Social Media and Social Media Marketing
Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is social media marketing?

Social media are websites like Facebook, linked-in, Twitter and Youtube where people get together to meet each other, chat and socialize.

But what you may not realize is that it's also a fantastic way for your Kamloops business to take advantage of the account that you get to set up on these sites and turn it into a source of thousands of dollars in profits. You can get a ton of traffic, build customer loyalty and turn that into potential sales.

Kamloops businesses who make an effort to set up a presence on social media sites gather customers quickly.

2. Why is social media marketing important to my business?

Social media marketing is important to your business because social media websites like facebook, twitter, linked-in and Youtube are an amazing way to self-promote and a great way to build a foundation for your business. You see the thing is people prefer to do business with people they've come to know, like and trust.

By setting you and your business up on social media sites it allows you to connect with customers, build relationships and ultimately land clients.

All you as a business has to do is to regularly provide some short, useful and interesting bits of information.

3. What's it going to cost to set up a social media marketing campaign?

When it comes to setting up a social media marketing strategy almost the first question that gets asked is how much will it cost.

As a Kamloops business owner you may know that you need to get involved using social media to grow your business…but maybe you think your budget too small and that's holding you back…but don't let that stop you.

What you need to know is that there are things that you can do to get yourself started.

A do it yourself option is to get yourself an account at a social media website like facebook, twitter, linked-in or you tube and start posting some tidbits of useful and interesting information.

If you already have a website, set up a blog on your site... Or maybe you already have a promotional video and you could post that to Youtube.

Another option is to hire a social media marketing consultant to help you figure out which social media outlets suit your situation best and help you come up with a marketing strategy.

4. How do I get started using social media?

Getting started using social media is actually quite easy and here are four steps to get you started.

Step One: Sign up for accounts on places like facebook, twitter, linked-in and Youtube.

Step Two: Send out invitations to your family, friends and other people that you know and ask them to visit your page and join your network. You may even want to include the link to your page so that makes it even easier for them to join your network.

Step Three: Keep updating your network with tips.

Step Four: Repeat steps two and three… that is inviting people to join your network and giving them some helpful tips and bits of information.

Do this regularly and you'll be increasing your chances of finding someone who needs your products or services and potential clients will soon be contacting you.

5. How much time will I have to spend updating social media websites?

The worst thing you can do for your business is not to get started at all with social media but the second worst thing is to get started and then discover that you don't have enough time or resources to keep it up and end up abandoning it all together.

You'll want to carefully think through your social media marketing strategy and set aside time to do it regularly.

A good idea is to check various social outlets and maybe choose one or two to begin with that fit what resources you have to use best.

For instance if you have a promotional video you could get that up on you tube or if you have a good writer on your staff you could set up a blog…. and if you already have a website or a blog there's more than likely a plug-in software that you can add that will automatically publish your website updates to twitter and other social media sites for you.

And don't forget the more thoughtful you are with your tweets the more people will notice and you should write using proper grammar and make sure to check your spelling.

6. How do I get people to follow me on social media?

One thing you as a business owner may want to know is how do I get people to follow me once I set my business up on social media websites.

It would unreasonable to think that you'll have thousands of followers right away so actually the question you should be asking is… who or what types of people do I want following me.

You'll want to think about who you want as a following… is it potential customers, clients, socialites or just a general mix of people then target your message towards those people.

Another thing to do is to search for people you know …follow them and see who they are following and tweet about some thing great about them or what they are doing…there's a good chance they are going to follow you back.

If you already have a website be sure to put your facebook and twitter signature on your site as well as your business cards.

7. What to post about on social medial?

Even though tweeting began with posts about what you are currently doing or what you had for lunch this isn’t exactly the most effective way to build a following. In fact the best tweeters hardly share anything about themselves with you at all.

What you should do is tweet positively about others, give out good information and ask questions.

8. Why do I need to use social media marketing if I already have a website?

The simple fact is if you want to stay in business you need to start using social media to market your business.

In the nineties having a website put your business on the cutting edge. By the year two thousand you weren't taken seriously unless you had a website.

In 2009 and 2010 customers turned to Facebook and other social media first to find your business. When a customer finds your competitor but not you, you may lose a customer.

Social media has become business advantage.

9. What's in a social media profile?

The first thing you'll want to do is decide for yourself the purpose of your social media presence.

Is your page meant to support your customers questions, a place to post news, or is it more for friendly conversation.

If your target audience are people you have already had some contact with you can get away with less information…but

If the people you are trying to reach are largely people you don’t know you'll want to be sure to fill in your name, what it is you do and where people can find you. A picture of yourself is also a great idea.

A lot of people will look at your picture, your bio and a few of your tweets before they decide whether to follow you or not.

10. Is social media marketing right for small business?

The benefits of social media are many including keeping ahead of your competitor, finding customers and driving them to your business. But the truth is not all social media outlets are right for every business.

While social media is a less expensive option than taking out a traditional advertising it could end up costing you in time rather money.

You'll want to start with a plan… are you planning to roll out and promote products on your page or is it meant as a support channel for your customers.

A social media consultant can help you sort out your resources and help you choose the social media outlets that are right for you.

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