Whether you are a start-up, well-established or a business vying to get two steps ahead, there are many organic options available when it comes to getting your name in front of potential customers, some lesser know than others.
Having worked with various industries in B2B or B2C, I have found clever, cost-effective strategies to market your business through social media.
- Influencer Marketing
Simply put, Influencer marketing is a way to have others discuss or mention your brand or products. Influencers are well-respected by their audience and give educated recommendations throughout their networks. For the small budget business owner, this means finding 5-10 customers/individuals willing to talk about your brand, in an effective and positive way, through their social media networks.
The power of Influencer Marketing is exponential. One share of your information leads to more visibility and exposure. Imagine where 5-10 shares would bring you?
- Guest Blogging
It is a 2-way street for the benefits of guest blogging.
First, you could be the guest blogger on another website and talk about your industry from an entirely unique perspective. The benefit to the blog host is providing original and creative content to a blog needing a lift. Your business is being an effective marketer by finding bloggers who share your business core values. And you are spreading the word about you and your business. Second, by bringing in a guest blogger to your website’s blog, you are also creating original and shareable content for your audience while giving another business owner a space for publicizing their brand.
Reach out to websites where your business models are complimentary towards one another. For example, a real estate agent may connect with a mortgage company. Or a senior caregiving agency may connect with an independent living facility. The options are endless.
- Facebook Audience Optimization
Recently introduced through Facebook pages, posts are now being optimized for audiences. For instance, if you are sending out a post only applicable to a particular age group, your post can be segmented directly towards that population. Facebook Audience Optimization “Lets you assign interest-based tags to identify people who are most likely to engage with your posts. Also lets you restrict the visibility of your posts based on audience location, language, age or gender.” via Facebook Settings. In my personal experience, Facebook Audience Optimization limited a test post too narrowly so that less users viewed it. The reach was also minimal. However, marketers are gung-ho on this new feature so it’s worth a try for your business.
For detailed instructions if you would like to try Facebook Audience Optimization, go to this Tutorial @jacobkcurtis - Facebook Shares
Recently I have noticed, though the Facebook pages I manage, a very simple approach to an exponential post reach. All you need are FB shares.
Ask your Business page visitors or personal Facebook friends to share your posts. If each sharer’s 500+ friends see your post, the impact is substantially better than a paid ad!
- LinkedIn Groups
The way I look at LinkedIn is that it is an online business networking event. You connect with others, share your business contact information and make a brief introduction. If a connection eventually needs your service or product, you’ll want them to remember YOU and not the competition.
There’s a defined system to stand out in the LinkedIn world. By joining LinkedIn groups associated with your industry, becoming engaged within group discussions and eventually posting your own blog content onto the group page, you bring your LinkedIn profile to a preferred and remembered level. Heck, you could eventually gain Influencer status too!
- Growth Hacking
Growth hacking is a marketing technique developed by technology startups which use creativity, analytical thinking, and social metrics to sell products and gain exposure. (ref. Wikipedia)
It is viewed as a process of finding unconventional ways or experiments to gain a viral following, users and customers.
Growth hacking can be accomplished on a small business level with some hand-holding from marketers as they would want to use analytics or measurable data to see if an experiment takes hold. Read this blog for more insight into the Growth hacking world. - LinkedIn Pulse
LinkedIn gives the user the ability to publish an update or a post. These posts are connected to an internal blog resource visible to all of your LinkedIn connections, called PULSE. Pulse is another avenue to send your message, reaching a wider audience than your blog or social media accounts. It allows you to tag potential audiences to gain reach and viewership and it shows metrics for views and likes.
Use this article for a How-To-Guide for posting on Pulse.
To stay up-to-date on the latest tips and trends within the business marketing world, read more of my blog.
By Cheryl Friedenberg, President, High Key Impact LLC, Marketing Consulting
cheryl@highkeyimpact.com
