By Pete Winter

How to Transform Social Media into a Powerful Marketing Tool

Want to be part of the social media revolution? There’s no escaping the rising business use of social media networking sites. But many companies are still getting it wrong when it comes to social media marketing. This is because they have failed to take on board some important resources and approaches.

Here’s how to turn those social networking sites into social media marketing:

Apply insight

Social media marketing requires just as much of a plan as other marketing approaches. Use inbound marketing technology which shows you what your customers are looking for – and where – on the internet and informs you of the best networks to focus on.

Align everything

Don’t start anything until you are clear what message you want to be putting out there, how you want your product and company to be seen and the kinds of people you want to convert into leads.

Follow up

Don’t work hard at creating a great impression only to let it fade away by failing to follow up. Use a clear plan and inbound marketing automation technology to actively follow up the leads you have created with your social media marketing.

Four signs your marketing strategy is missing social media marketing

Is your marketing strategy missing something? It may well be – if your social media management is not working at its best. It’s a missing aspect that could be costing you customers, sales and leads.

Look out for these five signs that social media marketing is missing from your business strategy:

You’re approaching contacts without knowing the issues affecting them: This is a classic sign of neglecting to use social media marketing within your wider marketing strategy. Use social media networks to stay in touch with the interests, concerns and pains of your prospective customers.
You’re losing prospects at the start of the sales funnel: Do you make new contacts, only to find you lose them later on? This could be a sign that you aren’t maximising social media to strengthen your links with prospective customers.
People do not recognise you as an expert in your industry: Are you failing to use social media marketing in building up your online presence as an industry expert? This is another key sign that your social media marketing is missing from your overall marketing strategy
Your sales team is not up to date with your current social media marketing strategy: If your sales team is out of the loop when it comes to your social media activities, you could be missing out on an important addition to your marketing strategy.