5 Major Keys to Social Media

They don't want you to reach 1M follows on Instagram. They don't want you to get that Fit Tea endorsement. It's because they don't want you to be successful.

But don't let them stop you!

Whether you're developing a digital brand for yourself or for a business, social media is a critical feature when it comes to success. While it's easy to create profiles on social media, developing a digital image for yourself is entirely different. There isn't a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to building a successful profile on social media, there are some core aspects that are beneficial on any helpful on any scale. Below are six major keys that can help you achieve all of the previously mentioned goals and more.

 Be present (on the right sites)

Being present on social media platforms is a necessity for anyone interested in creating a digital image for themselves or their business, but whether or not certain social media networks are beneficial to that image is often overlooked. Before creating a new profile, you should ask yourself if the site you’re joining is a platform that you want to be seen on. Likewise, you should know whether or not the people you want to be seen by are present on that same platform.

Be active

Yes, another “obvious” tip, but being active means more than just logging on daily or posting regular updates. Engaging with other users is a major key to success.

Be honest

The face behind Sitting Pretty Style told me that being honest was one of the biggest factors when it came to gaining and maintaining followers on social media, and its true. People look for meaningful interactions even in the digital world. Don't get too wrapped in presenting the"perfect image" that you stop being authentic.

Be relatable

What’s the point of crafting a digital identity if the people you want to connect with aren't interested because they #cantrelate?

Being relatable ties into being honest. Most people view themselves as honest, so how can they relate with someone who's dishonest?

Integrate your profiles

The beauty of today’s social media sites is that many of them can connect to each other. Even better, there are additional tools that help keep everything together!


So there you have it. Six major keys to help you be successful on social media.

Sources:

"DJ Khaled "Energy" GIF." n.d. http://giphy.com/gifs/dj-khaled-grammys-2016-major-key-wtHolvfjB1ToI.

"DJ Khaled Holding a Key GIF." Aloe Lion. n.d. http://aloelion.tumblr.com/post/137635092794.

"DJ Khaled "I'm just being me" GIF." n.d. http://giphy.com/gifs/hiphopawards-bet-hip-hop-awards-2016-26ufpBS0ukrGS9hle.

"DJ Khaled "Never Surrender" GIF." Giphy. n.d. http://giphy.com/gifs/dj-FmktBP6sHHKec.

"DJ Khaled "You Played Yourself" GIF." Giphy. n.d. http://giphy.com/gifs/key-dj-khaled-major-l3zoMDcQyd9FA2u2Y.

Kaplan, Andreas M., and Michael Haenlein. "Users of the world, unite! The Challenges and opportunities of Social Media." Business Horizons 53 (2010), 59-68. doi: 10.1016/j.bushor.2009.09.003.

Kietzmann, Jan H., Kristopher Hermkens, Ian P. McCarthy, and Bruno S. Silvestre. "Social media? Get serious! Understanding the functional building blocks of social media." Business Horizons 54 (2011), 241-251. doi: 10.1016/j.bushor.2011.01.005.

Mahagoni, Madisyn. "DJ Khaled." n.d. http://madisynmahagoni.com/post/137509027907/dj-khaled-art-by-madisyn-mahagoni.

6 Ways to Use Social Media to Your Advantage

6 Easy Steps to Use Social Media to Your Advantage

      Social Media has become one of the world's fastest growing forms of online advertising used by a variety of businesses. In this age of social media, it can be hard for businesses, large and small, to navigate through this confusing digital world of like, DM, and unfollow.  Although scary, social media is a very crucial part of business advertising due to it being one of the world's fastest growing forms of online advertising. Thus, it is important to know how to use these beneficial platforms to your advantage. Below are six easy tips to enhance your business!
        An example of effective social media use via a variety of platforms is IGN (or formally known as Imagine Games Network). IGN focuses on the updates and releases of popular video games, television shows, and graphic novels. It has active accounts with Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn.


1.) Choosing The Right Platform for Your Business
Since IGN's main goal is to provide frequent updates about release dates and content quality, they decided to utilize many social media platforms to better spread the word in a variety of ways.
Social media is more than just Facebook and Twitter, there is also Instagram, Snapchat, and Tumblr, just to name a few. All of these platforms have something that makes them a little different than the others. In order to make social media work best for your business, you have to decide what platform will best compliment your image. According to author Andreas Kaplan, "What is true for different types of Social Media also holds for the relationship beetween Social Media and traditional media: Intergration id Key!" For example, is your company based heavily in aesthetic features? Then, Instagram or Tumblr may be the right platforms for you


2.) Post Regularly

In IGN's case, they are constantly posting, however each post is on a different platform. For instance, Monday's, Wednesday's and Friday's are for Facebook and Twitter, While Tuesday's, Thursday's, and the weekend's are for Instagram and Snapchat. It is extremely important that you set up a rhythm, so to speak, when deciding on the frequency of your posts. Make sure that you aren't posting too often or that may cause your audience to unfollow your page. On the other hand, not posting enough will cause your audience to forget about your business and what it is that your advertising, which is never a good sign. Thus, making a schedule of when to post may be your best option.

