Many times the sugar coating about what Social Media Marketing can do to enhance your businesses online success needs to cease.. and the truth needs to be revealed!
When a new client and I sit down for an initial consultation, we discuss what their current marketing strategy is, what has been working well for them in the past and where they would like to see their business grow in the coming year. Here are the top (4) insights that I share if need be.
1. If your website stinks, Social Media really isn't going to be all that effective.. until you fix your website!
What I mean by this is that time and time again, I've encountered businesses that have built out their current websites on a free platform that is stealing any available SEO from them and redirecting traffic back to themselves..or they have a site that they have no clue or have never been provided any analytical performance data from and they haven't updated their website in years!
In my opinion, without a self-hosted domain name and website that runs on a Word Press, Joomla or other reputable format, with a blog integrated into it's nav bar, you're just shooting darts and will never be indexed by Google. Which is the ultimate goal.
Social Media, in order to enhance your marketing efforts, has to be integrated into a viable website that 's full of fresh shareable content that is search engine optimized.
2. Social Media won't be the cure for your own lack of desire to market your business!
If you haven't poured any sweat equity into marketing your business during it's lifetime, then a Social Media Manager isn't going to be the remedy for what is ailing your business. An owner and it's employees need to become involved in the network marketing facets of their business and build rapport with their target market offline, before their online reputation will blossom and grow.
3. If you're not willing to partner with your Social Media Manager for Success, then your efforts will only be mediocre!
This is a hard pill to swallow, but I have seen this time and time again.. Dead Pages.. Dead Pages come from the businesses that really get behind the Social Media ball. But then they lack style, finesse and internal flare.
Don't get me wrong..Social Media Managers are hired to manage, maintain, source content, create editorial calendars, studly analytics and more, but without an inside contact to be in constant communication with, there is a piece of the puzzle missing within the aesthetic of the profiles.
This piece that's missing is some internal DNA to run through the profiles: Photos, Promotions, Contests, Sweepstakes, Events and more are all awesome to implement into your profiles.
4. Facebook isn't One-Stop Shopping--You need a presence on other Social Media profiles, also!
While almost any business can benefit from marketing their business on Facebook with a fully optimized custom profile banner, welcome page , email opt-in and even custom tabs, there are most definitely other platforms that they should have representation on also which also expand your Social Graph.
Remember that a Social Media platform presence adds to your Social Graph and creates a unique impression on Web 2.0 that the major search engines recognize and helps drive organic traffic to your website. If you have a brick and mortar location and the ability to run timely specials and promos, go for Twitter. If you are more of a professional B2B company, you really should set up a personal Linkedin profile and run a Company Page there also.
Several social media platforms work well in conjunction with one another and can assist you in pollinating your message across different platforms with different followers that can possibly engage with your brand.
*Google just announced on their blog that they have changed the way that they are indexing webistes and that Search has become more important than ever before. This is truly why brands will need to be engagment on Google+ in the near future, why you need to claim your business on Google Places and why Reviews about your business are ever so important to help you stand out and get noticed. It's not just about SEO!
Defining your target market and creating a community of brand advocates for your business leveraging Social Media Marketing truly is a worthwhile endeavour! Time and time again my clients have increased website traffic and are generating trackable leads that bounce back to our social media efforts.. Social Media creates a Buzz about your business, and at the end of the day, that in itself is a good thing!
Do you have any other thoughts that you feel should be considered before you start going gangbusters with a Social Media Presence for your brand or biz? I'd love to hear from your experiences!