and quantify your progress towards achieving it.
If it’s about reputation management, then are the negative things being taken down? How far has it traveled? If it’s customer service, are your phones less ringing and complaints decreasing (which can also boost confidence and trust)? It’s possible that you’ll adjust your strategy and possibly even alter your strategy once specific goals have been achieved; however, it’s essential to be aware.
Manage the Experience
This is a vital aspect! It is because if your visitors’ user experience is not good, they could not even read the content. Although your content is the most critical factor, it is essential to take your reader to go beyond the visuals of your site.
Steve Jobs was the master of cultivating experience. Steve believed that everything was necessary and not just one aspect. From the exterior of the product, the functionality, advertising, website packaging, directions, store, etc. In an article entitled”For Steve Jobs,” which was about the customer experience, Jay Bookman states, “What Apple did better than any other technology company, and perhaps better than any other company of any type, was to put the user experience first.”
This is the same for your personal brand and you. Your writing or your logo, as well as the content you publish on the web, your service, product, or book, must reflect the absolute highest quality you can give it. Be aware that mediocre doesn’t be enough, especially when you have so many alternatives to choose from.
Know When to Hire a Professional
It is essential to conduct an honest review of all your marketing assets, including logo, website branding on social media as well as the content. And decide on what needs to be modified. After that, you must determine whether this is something that you could do yourself or outsource.
Because we aren’t the best people to criticize our work (since we most likely wrote the work and then took it over and responsibility for it, we are biased), It is a good idea to solicit the opinions of a few of your friends, colleagues, and colleagues for their opinions. You can ask them to let you know what they think of your site, et al., when it concerns the look and feel, as well as navigation and layout. Are they happy and draw the user in, or do they wish to leave after a while? Find out if the content is intriguing and inspires them to continue reading, or are they losing interest and want to read on?
Then, take a look at the Google Analytics report. If you’re seeing a lot of visitors and a large bounce percentage, then you’re making good progress in getting your site visitors there but losing them due to the experience.
Marketing is a mixture of science and also art. Anyone can understand the mechanical aspects of the process. However, people aren’t mechanical. Mechanically, it’s only to ensure your message is in the place it is needed to be. Art is what draws or deters. If you are unsure, think about “Would this interest me? Would it attract me if I came across it on social media? Would I want to read it?” If you’re honest in your evaluation, you’ll make the necessary adjustments and will have a great campaign.
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