3.) Be Interactive and Engaging
 IGN uses its social media to conduct contests, create quizzes and polls, and to answer their audience's questions. Being interactive a is a great strategy to show your audience that you care and acknowledge them. You can do this by holding competitions for best slogan or best selfie with your product. Though these techniques may feel more like fun and games, they are actually play a very crucial part in developing a bond and relationship between your business and the consumer. By doing this, you are increasing your odds for more loyal customers.


4.) Be Positive and Inviting
Even though a game or movie did not meet expectations, IGN always mentions to play or watch it for yourself. Thus creating the positive outlook that there are those who may enjoy it. Just like tip number three, being positive and inviting is another great way to ensure that people stay connected with your product.  For example, people are more likely to spend time on a page that posts positive, fun, and bright content rather than one that constantly focuses on the negative. So remember, always be positive!



5.) Be Professional
IGN has shown that choosing how to handle "internet trolls" and dissatisfied followers, can be the difference in whether the public will consider your company an orderly and professional or immature and rash. This is one of the most important tips in this article, so pay very close attention. The internet is filled with trolls; people who want to mess with you just for the sake of messing with you. Trolls are unavoidable and are a natural part of the internet's ecosystem. You must ignore them at all costs. Interacting with internet trolls can lead to a bad reputation for your business, causing you to lose customers and even business partners, which is why being professional at all times is a necessary part of managing your social media platform.

6.) Have a Team
Lastly, managing your business through social media can be a tiresome task, especially for one person. That is why it is important to develop a professional hardworking team of individuals whose expertise is in online advertising. This team can help make crucial decisions on behalf of your business in addition to establishing a stronger online presence for you and your business.

Sources:

Kaplan, Andreas M., “Users of the World, Unite! The Challenges and Opportunities of Social Media,” Business Horizons (2010) 53, 59-68

Reflection #2

Brittany Freeman

MCS 355

2/28/17

Reflection #2

6 Strategies for Successful Business Engagement on Social Media 

There is no doubt that social media marketing is a key element in the growth and success of a business. However, many businesses do not realize that social media presence is not enough. The key to marketing a business is with social media engagement. Do you feel as though you're lost when it comes to your businesses social media presence? Do you feel like you're not sure how to engage with users and grow a following? Don't worry, many brands have yet to grasp the key strategies of sharing content on social media. According to Andreas Kaplan, “Social Media will be the locomotive via which the World Wide Web evolves. Businesses, take note–—and don’t miss this train!” (Kaplan,  68).  Luckily, with the help of “Users of the World, Unite! The Challenges and Opportunities of Social Media” by Andreas M. Kaplan, and insight on the do’s and dont’s of social media from “The Right (and Wrong) Way to Do Social Media” written by Aaron Agius from Entrepreneur, I have provided 6 tips to ensure your business successful social media engagement:

1. Locate your target audience. 

 

Before you even begin to put out content on your businesses social media platforms, you must first locate who the audience is that your business is trying to target. To do this, you must evaluate what your business is offering and which group of people that will appeal to the most. As Andres Kaplan states in his article, “each Social Media application usually attracts a certain group of people and firms should be active wherever their customers are present” (Kaplan, 65). Locating your target audience is a necessary first step in growing your social media success. 

2. Optimize platforms strengths.

Although you may have the same goal for your business on all social media accounts, each platform is different and requires a different strategy for gaining and keeping a following. An example Aaron Agius gives in the article “The Right (and Wrong) Way to Do Social Media” says that “Videos tend to outperform images on Facebook. Twitter posts, while no more than 140 characters, should be even shorter if you're including an image. LinkedIn doesn’t support hashtags, so don’t use them. For Twitter and Instagram, hashtags are a necessity” (Agius, 1). As you can see from this example, it is important for a business to understand the elements of every social media platform to receive the full benefits of each. 

