Social media has been around for a while now, and many marketers have had plenty of time to become well acquainted with the ins and outs of different sites to see how they translate to sales. Most feel that these types of sites have actually done quite well in terms of helping them to boost sales, and it tends to make quite a bit of sense. When selling something, you need to go where the people are. Today, the people are on sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest, and that is where you and your company need to be as well.
Quality, Focused Content
It can be a difficult thing to do on your own, but your social media channels need to have high quality, consistent content, just as you need for your blog. Keeping on top of those things is not always easy. One of the tricks that some people do when they are trying to manage several social channels all at the same time is to come up with the content for each topic at the same time. This allows the content to go out to the networks all at the same time or in a staggered manner, if you find that works better for you.
In fact, creating some content in advance of when you are actually planning to post it – several days to a week or more—is a good way to save time. You can create content that includes product information, specs, reviews, and the like for all of the different networks, and then use software to schedule when those posts or tweets go live. You will still want to monitor your networks, and post anything that is newsworthy, but you don’t have to worry quite so much about coming up with topics daily. You can create enough content to last for at least a week or two.
Take your time creating good content, too. Whether you are writing an insightful post, a funny tweet with a link, or a how-to video, put some effort into making it as good as possible. Quality content tends to get shared a bit more often than mediocre content, so it is well worth your while.
Make It a Conversation
One of the things that many companies forget is that social media is a conversation between people. You need to interact with customers, followers, and fans on those sites. It can help with your customer service, sales, and much more. The key to getting those followers though is to have good content.
Remember that good content does not mean a good pitch. Actively trying to sell on the social sites is a bad idea. Customer can see through you, and they won’t buy. Listen to the customers, have conversations, and provide good content. Keep the sales talk to a minimum. Once the customers know you and your company, they will be more willing to visit your site and links and then make a purchase. The hard sell is not a good idea in online marketing on social sites, or any platform for that matter.
Something to Remember With Social Media
Keep in mind that social media grows and changes regularly with new sites becoming the next hot thing regularly. Keep abreast of all of the changes and the new sites that come into play, and get on board with them early, just in case they decide to take off. Regardless of what type of social media site does develop though, you can be sure that one of the things the site requires will be great content. It is a universal need, so make sure you perfect your content creation.
Resource: http://www.marketo.com/articles/how-to-use-social-media-for-lead-generation/