How to Create a Social Media Marketing Plan

Although “word of mouth” once greatly influenced the way customers obtained the information they needed to select products and services, social media has evolved “word of mouth” into a marketing opportunity with more reach and more dominance. According to a recent Nielsen report, 84% of consumers trust recommendations from friends and most take action based on those recommendations. That far exceeds the influence of TV ads, newspaper ads, how to start a social media marketing business and even company websites. In just ten years, Facebook grew from 1 million users to 1 billion users—a 1,000-fold increase. And over the past 6 years, Twitter has grown from 6 million users to more than half a billion. And social media isn’t just a phenomenon that merely attracts younger demographics. In 2005, 6% of those aged 50 to 64 used social networking sites. That percentage now stands at 60%. And for those aged 65 and older, that percentage has grown from 1% to 43%. Thus, in today’s marketing environment, social media presence isn’t merely a “niche” marketing option—it’s a necessity. As a result, it has fundamentally changed the way in which companies communicate with the public. Marketing is no longer a one-way communication process, but instead focuses on two-way conversations. There are important caveats to keep in mind. Although posting to social media sites doesn’t require spending a lot of money, it isn’t “free.” And you’ll need to devote a significant amount how to social media marketing of time generating relevant content to post and evaluating how well your social media campaign is meeting business objectives. Social media keeps friends connected so quickly and so comprehensively that even if you don’t contribute content, you’ll at least need to “listen” to what’s being said about your company, your brand, and your industry.

Can Social Media Help Your Business?

Social media is more than just a buzzword. There are opportunities and measureable results that it offers that can be extremely beneficial to companies of all sizes. While Facebook and Twitter may be included it’s more than that. Many times people get so caught up social media marketing 2014 in the tools that little time is spent talking and strategizing and about what social media can actually do. Tools are great if you know how to use them, but at some point the tools need to have purpose. It’s where there is no purpose that abuse becomes the end results. I often hear small to mid-size companies ask to help implement social media strategies into their overall marketing plan with a skewed outlook of what social media is and what its benefits are. However, if you know what social media isn’t, than it’s a lot easier to grasp what it can do. If you have a good product, a detailed business plan, and customer service policies in place and willing to invest time, here are a few things that social media can do for your business. Many Businesses get onto social media sites without developing best social media marketing a business plan for directing their social activities or developing a policy to handle problems that come up such as employee gossiping or negative comments from followers. Business owners feel overwhelmed by using social media and aren’t sure how to keep up with all the changes regularly introduced to different social media sites. Additionally, it can be hard to figure out what activities to do, in order to make social media effective.

HOW CAN SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING HELP GROW YOUR BUSINESS?

Social media is an excellent and increasingly necessary way to spread your message and grow your business and a key part of any inbound marketing strategy. But a professional social media marketing plan is required to ensure success. These days almost every industry is being affected in some way by the power of social networks and the virility of online communication. At Sticky, we have have used social media marketing as an agency to grow our marketing by social media business for many years. We encourage the use of social media where appropriate and have numerous clients who rely on us to provide them with the expertise required to successfully integrate social media into a comprehensive online strategy. We believe that social media marketing, when used as part of a holistic online marketing strategy, can be an extremely successful way to amplify your message and engage core audiences. It is also becoming an increasingly important part of search engine optimisation (SEO). Like any good marketing, social media marketing requires a professional plan to ensure you make the most of your opportunities. We have also been ranked world-wide by Advertising Age Power 150 (USA) for Media Hunter, while Media Hunter has been ranked as one of the world’s top 100 advertising blog sites. Craig Wilson is also a contributing author to the international social media marketing books The Age of Conversation. We are in constant contact with some of the best marketing minds in the world and are privileged to social media marketing be in their company. We understand and know how to successfully implement the emerging social media marketing opportunities and can design a social media strategy for your business. It’s about starting a conversation with your audience, building trust and letting true values shine through.