3. Engage with your followers.

 

In order to grow the success of your business, it is crucial to develop a long lasting relationship with your audience. It is necessary to have constant connection with the people that are supporting you, and keep them updated on new information regarding your business. Actively engage in conversations with customers, but remember to make it personalized. No one wants to interact with a social media account that sounds like a robot is running it. Straight to the point, if you are producing content, your followers are there to consume it, and if you give them nothing to consume and engage in then your business will be in jeopardy. In Andres Kaplan’s article, “Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media” he notes five key points necessary for socializing with your following which are: be active, be interesting, be humble, be unprofessional, and be honest. By combining all of these key points, you will be on the right track to positively engaging with your following. 

4. Stay away from spammy content. 

While keeping your specific social media outlets updating is necessary for audience engagement, if you post too much or too often, the amount of users that interact with and see your post might decline. No one likes seeing multiple posts in a row for one social media account they follow. This type of action within your social media could damage your companies reputation. According to Aaron Agius from Entrepreneur, “reputation has significant implications for how firms should effectively engage social media” (Agius, 1). Spamming your audiences news feed with posts can give followers the impression that you post too much, and are an annoyance to follow. To avoid this, have a schedule for when you plan on posting specific content, this will keep your social media outlets organized and under control. 

5. Utilize multiple social media platforms.

While having one social media platform where you constantly update, and engage with your followers is a good starting point, your business will not grow further unless you engage in a wide variety of social media platforms. With every social media comes a different group of users who could possibly benefit from your business, so having presence on all major outlets will lead to more followers, which will lead to more business and success. However, as Aaron Agius says, "One or two active social accounts will look better to your audience than six abandoned brand accounts" (Agius, 1). If you are using multiple social media platforms, make sure to constantly interact with all of them equally! 

6. Stay genuine.

And last but not least, remember to stay genuine. Remember what your business stands for and believes in, and put that into everything you post on social media. Andres Kaplan makes a great point saying “If there is one certain path to failure, it involves thinking that Social Media is just about posting existing TV spots on YouTube or putting prefabricated press announcements on corporate blogs” (Kaplan, 66). If you believe in what you're posting, treat your followers with respect, and stay honest, you will gain long lasting followers that will lead to the success and growth of your business.  

Works Cited

Agius, Aaron. “The Right (and Wrong) Way to Do Social Media.” Entrepreneur. Entrepreneur Media, Inc. August 1, 2016. Accessed February 27, 2017. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/278848  

Kaplan, Andreas M., “Users of the World, Unite! The Challenges and Opportunities of Social Media,” Business Horizons (2010) 53, 59-68 (PDF) 

Reflection 2: 5 Ways to Build a Social Media Brand

1) Know Your Audience

Wanna know how A could torture four girls.. well really an entire town for 7 seasons? They knew the girls, I mean really knew in the creepiest, scariest way that obviously is going to end in an arrest or in murder.. you don't need to know your audience this well, but there are some positive to learn from A.
1) Research, Research, Research how else can you truly promote unless you know what people want. 2) Execution this is the most important for your business you have to put in the time and effort so that your goals are met and you are seeing true growth.

2) Develop Your Unique Voice

Listen up Monsters, who are you to the world? Whats your brand? What do you love? What sets you apart? Don't be like anyone else, be you. No one is interested in a look a like, they want the original. It's incredibly difficult in this time to distinguish yourself when everyone is interesting and you are flooded with brands on brands that you love. You have to make sure it speaks to you specifically. AUTHENTICITY!

3) Promote/Market Your Brand (use more than one platform)

 Major Key Alert: Now I have no idea if DJ Khaled is a actual promoter of Dove, but he is pretty much the King of Snap so I'm sure sooooo many people went out and bought more Dove. Remember, these days there are so many platforms, but also there is a royal family of platforms. You must utilize Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest (this one depending on your brand).

4) Post Regularly

Unless you're Bey...then just post anytime you see fit.

Bible! For everyone else: This HAS to be a no brainer, if you aren't consistently updating your viewers then you are no longer building a brand, you have officially stopped building anything of interest. Social Media Platforms have made it easier to do this. Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest are all connected a new posts for you can be shared on multiple platforms in one moment. Make sure to update your platforms 3 to 4 times a week. If you are blogger of course this a bit difficult but that means if you aren't blogging then you should be posting pictures to Instagram or tweeting. WE MUST HEAR FROM YOU!

