Want your startup to punch above its weight class and compete with bigger corporations? With social media marketing, you can do just that – at the fraction of the cost of traditional advertising! By using paid ads and targeting audiences intelligently, small businesses can boost their visibility among local and regional markets and carve out their own niches.However, there’s a little bit more to it than that. We’ve already shown
why social media marketing is important for SMEs. Now, we’ll show why successfully pulling it off requires finesse, a social media specialist with savvy, and a combined approach so that the campaign is reflective of the brand it is promoting (and vice versa). These components must gel together well in order to boost your business’ visibility effectively. So here’s what you need:
Authentic and Quality Content
Your social media posts and blogs shouldn’t be generic. They have to be genuine and engaging, reflective of the realities faced by your audiences and your business (see below). This is where research, creativity and involvement with the rest of the business comes into play. Know your audiences and know your brand.
Also, as much as possible, the images you use should be ones ideally taken on-site rather than stock pictures that end up in everyone else’s posts and websites.
Cross-Coordination
Your social media specialists and blog writers need to know what’s happening with the rest of the business. This is so that their content can be tailored to be fresh, current and insightful. This will also minimize blunders and inaccuracies. Did something interesting and positive happen at one of your establishments? Was there a birthday celebration? Did an employee help out a customer? Is there a new product in the inventory, which the VA took stock of? Then you’ve got even more awesome materials for your posts. Update your followers and watch the sales rise.
This is where a Virtual Assistant or Virtual Team involved with other aspects of the business can truly shine.
Audience Engagement
Customers love it when their questions are answered promptly, and when the company pays attention to their comments, requests and needs. Avoid using canned responses, particularly if the comments or complaints are distinct. Delegating this task to a Virtual Assistant who can reply promptly will really help. Posts that involve the audiences – asking them for memorable (and positive!) experiences with your business, or quizzes and contests – will also generate loyalty.
Let Your Customers Advertise for You
On that note, contests for things like “best selfie at one of our branches” will also help give your business exposure. And the best part is that your customers will be doing the work for you! This may backfire if irate individuals and trolls try to ruin things, but that’s why you should have a watchful VA moderating the comments.
Good Visuals, Memorable Branding
Using “real” photos instead of stock images was already mentioned. Another important thing is that your business’ brand should be represented by memorable imagery. A VA skilled in graphic design and illustration can help build a quality logo. He or she can also suggest visually distinct color schemes and branding. These are sometimes neglected by startups operating on a budget, but brands – like professionals – must dress to impress! The same goes for your site, web developers can do the same and make your webpage look better and have more ergonomic and functional interfaces.
SEO and Keyword Optimization
This is a given, of course. Your content must follow the ways of Google’s algorithms as well as those of the other platforms you’re using, such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Let your skilled VA handle these complicated, nigh magical, fields.
Keeping It Real
These will definitely help make your brand a cut above the rest. By making your brand more authentic, more connected to your audiences and customers, you will have what it takes to beat competitors, particularly those large and distant corporations. Not only will you be seen and noticed, you’ll be
remembered.
-John Li
