How to Use Social Media Marketing to Promote Your Business
Brick and mortar businesses are busy promoting themselves in newspapers, on billboards, with flyers and newsletters. Those are all good ways to get exposure, but let's not forget the new weapon in the promotions and marketing arsenal: social media.
Social media promoting is immediate - you don't have to wait days or weeks for your ad to appear. So even if you’re just getting started with your social media promotions now, it's not too late - your promotions appear as soon as you type them in.
And unlike traditional advertising, it’s often free, costing only the time that you take to type in your promotional "tweets" or posts.
Social media promoting is immediate - you don't have to wait days or weeks for your ad to appear. So even if you’re just getting started with your social media promotions now, it's not too late - your promotions appear as soon as you type them in.
And unlike traditional advertising, it’s often free, costing only the time that you take to type in your promotional "tweets" or posts.
► Visible Strategies Communications team are social media marketing experts. Social media promotion and branding are included in our clients strategic communication plans. Contact.
So how can you use social media to promote your business during any season of the year?
Value Message
Well, this fiscal year, everyone is looking for a bargain, a deal. You should be advertising attractively priced gifts or services, and you should communicate the fact that they're low cost in your tweets/posts/updates. You can offer two for one deals, you can offer free shipping, you can offer bulk savings, you can offer year long subscriptions at a low cost each month...you get the idea. Tell people how they will be saving money by shopping with you. Providing extra service or value added items can get a bigger result than proclaiming “low price”.
Information and Tips
One way to promote yourself without seeming too "sales-y" is to steer people towards your website with cost-saving article and seasonal suggestions. Write articles such as "50 ways to save money this Season" - who wouldn't read that?
Subtle Works in Social Media
Next either have your products featured prominently on the same page, or include them in your list. For instance, if you sell cooking related products, you could have a list of low cost summer recipes, and have your cooking products featured prominently on the page...or you could explain how your crock pots can be used to prepare low-cost meals this calendar season and all year long. Or you could create a list of recipes that make great gift for brides, graduates, and new home owners.
Pets Are Big Business
More than half of US households report having a pet. This is a big market.If you sell pet products, you can write articles about animal safety and health during the summer or winter season, and offer some bargain pet products in advertisements right next to the article. Or you can make a list of low-cost presents for pet lovers, with your products prominently featured on the list.
Partner with a Non Profit
Another great thing to do during the summer and fall seasons is pick a local charity and donate part of your profits to them. Advertise this prominently via social media - let people know that 10 percent of net profits go to a battered women's shelter or animal shelter or soup kitchen.
You can create a donations button on your page and allow people to buy your products to be donated to the needy, if you sell products that could be useful to those in need. Anything from clothing to toiletries to books to food items to household goods would be helpful to people in these economically stressed times.
So don't neglect social media during any season. It can be a powerful - and free - promotional vehicle for your business and your brand. .
