Beginner's Guide to Social Media Marketing It's never too late to embrace all of the free social media marketing platforms that are at your disposal.
By Torrey Tayenaka Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Starting a social media marketing plan can be intimidating. There's Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Tik Tok, YouTube and so many more. You need to make posts, make ads, comment on other's posts, interact with your audience, grow your audience and stay authentic the entire time. It can be slightly overwhelming at first. Marketing on social media is only going to continue to grow, so it's important to keep some of the below tips in mind to expand your business and grow your brand.
Know your product and your customers
Do you know your product from your customer's point of view? Answering some of these questions is a helpful way to determine your marketing strategy. By figuring out the personality of your ideal customer, you'll be able to make posts that appeal to them.
What do you sell? Why do you sell it? What are you most known for? What is your brand?
In a bio-persona of your ideal customer, what would they be like? Can you create multiple personas and go through the process of buying your product as this customer?
Using these personas, what words, images, or videos would appeal the most to them?
Using these personas, what would attract them to your social media? What would turn them away from your social media?
Related: 7 Social Media Marketing Myths, Busted
Understand each social media platform
Whatever you post needs to be genuine and relevant to each social media platform. Is it a good piece of content for your current following? Is it a competition to get more followers and exposure? Is it a sponsored post to get traffic and conversions? How do your words and images relate to your end goal? Your words should be genuine, well-written, not too long (unless you're a writer), and interesting. Relate to your audience. Tap into who they are and what they might want to hear.
Remember:
Good pictures, great words
Correct formats for all videos
Related: 10 Laws of Social Media Marketing
Be genuine and relatable. Make it personal and ask questions
Engage and interact – comment on other people's posts, reply to comments left on your posts
Get help if you need it
You don't have to go this alone. It's a lot. That's why there are experts out there to help. Social media marketing agencies can help with anything from your social media posts, to hiring writers, graphic designers, and videographers to produce high-quality, brand-relevant content. Starting out with an agency helps get things off the ground. You've already got a business to run, you can hand over the reins to someone who can lead your marketing.
