We live in a great time where technology and social media is available at our fingertips. This is both a blessing and a curse because just as you are able to harness the power of technology and social media marketing so can everyone else. It has become a competitive era where companies are all trying to get the attention of potential customers.
So what do you do? Stand back and hope for the best? Carry on hoping that your business will be noticed? Standing back and hoping for the best is not an option. If you do this, you will simply miss out because the deal or the sale will go to the more active company. To get ahead of the rest you must have a marketing plan or strategy to get you in front of your potential customers.
Define your target market. Many companies simply say that their target market is everyone everywhere. This is not true. If this is your philosophy then you could be spending money on marketing to people who have no interest in your product or service. Define who you want to sell to in terms of where they live, what they like and what they are looking for. This will place your ad in front of the right audience.
Create attractive adverts. You can’t just place an ad and think people will engage because it’s there. Think about your ad and your message. Be brief and to the point. Long messages and cluttered adverts lose attention. Be focussed and make sure your advert says it all at one glance. One image should be worth a thousand words.
Build your brand. This is often lost in the grand scheme of things when companies just focus on selling. If you don’t have a good brand that customers recognise then you may not gain trust with your customers or longevity. If your brand is visible and consistent then customers will recognise it and be more likely to interact with your company.
Channel the correct social media. Someone must have told you that you must be on social media and you probably decided then to be on all of them. While it is good for brand awareness to be on all the popular social media platforms you should understand how each one will affect your business. Facebook is the most popular social media platform in South Africa and this may be the one where you will get more leads and interaction. Remember that the group on this social network is an older group. Instagram is also a fast growing social network but it is only image based. No one wants to read long stories on this one. Your ad must grab attention instantly, which makes this platform ideal for brand awareness. It also has a younger audience. Twitter is mostly focussed on news and celebrities so your brand will gain traction here if it is a trendsetter or news based. LinkedIn has a professional business focus where businesses can interact with each other. This platform requires a lot of time and investment if you want it to work for you.
It is necessary to advertise in this competitive era. If you don’t, no one will notice your company. Take the time and financial investment to uplift your brand in order to get the attention of your customers.
Deschan Marketing and Promotions offers a comprehensive social media marketing approach to build your brand and generate leads for your business.