A New Year brings with it the possibilities of a fresh start, or starting something new. For businesses that have not ventured into the world of social media, now is the time. And while some may be interested in using social media to reach customers, learning how to do so effectively takes time. Time they typically don’t have – here is how you can help.
Start by making sure they understand the difference between inbound and outbound marketing. One doesn’t necessarily replace the other; inbound marketing is simply a new way of reaching and attracting customers online.
Inbound Marketing
Definition: Inbound marketing where a company develops content and programs designed to attract the attention of customers, makes the company easy to be found, and draws customers to the website.
Outbound Marketing
Definition: The traditional form of marketing where a company initiates the conversation and sends its message out to an audience through media advertising or direct person contact.
According to Digital Trends, consumers in the U.S. spend an average of 4.7 hours a day on their phones.
“While social networking may have started as a viral craze for U.S. teenagers, it’s steadily matured into an everyday lifestyle for many adults around the world who are now eclipsing teens and young adults as most-frequent users,” – Informate CEO Will Hodgman
Its clear the best way to get noticed is to have a presence online.
To help you get started, begin with an audit of what they are currently doing online, including examining any current content available.
Begin by asking questions to understand the company’s online goals. Essentially what you are doing is conducting an online audit - identifying what they are currently doing and what is missing:
The Business
• What are their business goals and challenges?
• Who are their current customers?
• Who are their competitors?
• Ask them about their industry and where they fit in.
• Why make the push to social media now?
Once you have the business fundamentals, take a look at what online efforts are already in place.
Tactics
• Do they have a website?
• Is it responsive?
• Have they established any social media accounts – if so, where and are they active?
• What types of content do they already have that can be leveraged into a blog, slideshare, infographics, etc.?
• What type of customer information do they already have?
• Do they run any types of promotions or campaigns throughout the year? If so, through what media distribution outlets?
• Are they using any market automation tools to help with content distribution or measurement?
• And of course, budget for website development or modifications, market automation tools (minimal cost, but necessary!), and marketing – content development and delivery
Now that you have an understanding of their business and goals, have evaluated their current online efforts, you can now begin to put together a plan. If a website redesign leads the list, make sure the new product is responsive for mobile, uses a popular platform, and is easy to navigate. Look to integrate market automation tools for the social media platforms that will work best for their industry. And start putting together an editorial calendar to ensure there is a continuous effort made creating and distributing content to their targeted audience.