Before developing a specific social media marketing strategy for your business, figure out which social networking site you want to use. Each social networking site works differently, so it is important that your strategy will work with the site you pick. For instance, on Facebook you can create a poll, unlike most sites.
Run social media-only contests. If they only see special promotions through Facebook, then it becomes a great marketing tool where people will help you advertise through these social media sites.
Connect your blog to Linkedin by putting a share button at the top of the page. Because of its nature, Linkedin has users who are generally people with influence who have higher incomes, meaning plenty of potential customers with money to spend on your products and services. With more than 100 million people using Linkedin, it is a great opportunity using social media to market your business without spending a dime.
Utilize RSS feeds. These all people to subscribe to your feed and have the posts go into their Google Reader account once your feeds are published. This makes your content accessible in an easy-to-access way for your customers. Make the button to subscribe easy to identify, so the whole process takes no effort on the part of those visiting your site.
Never spam when posting on social media. Posting spam is the quickest way to lose followers and damage you and you companies reputation. Spam posts on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites make any legitimate marketing difficult. If your posts are just a few words and a link to a product, you are posting spam. Give relevant content or reviews along with any links you post.
Always keep your cool when posting and replying on social media sites. There are people who will post on your social media pages with the intention of causing trouble. Maintain a professional attitude and just remove the posts. If they have a legitimate concern with your business, be respectful and always maintain a professional dialogue.
LinkedIn allows you to have three links in your profile. Make good use of this by posting a link to your website and to your blog, and perhaps to your Facebook page or anything you believe deserves more attention. Do not hesitate to change these links if you do not think they are getting enough visits.
Make sure you make your profiles public. LinkedIn and Facebook both have privacy settings you can customize: remember that you are creating these profiles to advertise your products, and that you want as many people as possible to see your pages. You can block individual users if you are having issues.
You can add applications such as SlideShare to LinkedIn. Try different applications and see which ones could be helpful to you. SlideShare allows you to create photo albums with detailed descriptions for each pictures. You could add pictures of your products or have your customers send you pictures of themselves using what they bought from you.
If your online presence involves any kind of a blog, make sure you update your Facebook page immediately after the blog is updated. This can draw Facebook users to your blog or website, and leaves no lag time between your blog post and garnering attention to it. As soon as you post a blog entry it starts aging, so getting the word out on Facebook immediately takes advantage of the fresh and relevant content.
By utilizing social media, you have found the hub of where people go to get information. Using this to your advantage will get you ahead in marketing your business and make money.