Hello and welcome to GWS Media's guide to taking control of your social media campaign, designed to take the confusion out of online promotion and make you feel in control.
We designed this mini-series after hearing many Bristolians, business leaders in the local economy, complain that the array of options left them feeling like online marketing was a waste of time, too much trouble, or too time-consuming- a closed book.
We're trying to open that book for you all here!
Posts 1 and 2 in this series gave tips on how to maximise your investment into online marketing by making your existing marketing work harder; and how to get proactive and understand your own SEO campaign if you're paying someone else.
This third post is about what YOU can do to work more productively - we find it's good practice for all aspects of marketing work.
3. Engage with your Social Media Audience
Each week / month, depending on your schedule, set aside time to engage - not sell or advertise, just engage - with your social media audience.
A short burst of structured activity, getting the most out of one piece of work, is better than daily unfocused interactions, and helps you to get the most value out of the time you spend on your articles or copy writing.
For example, if you write a blog post about an industry event, email or Tweet relevant people (other attendees or clients) about it - to make sure its impact is maximised.
If you’re on Facebook, make sure you search for business leaders in your field or city and take time to connect directly with them and share your work.Traditional networking can translate well online if you are as polite as you would be in real life.
If you compliment another firm or local service online (in your blog for example), let them know in a public online forum.
They will remember your name, but don't expect anything back in return - good karma takes time to build up and can't be forced!
Social media platforms like Hootsuite will allow you to schedule events - if you want to Facebook a press release for next week, you can schedule it today.
Likewise, if you spend a day doing the month’s blogging, you can schedule the posts for the future - a day’s writing is often more productive than bits here and there, and helps you feel more focused.
Step 4 - the final step to taking control of your online promotion - will be out very shortly!
In the meantime, let us know what you think - we'd love to hear your views, and any more tips you might want to share.
Thanks for reading!
Continue to Part Four: Monitor the Results of Your Internet Marketing
