the beginner's guide to social media marketing

THE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO SOCIAL MEDIA

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THE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING Social media is an essential tool for marketing success. There are many ways you can use different platforms for lead generation, finding potential employees, building brand loyalty, engaging with consumers and so much more! While skeptics originally believed social media would be a fad, it has truly become its own marketing medium that’s here to stay.

With so many networks and features to accompany each platform, it is very easy to feel overwhelmed and confused. Our team of social media and marketing experts put together this Beginner’s Guide to Social Media Marketing, designed to help you better understand the benefits of social media. The guide comes straight out of our very own playbook, so we’ve even included some of our own eMedia-trusted best practices – go ahead and grab a pen, you may want to take notes.

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THE BENEFITS OF SOCIAL MEDIA

What makes social media marketing beneficial for a business?

• Advertising to specific audiences• Content distribution to large groups at one time• Builds brand awareness for your company • Increases brand loyalty by showing customers your personality• Networking & engagement with key influencers• Reputation management • Improved and immediate customer service • In-depth consumer insights

When done well, utilizing social media can support and increase brand awareness, generate website traffic, and funnel leads to increase sales. With these benefits, it’s hard to imagine a business that wouldn’t want to take advantage of utilizing social media.

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PROFESSIONAL VS. PERSONAL USE One of the most important aspects to consider and understand are the differences between personal and professional use of social media. In an era of instant connections and increased engagement, it is very easy to get carried away or make a marketing mistake on these networks. The two main differences between professional and personal use are:

• How you spend your time • The voice you use

For businesses, it’s important to be able to differentiate between time spent personally and professionally on social media. For your personal use, you are spending time to socialize, share content, entertainment, and to keep in touch with friends and family. When using social media for a business, professionals must see it as investing time to maintain or increase their brand awareness, manage online reputations, network with industry professionals, engage with customers, and search for opportunities to build new partnerships and connections.

Brand messaging and voice is extremely important when it comes to using social media for a business. The type of content you share for your business should ALWAYS be in line with your company’s message, services, and culture. Keeping a strong filter on social media content can save you time, money and embarrassment from having to save-face from a potential blunder. Companies big and small have been known to commit social media faux-pas, but they can be avoided given a keen eye and smart (business-appropriate) messaging.

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SETTING GOALS & OBJECTIVES Social media is a great way to help you reach your business goals. Social media marketing shouldn’t be your only marketing campaign, but works best when integrated with your current marketing efforts. A strong social media presence supports any search engine optimization (SEO) strategy, and is a great balance to any traditional marketing campaigns including print, media, and email marketing.

Setting goals at the beginning of your plan will help you determine the direction of your social media campaign. Figuring out what action you want customers to take when they connect with your brand and set up goals that will help you measure your efforts and reach those important benchmarks.

To help you set up measurable goals, use the S.M.A.R.T method, an acronym which stands for:

• S - Specific • M - Measurable • A - Attainable • R - Relevant • T - Timely

These goals will help you determine which social media networks are a good fit for you. There are tons and tons (and tons) of social media networks out there that you can join, but if you’re just beginning, you’ll want to choose the ones that will help you accomplish your objectives. This will also help you save a great deal of time and money.

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CHOOSING THE RIGHT NETWORKS FOR YOUR COMPANY

There are many different types of social media networks, and each one is unique. When you are deciding which ones to join, it helps to look at the different options out there. Having a foundational understanding of the different types can help you put your social media strategy together.

The most popular platforms are the best place to start doing some research. Here’s our breakdown of the seven most popular social media networks, as well as some up-and-coming ones you should keep an eye out for… because we are!

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THE SOLID SEVEN

FACEBOOK

Facebook, the monster social media network, allows you to create a business page to connect with an audience, engage with customers, and share content. It has many unique features for businesses including customer reviews, call-to-action buttons to encourage goals like driving traffic to your website or increasing email newsletter sign ups. You can also invest in pay-per-click advertising, or boost your posts to increase the reach of your content to new audiences -- and potential customers.

GOOGLE+

Google+ has many benefits, including its direct relation to Google and potential correlation to SEO. Similarly to Twitter, Google+ also allows you find content and conversations categorized by hashtags. When building your profile or followers, Google+ also allows you to post content to specific communities you have joined, or to segmented followers called Circles. If you categorize your lists strategically by areas of interest, posting content geared to these different groups will increase the chance of it being read and (more importantly) shared.

