The Beginner’s Guide to… Social Media

Search engine optimisation is all about marketing your business via the search results pages, but it doesn’t begin and end with Google when it comes to promoting yourself online.

It maybe unclear exactly what effect it has on rankings, but social media has become a common feature in all of our lives, and as such it is an essential tool in reaching your customers – but what are the key elements that make up a successful social media campaign?

Deliver a Consistent Message

When you set up social media profiles – be it on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or something else – it is essential that that the tone and style of your updates are consistent. Your social media profiles represent your brand, so under no circumstances should you post personal updates or things that do not fit with the ethos of your company image.

People follow/like your social media page to hear what the company has to say – not the person you have put in charge of posting updates. Employing an experienced, online-savvy company to take care of things for you can ensure that every update is faithful to the brand image you wish to portray.

Know Your Audience

Before launching a social media campaign you have to understand the demographics you’re looking to target. Once you know your audience (age, gender, what they’re interested in) you can then start planning the sort of things you want to share.

If you run a paintball experience day provider with a target audience mostly made up of men aged 18-35, but keep posting pictures of cute animals to your Facebook page, then it is unlikely that your target market will want to engage with your content.

Don’t Just Advertise

What you need to realise about social media is that it is not just another outlet for you to post adverts on. People use social media to communicate with brands they like and engage with interesting content – not simply see an advertising slogan.

Does this mean that you should avoid promoting your products and services on social media altogether? Absolutely not, but you have to remember to share things with your audience that they are actually going to want to read as well as to communicate with them on a regular basis. Ask questions of your customers and respond to feedback that is left, while you can also use social media to answer and resolve customer complaints.

To find out more about the services we provide here at Brighter Media give us a call on 01455 697 020.