5) Engage with your Audience

This doesn't just mean posting on a regular basis, but if you are create a loyal base of viewers you need to talk to them, you need more than an up vote but its great start. Viewers are following you because you have discovered what makes you unique and have shared it with the world in an authentic manner. This doesn't mean you have to have a giveaway every week or every month or even at all (but this works too) but it does mean reading the comments, answering questions. For example, Ingrid Nelson, popular Youtuber's will create one video to answer as many questions as possible from her feed of comments. This shows your viewers that they are caring not only for a brand but for a human being that also cares about them.

Side Note:

 If you love a good filter...Social Influencers don't use Instagram filters and either should you! Get another APP!!

Citations:

Giphy. "Search All the GIFs & Make Your Own Animated GIF." GIPHY. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2017.

Noice, Michael. "7 Powerful Ways to Build Your Social Media Brand." Entrepreneur. N.p., 07 July 2016. Web. 28 Feb. 2017.

Kaplan, Andreas M. "Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media." Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2017.

6 Social Media Sites & How Each One Can Boost Your Business

Andreas Kaplan’s article “Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media” provides a description and analysis of how individuals and businesses can benefit from using social media. Kaplan defines social networking sites as “[...] applications that enable users to connect by creating personal information profiles, inviting friends and colleagues to have access to those profiles, and sending e-mails and instant messages between each other. These personal profiles can include any type of information, including photos, video, audio files, and blogs” (Kaplan, 63). Once upon a time, social networking sites were primarily for personal use; however, businesses are ‘invading’ or capitalizing on this space to advertise to users. I have also noticed that many people group together social media sites and I would like this disprove this assumption by describing how each site differs from one other, providing businesses with greater opportunities for spreading their business, strengthening their brand, and attracting a range of customers.

 

1. Facebook

I know what you’re thinking - Facebook has been around forever - and it has, but Facebook Live hasn’t. This is a really useful tool for businesses because users know what’s happening in the video is happening at that precise moment. In a way, it’s like being involved in a historic moment, without actually being there. The ability to watch a video live - with no editing or filter - allows users to feel like they’re connected, or even apart of what is happening. It encourages users to engage with each other and the business or company streaming the video.

2. Snapchat

Like Instagram, Snapchat is popular among teenagers and young adults, making it an ideal platform to appeal to a younger clientele. Companies and businesses can advertise their businesses on Snapchat through ‘Geo-tags’ or filters with sponsored text and images that can appear over a picture or video that someone takes. This is an interesting tactic for advertising, because it literally makes the user apart of the advertisement, which is then either sent to friends or posted on their ‘Story’ for everyone who is friends with them to see.  

3. Instagram

If you’re a business that revolves around event planning, food, travel, or fashion an Instagram account would be ideal for you. Similar to Snapchat, Instagram is popular among millennials and/or young adults; however this is changing as it increases in popularity. Instagram is primarily for sharing aesthetic photos or videos of people, places, or things. By leaving your profile public, taking advantage of hashtags, and tagging your location or the people who appear in your photo, your business’ posts will appear on the “discover” page, allowing people who don’t follow you to discover your page.

4. Twitter

Today, Twitter is treated almost more like a news source rather than social networking site. Twitter allows users’ (or businesses) to tweet a quick and casual 140 character status. Twitter is ideal during events or ‘when something’s going on’ because users can follow the page and see updates every few minutes. Also, users’ can share or “Retweet” something they like with their friends, making them active participants in advertising for you - at least, if your content is interesting enough.

5. LinkedIn

If you’re not on LinkedIn already - you should be. While this site is generally regarded as ‘less fun’ than say Snapchat or Instagram, it has a few benefits for strengthening your business or company. As a site designed specifically for business contacts - it’s a great place to find and/or recruit new talent, increase the visibility of your business, and distribute content to followers.

6. Pinterest

Pinterest is a site for users to look, share, or ‘pin’ (save) the things that they like or want. This sets Pinterest aside from other social networking sites because on sites like Instagram or Facebook, a business is competing not only with other businesses, but also the content posted by users’ friends or followers. On Pinterest, people make accounts to browse through ideas or products and organize their ideas or wants through ‘boards’. As a company selling certain objects or services - you can see why this might be an ideal social media platform for you.  

Works Cited

Buchanan, Brian. "My Essential Social Media Tools." My Essential Social Media Tools. N.p., 13 May 2015. Web. 27 Feb. 2017. <http://bblive.cc/social/>.

Kaplan, Andreas M., and Michael Haelein. "Users of the World, Unite! The Challenges and

Opportunities of Social Media." Users of the World, Unite! The Challenges and

Opportunities of Social Media. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2017.

<http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0007681309001232>.

