Social Media Marketing – Are You Controlling It or Is It Controlling You?
Social media marketing is a good way to get the word out about your business, products and/or services. But, there are times when you have to be aware of the fact that social media marketing has the potential to draw you in and become a major time sucker.
If you want to ensure that social media is not controlling you, follow these tips.
Have a Plan of Action
Don’t do anything without a plan. You need a GPS to get to your destination. You also need a plan to ensure that social media marketing will work well for your business.
Create a Social Media Publication Calendar
Plan ahead according to the products and services you want to promote to craft posts and updates that have a purpose. If you have a calendar with pre-written posts, you can easily schedule them to work with your product launches.
Avoid Time-Sucking Activities
You know it is simple to get sucked into yet another personality quiz or discussions about that delicious plate of pasta your friend just made, not to mention all the games – but don’t do it. It’s fine to have fun, but do it after your work is complete.
Outsource Scheduling
Once you create a publication calendar that matches your promotions you can give the list of updates to someone else to schedule and monitor. However, don’t make that an excuse not to engage personally.
Take Time to Comment and Engage
Even if you outsource parts of your social media marketing, be sure to personally comment and engage your followers so that they know you are a real person to trust and know.
Do More of What Works
If you do something that works, do more of it and less of what doesn’t. Monitor the metrics of everything that you do so that you are positive about what is working and what is not working.
Each Post Needs a Reason for Being
Don’t post something without a purpose. If you don’t know why you are posting it, don’t bother.
Don’t Forget Your Call to Action
Everything you do should have a CTA. Whether it is to share, follow, or click, ensure clarity about what you want your audience members to do. If they know what you want them to do, they’re more likely to do it.
Using social media correctly to market your business is an essential element today in the world of advertising and marketing. Social media marketing can be very effective and inexpensive if you are careful not to waste time and effort on messing around and doing things that have no purpose.