INSTAGRAM

Instagram provides a unique, yet genuine channel for brands and their followers to connect online. It is an image-sharing network that allows companies to build a visual landscape for their brand. Many companies have jumped onto the Instagram bandwagon, because it gives their followers to experience behind-the-scenes access, and get a better feel for a brand’s company culture. LINKEDIN

LinkedIn is the largest professional social network. The biggest aspect of this network is that it aims to connect, engage and promote companies and employees. You can set-up a Company Page that showcases your brand, along with products, services and content you want to share. Individuals can create profile pages, and link their job titles to their employer’s Company Page. Individuals can also share or publish content, so this can be a great medium to share your messaging with like-minded individuals and brand advocates.

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PINTEREST

Pinterest took the online community by storm, by providing a new way for users to connect with brands online. Users create “Boards” and build collections of content. Boards are built and added to by “Pinning” all types of content that has been shared or that they found online. Any company with images or content on their website can add Pinterest share buttons to increase the chance of users sharing content from their website. Recently, Pinterest even added the feature that allows users to buy products directly through Pinterest with with their new “Buy Button” feature––a HUGE benefit for eCommerce companies and websites.

TWITTER

Twitter is a microblogging site that allows users to Tweet (post a message) to their audience in 140 characters or less. A special feature of Twitter is the use of hashtags. You can use hashtags to find trending topics, conversations, and to connect with individuals discussing that keyword or phrase across the globe. It also allows you to categorize your messages so that anyone searching for content relating to a hashtagged keyword may find your Tweet.

YOUTUBE

Believe it or not, YouTube is the world’s second largest search engine and a major force behind today’s strong digital culture. Companies can use YouTube to create their own channel and upload branded videos. From “How-To” videos, to “Informational” videos, YouTube is fully integrated with Google AdWords to help users find the most relevant content for their search terms. Even parodies and commercials are seeing huge success. The SEO value behind creating optimized videos and allowing them to live online can exponentially increase a brand’s exposure and reach.

KEEP YOUR EYE ON...

MEDIUM

Medium is a microblogging platform that lets you publish stories and ideas. Users can also recommend stories with their networks and curate their favorite posts. If your goal is to improve SEO and build a content strategy, you may want to consider using Medium.

PERISCOPE

Periscope is a live video streaming app. Users get the opportunity to see the world through someone else’s eyes. Its an app to discover new events and places from the comfort of your own home.

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PERISCOPE

“You can’t tiptoe into social media. You have to jump into the pool. People have a natural fear of it. But the

scary part is not being there. Your customer is already

there.”-Dave Saunders

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TIPS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA SUCCESS

Social media marketing takes time and effort to build and manage. There are tons of tools and ways you can post and interact with your followers, but how do you use social media to it’s fullest potential?

Here are some tips from our team of social media experts to help you successfully captivate your audience on social media:

• Engage with your audience - Don’t just be a logo on a screen, be a voice for your brand. Social media is not just a channel for people to blast sales-oriented information. It was created for collaboration, interaction, and genuine participation. Respond to posts, messages and questions. Always thank people for their positive reviews and make sure to respond to every negative review promptly. You may just be able to convert those customers with negative reviews into brand advocates.

• Quality content - A good social media strategy starts with a good content strategy. Create content (on your blog, newsfeed, calendar, etc) that is relevant, original and provides value. The more you can share with your audience that will keep them interested and excited to read your content, the more likely they will become brand advocates by sharing your content and continue to follow your accounts.

• Be genuine - When you establish a genuine voice across your social media networks, you establish an emotional connection with your customers. Don’t be afraid to show your company’s personality. Companies that overload their audience with sales-only information sound desperate and insincere. While companies that stray away from spamming their audiences have better engagements and are able to create better-quality connections.

The process above has done wonders for not only our clients, but our own social media presence as well. We encourage you to start building your own strategy, and see what new levels of achievement you can reach! If you have any questions about how to take your digital marketing to the next level, we’re here for you! We’d be happy to help you build a strategy that best fits your brand’s needs. Keep an eye out for our Intermediate Guide to Social Media Marketing.

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