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Using social media for marketing

Using social media in business all comes down to two things:

• Who are you targeting?
• What is your strategy?

Start with your strategy that you are using on your blog post.  Then, post your info from your blog on your social media strategically.  By strategically, I mean to post on the social media where your audience is.

How to use social media for business to connect with people

• If you have a younger audience 18-30, you want to be sure to post on Youtube and Twitter.  Follow trends and relate to celebrities.  Use catchy titles and fast-paced information.
• If you have a median age 30-50, post on Facebook.  Share your blog post.  Include pictures with thought provoking images.
• If your audience is primarily women, post on Pinterest.  Use lots of bright colors and post pictures and videos.  Focus on ‘how to’ and make that part of your strategy.
• If you focus on B2B (business), focus your efforts on LinkedIn. Relate to the people in your industry and leave relevant comments on trending posts.  When you post something, make sure it is high value and makes you sound like a comfortable expert.
• If you have a techy crowd, focus on GooglePlus.  Sponsor hangouts, set up communities and join communities.  Be where your niche is hanging out.

The key is to do your research to be where your target audience is, and when they are there.

Best times to post (from my experience…and lots of research):

• 11:55am, right before lunch
• 5:00 pm, right as people are leaving work
• 7:00 pm, as people are ending their meal
• 10:00 pm, as people are ending their day
• Thursdays seem to be high traffic days
• If you are national or even global, take into consideration the different time zones.

Now, if you use these times and rotate your content through the day and days of the week, you will have a strong strategy.  You can review our series on social media for lost more tips and strategies for using social media for business:

• Which Social Media should you use for business?
• What to post on social media
• When should I share on social media
• Creating Social Media Greatness
• Why do people share on social media

Key points for using social media for your business:

• Think Snippets: News, Headlines and quick quotes (motivational or humorous).  You want your headlines to grab the attention of your audience.  Then, have one call to action to get them to click through to your web page.
• Be visual: Use pictures on everything you post.  Don’t use the same pics, come up with creative things that makes people stop their forever scrolling and read what you have to say.
• Videos Rule: We are programmed to watch videos since we were a child.  Use that to your advantage. Tell stories, show behind the scenes, or do a walk through of your product or service.  Remember, videos can be posted on all social media outlets!
• Consider Paid ads: Google, Youtube and Facebook all allow for ads to be posted.  These can get quick response, but you want to know what you are doing before trying these.  Be strategic and make sure you are fine tuning your targeting.  You want to reach just the people who are most likely to find your product/service valuable.  You don’t want a million people to see your ad because you have to pay for all of them.  You want the hundred or thousand who will take action to see your ad.  Then, it is effective and you will have a good return on your investment.

I hope these tips help you in developing your strategy for using social media for business.  Feel free to go over to my business page if you need help setting up a strategy.

How is social media strategy working for your business? Share it on our Youtube or GooglePlus.