As a small business owner, your job is to get as many customers as possible. Social media is a big part of this. This is where you meet as many different people as possible, hand out business cards, and spread the word that you’re open for work and ready to take on new clients. But you can only meet so many people and you can only hand out so many business cards.
Advertising on social networking sites
Another way to advertise your business is to use the growing phenomenon of social media. Social media marketing is the best way to spread the word about your business to attract new customers. With the internet spanning the globe and reaching millions if not billions of people, if your business is not using online social media, you as a business owner are seriously behind.
Social networks describe websites that bring others together, no matter where they live. Some popular sites include Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia, and more. For a complete list, you’ll have to do your homework. All you need is to be online to find out how many social marketing opportunities are out there. To promote your business on these social networking sites, you’ll need to create profiles, describe your business, post photos if applicable, and anything else you’d like to advertise or promote.
keep it simple
To attract as many customers as possible, you’ll need to keep it simple and only provide enough information that potential customers want to contact you for more information. You don’t want to give away everything, like special offers or prices. Get people to contact you or visit your website where they can learn more. The purpose of social media marketing is to reach as many people as possible, thus increasing your chances or generating as much business as possible.
Social networks and relational marketing
Once you have signed up to the social networking sites, now is the time to take your business to the masses. Start developing a relationship with your target audience. By becoming friends with people on Facebook or having a following on Twitter, for example, your business and your message will reach more people than word of mouth and business cards alone could.
With the Internet so popular, and most people doing their business online, you’re doing business and doing yourself a disservice if you’re not on one or more of the many popular social networking sites out there. At first, it may seem time consuming to create many profiles, advertise on each profile, and then connect your profile to others; But the hard work you put in will reap benefits beyond your wildest dreams.