Having established and run two large social websites aimed at expats over the years, I have a an in-depth understanding and experience of what makes a great social marketing campaign.
Most people tend to focus solely on Facebook and Twitter as their social strategy but being social is much more than just those two websites.
This is a big subject and one where often businesses can struggle to appreciate or calculate the ROI based on the amount of time that needs to be invested. I’m here to make it all that little bit clearer and help you plan and execute an effective social marketing strategy.
Reasons to be Social
Many businesses struggle to understand the need to be social online but the fact is that the internet is becoming increasingly more open and the days where you could just have a website and people would just enquire about your service, or buy your product, are more or less coming to an end.
People buy from people and so when they visit your website they want to know that there is a real person behind it. It makes it even easier for people to buy from you if they have already gotten to “virtually” know you. This is the point of social media – Create relationships.
You don’t have to be the most popular person online with the most Twitter followers or Facebook likes, it’s more about giving people the confidence to trust you and your business.
Social media sites, forums, blogs, press releases, being quoted in the press and writing for other websites are all forms of social media.
There is no one-size-fits-all. Every person and business is different and therefore a social marketing campaign can be specifically adapted to the needs and goals of the business.