Savvy business owners are relying on social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Google+ to promote their businesses. But while businesses might be posting more messages to Facebook and Tweeting more often about their newest products and services, what's not known is how effective all this activity is.
Businesses are supposed to use social media to not only communicate with their customers, but to drive sales and generate leads. Businesses that aren't doing this are just wasting their time when it comes to using Facebook, Twitter and the rest.
Fortunately, there are several strategies that businesses can embrace to help better their return-on-investment when it comes to social media.
First, it's important for businesses to measure the results of their social media campaigns. It's not enough for them to simply acquire followers. They must also determine whether these followers are making purchases or leading them to new clients. It's important, too, for businesses to acquire the most loyal of followers, those who will comment frequently on company message boards, praise the company and its products to others and bring new followers with them.
Secondly, businesses need to determine what type of customer they are aiming for with their social media efforts. Businesses who want to target 18- to 34-year-olds will send vastly different messages than will those who are hoping to land business from 50-year-olds. As in all forms of advertising, businesses must tailor their messages for their specific audiences.
Finally, business owners need to have specific goals in mind when they launch social media campaigns. Are business owners hoping to spread positive word about their companies? Are they hoping to boost sales by 25 percent or more? Do they want to boost the company's Web presence or make the company more relevant to younger consumers? These are all different goals, and they all require a different type of social media marketing.
Read more at Inc. [3]