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social-media-marketingTHMB.jpg Planning a must for capitalising on social media

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Bikky Khosla | 09 Sep, 2014
We hear people talk a lot these days about social media. Business pundits have written scores of books, articles, and studies on why and how to leverage social media for profit. But when it comes to practice, few succeed in doing it, particularly the small businesses. How and where to start on social media, what kind of content to post, what channels are appropriate -- these are some of the common questions that they fail to answer. As a result, they fail to fold their social media efforts into a clear and concise strategy.

I am often surprised at how haphazardly some small businesses manage their social media presence. Today, there are thousands of small firms which have their own social media page -- but it seems only a very few of them are really clear about what they want to get out of their social media presence. They don't know exactly why they are out there and who they are trying to reach out. A social media strategy should start from identification of target audience. For example, if you are a B2B seller you may want to reach only CEOs -- not end users, and you have to plan accordingly.

The second important question is: what channel is most appropriate to reach the target audience. YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Google+ and Twitter are some of the most common social media platforms, but this by no way means that each of them will be equally relevant to your purpose. For example, Twitter or Facebook may be quite good for spreading awareness about your product, brand or company, but for hiring or to increase networking LinkedIn will certainly be the most appropriate. Google Plus, on the other hand, may help you drive more traffic to your website.

Another key question is how you will develop relevant content for your audience. This is the step at which many fail. So, do some homework before launching a social media campaign. Ask yourself what will interest the target audience, how you will come up with regular topics to share, and what you want to communicate -- visual, fun facts, product information, technology upgrades or something else. You have to get creative and keep yourself updated about the latest trends and happenings in the industry to get the audience to engage with the content you share. So, planning is a must, don't just jump into social media without a clear strategy.

I invite your opinions. How can a small business make the most of social media to grow? Please share your insights with our readers.
 
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capitasing
M Shankar Iyer | Tue Sep 23 09:51:51 2014
Apart from planning strategy putting the things into implementation will lead to milestone ahead.


Interesting postulations
Garry Montgomery | Wed Sep 10 15:59:43 2014
Interesting postulations, well written and given creative thought but somebody still needs to do an in-depth analysis on how to use the social media to greater advantage A to Z.


Vitamin
Anand | Wed Sep 10 12:34:48 2014
What would be the best media in Social network to attract people on Body build/weight reduction and vitamins. Appreciate your thoughts on this please.


Social Networking
KALPESH SHARMA | Wed Sep 10 04:22:24 2014
I am an ardent reader of Trade India's news letter. It is rightly pointed out Social Media especially Facebook and LinkedIn,Google can play certainly a vital role especially for small and medium business to get visibility as well take their product or solutions to right "MAN". I think Trade India should focus on in detail "How to "bridging Small/Medium business to social media for the benefit of readers and businesses.


 
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