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Social Media Marketing

One of the obstacles of success for a small business should be obvious, you are small and you are responsible for just about everything! You are what makes your business unique, and regardless of what you think, if customers don’t know you exist, you don’t! Here is where Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter and all the other Social Media options can help! By leveraging the power of others in online social media, there are several of ways to get yourself out there. One caveat, though! This works in social media if you don’t come off as a paid advertisement. Just like with your website, you have to demonstrate why you are unique. There is a major difference between your website and social media, and it is a BIG difference. Social Media has the ability to post negative reviews so you need to be ready to deliver what you promise. Tampa PC Web Design can help you create a solid reputable Social Media Profile so you can dominate your market.

That said, create a list of what makes you special and why your potential customers should choose you over your competition. Either way, if you want to attract customers, you need to get your name out there using social media, because they aren’t just going to come to you, you need to go to them.

We specialize in all things web! Feel free to give us a call about creating your Facebook Business Page, A custom YouTube Channel or even if you are too busy to manage your postings, we can do that for you as well. We tend to get the same questions about Facebook and Social Media and here are a few answers to the common ones.

Which sites should I use for my social media marketing?

Facebook, Google Plus, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube are the most trafficked and used social media sites. Which ones depend on what your business model is, who your potential customers are and a variety of other factors. If you are dealing with the general public for your customer base, you might find it beneficial to at least set up a profile on all of them. BUT – if you aren’t going to post regularly, then a Facebook Business Page that is empty and boring, can actually hurt you. Don’t get overwhelmed or stressed out! Learn, play and implement a little at a time, then focus on the one that has the highest return on investment for your business. For your business to show professionally on Google Maps and Places, a Google Plus page is a must!

Posting on all these sites is overwhelming, isn’t there a different way?

To have a presence, you need to post regularly. We offer packages where we post for our customers, but most of our customers post themselves. You need to post a minimum of twice a week to be successful and to attract followers. Tools such as HootSuite.com and Ping.fm allow you to setup your Social Media accounts and a single post will show up on all of your accounts. Tools like this are a great way to stay in touch with your customer base. We suggest sitting down for a few minutes at the beginning of the month (or week) and selecting a few topics you want to talk with your customers about and use those for ideas for your postings.

Which social media site should I focus on?

The place where your customers hang out. Sounds pretty simple, but it is actually a bit tricky. We just had one of our customers ask for a Facebook Business Page. He is getting calls from all these new jump on the bandwagon businesses who are telling him he needs a FB page. In looking at his business, he largest profit center come from his business customers. He does not make much money on his individual customers and it puts a large strain on his resources. Focusing on a Facebook page in this scenario will not help make his business grow and grow profitably. Since his customers are business professionals and other businesses, he is probably better off working on Linkedin and asking for referrals and endorsements. The bottom line is you need to pick the place where the customers you want to attract hang out!

How often do I need to post on these social media websites?

You need to decide what brings you profitable business. If interactions with your customers on your social media sites have direct impact with results, then you need to consider spending more time. As a general rule of thumb, I think a business needs to post 2 updates a week to their fan page as a minimum. Certain businesses, like restaurants, should consider posting their entertainment and specials every day. If you feel you don’t have the time, we can setup a posting schedule and we can post for you. Many customers have been able to see a direct impact on their business based on what they post.

Is social media marketing useful for every business?

Social media marketing can be useful for every business that has customers who are active on the internet and who use the internet to find services. I feel the need to put that caveat there. Don’t get me wrong, we are in the business of promoting businesses via websites and social media. But – while social media marketing is right for most businesses, it may not be right for you. We have several businesses whose market does not lend well to social media and in honesty, their marketing dollars are better spent elsewhere. If your business caters to the normal consumer and if you have repeat customers, then social media can definitely have an impact. But just having a Facebook page will not bring you customers, there is work involved to get an idea to go viral.

My business is offline, can I still use social media to get customers?

Absolutely! We find many restaurants and service businesses just want to start with a Facebook page and they use it a communications channel. So in the same way that you would work on attracting customers via a typical print or radio ad, you can use socia media to interact with those customers to get them to come in to your place. Focus your efforts on directing people toward the sale – whether that’s simply to get them to place a call to you for more info or visit to your shop.

How can a local business use social media marketing?

Local businesses thrive on the referral principle. Customers tend to do business with people that their friends “know, like, and trust”. Social media can enhance that by letting more people see that others know, like and trust your products and services. Use social media to build relationships, make friends with customers and prospects, and let people know what’s happening. Your postings should be designed to let potential customers get to know your personality, ethics, philosophy and offerings.

Is social media marketing expensive?

It depends on how you view the return on investment! If you have a little time to test the waters, it is a matter of time since the medium if free. We all know as a small business owner, time is a valuable resource. Tampa PC Web Design can build your online presence at a very reasonable price. We recommend you start small and build it out as you see results. But overall, social media is a MUCH more cost-effective strategy than any traditional form of display advertising because of the viral nature of the customer interaction.

Who can I hire to do my social media marketing for me?

I strongly advise that you have someone on your own team conduct your day-to-day social media marketing activities. Here’s why: at its core, social media marketing is a way to have leveraged conversations with your clients. If someone is going to be interfacing with your clients and prospects they need to know your business well. That being said, it’s wise to bring in outside help to establish a social media marketing strategy that you or your team can carry out and implement.

What’s the next big thing in social media marketing?

I don’t like to spend time speculating, but the good news is you don’t have to. As a small business, you don’t want to be ahead of the trends you want to be right on them. That’s because you really don’t want to mess with a tool until it achieves critical mass – what good is spending your time on a site so cutting edge and new that none of your customers are there yet? Don’t worry about every little update, this is an area where you want to be “mainstream”.

How can I test out social media to see if it will work for my business?

Just jump in and give it a go! The great thing about social media is there’s no cost and very little time involved in getting it up and running. If you need help setting up your account, give us a call. Remember that social media feels “weird” for everyone when they’re first starting.