A Company Cannot Exist on Social Media Alone

There's more to a marketing strategy than social media

When it comes to social media, anyone looking to promote a business, product, or service should definitely have a strong presence on sites like Twitter and Facebook. But relying on social media alone to gain business exposure isn’t a good idea. If you want optimal results, you will need a well-rounded business plan that attacks all mediums of exposure.

• If you’re already on social media sites, make sure you’re tweeting and posting regularly on every account you have set up. Initiate conversations with your fans and followers and make sure you respond when they talk to you. Try to engage with your followers on a daily basis by posting interesting content and links to informative articles. If you’re not yet on social media sites, make sure you set up your accounts ASAP. Developing a strong following takes time, so don’t expect results overnight. Instead, be patient and make growing your presence on social media part of your everyday routine.

• Don’t forget about the power of press releases. Press releases are a great way to announce a new product or service or highlight important company news. You can incorporate SEO keywords into your press releases too, making them easier for your target audience to find them. There are free press release distribution sites out there, so do some homework and submit your press releases to a few of them. You can also pay a company to do this for you as well as post press releases on your company’s website and/or blog. (Be sure to send out an update or tweet on Facebook and/or Twitter with a link to the press release to gain more readers). Here’s an article with more in-depth tips on how to distribute a press release: Effective Free Press Release Distribution in 5 Easy Steps

• Email newsletters and announcements are an easy way to reach hundreds (if not thousands) of potential and past customers. The key is making your newsletter content interesting enough that it doesn’t get thrown into the trash bin the second it hits their inbox. If you’re not a great writer, hire one. Make the content interesting, informative, witty, or funny depending on your product or service and eventually your customers will look forward to seeing your newsletter pop up in their inbox. Don’t have enough customer email addresses to send out a newsletter? Why not offer a special email-only discount that requires customers to sign up for your newsletter to receive? Again, you can cross-promote this on your blog and social media sites. Here’s a helpful article on email newsletter writing: How to Write Email Newsletter Articles Your Audience Wants to Read

For help growing your business, check out Voice of North America, a site where you can blog about your products and services in all 50 states. You’ll gain exposure on the search engines and increase quality linkbacks to your website or blog.