Social Media is Not as Simple as You Think

Social Media? Pfft, I can do that! It’s just posting on Facebook and Tweeting… right? 

I mean, if Donald Trump, the US president can post his own tweets, why would I need to hire someone to manage my social media?

I’m sure this sounds familiar to many of you, however, this “simple” task of social media isn’t as simple as you think!

Firstly, social media is marketing. To my trusted colleague, social media is oriented to your marketing goals.

People usually associate social media with a set of random actions like posting, sharing and pushing out ads. Then their hope is to magically grow an audience overnight.

Your Goals Will Hone Your Strategy

Before you delve into the world of social media, it’s important to know exactly what your goals are. Ask yourself what is it that you want to achieve or attain. When do you want to attain this and how are you going to attain this? 

Your business objective can’t be limited to just making money. You need to elaborate on your goal- what do you want to make money from doing? Which and how many products are you going to sell to get this money?

Your goals will essentially define and drive your game plan.

Digital Marketing & Social Media Work Hand-in-Hand

Though social media can be very complex, digital marketing breaks down the complexity.

It makes the true essence of the topic straightforward and understandable.

For anyone who isn’t familiar with digital marketing, I’d highly recommend absorbing the skill or hiring a digital marketer.

Let’s be honest, as a solo-entrepreneur or mompreneur, you can’t do it all yourself-and you don’t have to. At some point you may have to outsource persons that are versed in a particular area to perform certain tasks.

Digital marketing breaks social media into these four stages:

Stage 1- Listen to Your Audience

Listening to your audience is one of the most crucial rules that social media managers yet seem to disregard. 

Your audience’s needs are and what they’re interested in are what you need to listen our for so that you’re kept updated. After all, the success of your business is dependent on your consumers.

This stage is very crucial as it builds your audience first. What you’re selling and promoting would actually interest this audience.

Most people, when they get on their business’ social media, they’re just focused on selling (which is actually the last stage).

Promoting and selling to an audience that you know nothing about or if they are even interested in your business doesn’t make much sense.

Especially if you’re new to business, you need to devote time everyday to social media to really build one audience. You can also try starting off with one topic per week just to get the gist of your audience’s preferences.

This simple act of listening might be tedious, but it can do multitudes for your business. 

Stage 2- Influencing

Part of listening comes from the second stage known as influencing. Influencing is putting content on the platforms you’re on.

The key in listening to your audience is sharing information with them. Just like on my Facebook lives and my Twitter feed.

They decide for themselves if they’re actually interested in your brand, content and services when they see the type and quality of content you produce.

Afterward is where listening comes in. You should check for any audience feedback and examine their general responses to the content you put out. 

Spend time finding different groups and exploring different online avenues to reach new audiences -that may or may not like your products- and adjust your strategy to target them in the future.

Stage 3- Networking

Networking online is no different from networking at a cocktail party. Let’s make social media your new cocktail party.

Think of what you do when you’re at that cocktail event, you may shake hands with someone, ask how they’re doing and you guys share experiences. On social media you can do just the same! Networking isn’t exclusive of the online world.

You can and should reach out to those people who like your content. It’s easier to do on blog posts than on social media but try to connect with them and strike up a friendly conversation. You can figure out which parts they liked and no- it’s not stalking!

Whether it be inviting people to your Facebook livestream, or doing an interview for a future blog post, just reach out.

The point of networking is to form beneficial connections that you and others can thrive on. This may include persons in your niche that like and dislike your products/services so you can see different perspectives.

Stage 4- Selling

Contrary to what most think, selling is only partially the product itself. When you’re trying to sell a product or service, you need to focus on communicating the value that this product offers. 

The customer really doesn’t want to be sold anything, they need to see the value encapsulated in your product/service and decide to purchase it.

Let’s say you decide to attend a cocktail party.

If you stand erect and still say your name followed by the prices of your product, you’d definitely get some icy and confused stares. 

Whereas, you could position your pitch cogently if you focused on engaging with the persons present, getting to know them and them learning about you.

Conclusion

Sometimes when we say “the simple task of social media”, it can very well be made simple if and only if you devote the time, effort and strategy necessary.

Before you work on your strategy, know exactly what your goals are. Digital marketing is a great asset to social media management. Know and listen to your audience so you know where to improve. Put out content and share information with your potential audience.

Only then would you get the feedback you need for improvement. Network with people in your industry who may or may not like the product that you’re selling. To effectively sell your product, engage with your audience and form connections.

Reach out to me today to start honing your digital marketing strategy.