Brand awareness
Definition of brand awareness "the extent of which customers are able to recall or recognise a brand". Social media is a perfect way to getting your 'brand' or service out there for all to see. With the ability to share information and posts the world really, is your oyster.
You will, however, need to ensure you are fully aware of what you are trying to sell and that you call 'sell' it in very few words. This is due to the limited number of characters you can use when creating posts. You want customers to get to know, like and more importantly trust your brand. This way they are more likely to want to buy from you and also recommend you to others.
Being able to interact with customers is very powerful. They will often have questions and social media gives them the platform to ask these questions in real-time. If they do not have this option or they do not get an answer in a 'timely' manner then you will lose their custom and respect.
Establish yourself as an expert
There are some simple yet important things you need to know and remember when showcasing your product and service. You want your customers to have trust in you and this means them assuming you know exactly what you are talking about. Get this wrong and this is easily shared on social media for all to see. Once this is out there then it is very difficult to undo the damage.
Know your niche – you need a clear picture of who you are wanting to sell to and who is going to want to buy from you.
Know your audience – you want to target people that have shown interest in your product or similar. Don’t go chasing sales for someone that wants to buy a car, but you are only selling the wheels! It’s a waste of your time and effort.
Ensure you create content on your pages specific to your ideal audience.
Market Research
In a nutshell, this information will help you make informed business decisions when starting your business.
There are 4 'P's' to remember and help you with market research:
Product
Price
Place
Promotion
This is also known as the marketing mix.
Product - this can be a product or a service that a company offers. It needs to be a product that customers will want and you need to make them believe they need it in their lives.
Price - This is simply the cost customers will pay. Do not forget you must consider time, supply costs and competitors' prices.
Place - This is where you are going to sell your product or service. Think about where customers are most likely to buy from i.e. the internet.
Promotion - this will include advertising. Think about where your customers hang out. That's where you should advertise, online and offline. Work out how much a potential client's lifetime value is and how much it cost you to get this client. This will give you an idea as to how much to budget for your advertising.
Conducting regular research helps you keep you up to date with the changes in economy and customer preference.
Lead Generation
What is lead generation? This is a way of attracting potential customers to your business and hoping to convert their interest into a sale and a returning customer.
You could try using what is called ‘gated content’. This is online materials such as product information, articles and videos that require users to give their basic contact information in exchange for the gated content. Basically, you gain the interest of the customers with some but not all information and you make that information enough to have them wanting more. Once they give you their contact details then this could be used to follow up if they have not purchased just yet.
They would have an interest in you and what you do. Hashtags work a treat especially with trending topics (that is of course that your product is relevant to the topic!).
Improve your search engine optimisation
Would you even know how to get started? Do you have a budget to work with? What is your competition like? It sounds like lots to do to improve your SEO but start with a few simple steps that don't cost you anything.
Start by using keywords. These are words that are related to your product/service or company name. The more you use them in posts the more likely you are to appear higher up the search list because the algorithm learns what your page is about.
Social media algorithms cannot read words alone, so you need to use hashtags (#). If you don’t use a # then the algorithms will not pick up the keywords and all your hard work will turn into ‘cyber noise’. Basically, it will be lost in the internet world.
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