A few of our clients have been asking whether they should be blogging or using Facebook or Twitter to help their websites along in the online world. What they’re asking about is the “social web”, which is all about engaging with people who have similar interests, reaching a wider audience, creating opportunities, connecting with people who might become clients or customers…this is networking. If you are selling services/products (eg. personal training, life coaching, web design, photography, jewellery, art, fashion styling) then really the main aim of your website is to get people to contact you and enquire about or purchase your services/products. People may find your website through Google, but they will also find many other websites selling the same services/products, so how do you connect with people and let them know what you have to offer is what they want?
- The first step is to realize that you will need to devote a certain amount of time each day to social media marketing. Result will not appear overnight so you need to be able to commit to a consistent effort over a long period of time. Even when you have started to generate leads, you will still need to actively maintain your presence on a daily basis to keep up the momentum.
- The second step is to identify your social media marketing goals. This is typically defined as actual sales you hope to make via your social media presence. Make sure you have a web site analytics service (e.g. Google Analytics) as this will help you to keep tabs on your page traffic, leads, and actual sales that are generated from your social media marketing efforts.
- The third step is to create social media accounts, compose quality content with calls to action for your potential customers, take part in online discussion groups within your sector, and engage readers by asking questions and encouraging comments and opinions.