Many small to mid-sized business (SMB) owners who once considered Facebook advertising a relatively inexpensive and indispensable “place to be” in social media now ‘dislike’ Facebook advertising because of the rising cost.
how to start a social media marketing business Larger businesses with unlimited resources can justify being active on Facebook but SMBs are at a distinct disadvantage due to lack of funding, qualified staff and expertise. Social media advertising, including Facebook, is out of the question for SMB owners who can’t afford to spend hundreds of dollars a month on these programs.SMB owners who can’t afford Facebook advertising but need to spread the word about their brand and increase leads have options. In addition to the obvious tools like SEO, blogging and LinkedIn, here are three cost-effective digital initiatives to help SMB owners. LIKEtoKNOW.IT for Instagram is an example of a social-commerce platform that offers a “workaround” when a monetization option isn’t immediately available.Since users can’t click and buy directly from the Instagram platform, LIKEtoKNOW.IT is integrates Instagram with traditional email marketing. Companies sign up for LIKEtoKNOW and when their users “like” a photo, they receive an email with direct links for buying the products pictured on Instagram. This is not one-stop shopping but it's still quick and easy and relies on what marketers and consumers are already comfortable with. Email marketing has been tried, and LIKEtoKNOW.IT combines what’s new with what works. Those running a campaign should succinctly explain what crowdfunding is and why it was chosen as the path to capital. That type of explanation can make a difference in generating support.Most campaigns run only 30 or 45 days.
how to social media marketingKart learned that using analytics is key to getting the best return on marketing efforts. By using Bitly and analytics from Facebook, Kickstarter and Google to track where pledges are coming from, project creators can know what’s working and what’s not and shift their efforts toward what's driving the most traffic. Members of Kart's team check their analytics daily to see if they need to switch gears.
Don’t forget about email marketing
For every $1 spent, $44.25 is the average return on an email marketing investment, according to Experian research cited last year. Email marketing is not only a powerful revenue vehicle but it's also a strong tool that
social media marketing 2014 should be incorporated into social commerce and vice versa. Social platforms are a prime way to build an email marketing list.If your company receives customers via Instagram, Twitter or another social media channel, they sign up with their email addresses, helping you round out your lists and segment customers better. When a business entices users to share their content, in exchange for providing customers with special offers or deals, that’s called “incentive sharing.” For instance, let’s say a company publishes an Infographic and stipulates that the tenth person to share it with his or her followers will receive a free gift card. By asking each person to share the product or service with X number of friends in exchange for a special offer, it creates a self-sustaining chain of referrals for a small business.A great example of recent incentive sharing is the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, which to date has helped raised $100 million. This viral/social media campaign was arguably the most successful form of incentive sharing to date. SMBs can use the ice bucket challenge as a paradigm for an incentive sharing campaign. In theory, it’s no different from Candy Crush, where you receive extra points when your friends sign up and start playing.By motivating users to share content, it almost becomes a game or competition that is fun and relatively painless. The biggest winner though, is usually the business or cause being promoted.
best social media marketing Facebook promotion has worked for the team but it’s hard to catch people’s attention on that platform amid all the activity. For this reason, members of the Adi team constantly strive to create engaging content and post a daily joke video. They found that as long as a post connects with viewers through humor or elicits an emotional response, it gets noticed and shared.
Slow and steady wins the social race
Social commerce is a cool and exciting emerging area, but it's not quite there yet, so take things slow. Coca-Cola and Starbucks can test the social commerce waters in the early stages because
marketing by social media they can afford the millions of dollars to make mistakes (and waste money through a low return on investment).Coca-Cola hasn’t given up on social media and has taken a unique approach: The company recently launched its "Tweet-a-Coke" campaign, allowing friends to buy and send Cokes to one another at Regal movie theaters. Just remember, unless your company is a Fortune 500 company with money to burn, test what works and take things slow. Hosting demonstrations to promote your products and services is excellent way to educate your customers or potential customers about your business. The customer learns something while the small business is established as a thought leader and local expert in their field.Local businesses such as restaurants, hardware and liquor stores can especially excel when it comes to demonstrations. For example, a hardware store can hold a workshop teaching customers how to build certain things and which tools are best for the job. A restaurant can offer cooking classes and test tastings for potential new menu items. Liquor stores can host wine and beer tastings.With millennials embracing DIY projects, and consuming more wine and craft beer than ever before, these are great places to start. Demonstrations teach customers and promote the products your business is selling while encouraging consumers to visit your location.Event invites and pictures from the demo can be shared through social media accounts.
social media marketing After viewing a friend’s picture, some of his/her social media followers might reach out to say “That wine tasting looked awesome – where did you do that?” When that happens, it is only be a matter of time before more people start attending these events and profits start rising.So far Instagram is not directly monetizing customers’ posts but it is pursuing social commerce.
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