Reflection #2

6 Rules of Social Media for Businesses

1) KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

This is a very basic and obvious rule for a company, but it may very well be the most important. With social media sites like Facebook and Twitter offering user analytics, companies can use that to their advantage by following the demographics of their customers. These analytics allow businesses to see the age, gender, and location of their audience, and also their likes and interests. This can be a great tool to make sure that consumer interests fall in line with who the company’s target market is.

2) BE ACTIVE AND ENGAGE WITH YOUR AUDIENCE

The primary use of social media is for interaction, and businesses should always keep that in mind. In order to build a stronger relationship between the company and customers, it is vital to constantly engage with them. Lack of interaction could potentially diminish consumer interest. While it may be impossible to reply to every customer, businesses should try to respond to customers feedback as much as they can. Companies can also increase interaction by reviewing what posts received the most engagement, find the similarities between them, and frequently post similar content.

3) CHOOSE THE RIGHT PLATFORM

With the great abundance of social media sites today, it is important that companies choose the platform that will benefit them the most. This decision should be made based on the intended audience the company is trying to connect with and what the company wants to share through the site. Accessing as many people in the company's target market is the main reason why businesses use social media, and in some cases using multiple platforms can be effective and needed in order to reach the target audience.

4) CONNECT WITH SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS

Social media has given people the power and ability to create a name for themselves on the internet, as many individuals have built loyal fan bases through various social media platforms. Companies should look to connect and build relationships with these individuals if their following falls under the company’s target audience and they could potentially be interested in the company’s product. Doing this could give the company exposure to a new and already established audience.

5) QUALITY OVER QUANTITY

While it is important for companies to remain active on social media platforms, having an abundance of posts that lack quality can be detrimental to a business. Every post must be important and serve a purpose or else customers may grow tired of a bunch of meaningless posts and lose interest. Companies must look to post content that is amusing, thought provoking, and that customers can relate to.

6) ACTIVITY ALIGNMENT ACROSS SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS

It is very common for businesses to use more than one social media platform. If a company does decide to use multiple sites, it is important that the content and activity on each platform are all aligned with each other. Companies must make sure that posts on their Facebook account are not contradicting posts made on their Twitter account.  

Kaplan, Andreas M., “Users of the World, Unite! The Challenges and Opportunities of Social Media,” Business Horizons (2010) 53, 59-68

Gunelius, Susan. "10 Laws of Social Media Marketing." Entrepreneur. February 16, 2011. Accessed February 28, 2017. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/218160.

O'Grady, Natalie. "3 Ways to Grow Your Business With Free Social Media Analytics." Entrepreneur. February 27, 2017. Accessed February 28, 2017. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/289668.

Reflection 2

6 Tips for Successful Social Media

1)      Making your account public

No matter which social media platform you find to be best fitting it is extremely important to make sure that you have your account on a public setting so anyone has the ability to view. By making the platform accessible by any consumer allows your target audience to expand which would result in more business.

2)      Social media outlet that best fits business
Picking the social media that best fits your business will allow a beneficial aid in how in which you share to the public the moves your company makes. For example if own a law firm you do not necessarily want to have your main social media platform as Instagram, as it would lack the important substance needed to be successful. However if you are a clothing store it would be advantageous to have an Instagram account to keep customers up to date with products that are new to the store.

3)      Forming an Identity

When trying to form an identity on a social media site, it is important to be consistent with your message and have a specific person in charge of what is posted. “One major implication is privacy. Users willingly share their identities on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, yet this does not mean they do not care what happens to this information” (Kietzmann 2.1) It is also important to support/share things from other companies that possess the same ideas as yours as it shows you are in touch and up to date with things going on.

4)      Engage with your audience
It is important to understand who you are targeting when using the site and have an understanding which demographic is following your given profile. By also connecting with your audience will give a stronger presence to the consumer who visits your site, things such as replying to posts by other users can give a positive outlook on your business. “Social networking sites are applications that enable users to connect by creating personal information profiles, inviting friends and colleagues to have access to those profiles, and sending e-mails and instant messages between each other.” (Kaplan 3.4)

5)      Clarity in message

It is important to make transparent posts so that confusion does not arise and or lead to a negative response within the audience. By doing so it is important to make sure that your posts are always appropriate to the consumer(s) allowing for positive outcomes from postings. “..blogs do not come without risks. These generally present in two fashions. First, customers who–—for one reason or another–—turn out to be dissatisfied with or disappointed by the company’s offerings may decide to engage in virtual complaints in the form of protest websites or blogs (Ward & Ostrom, 2006), which results in the availability of potentially damaging information in online space.” (Kaplan 3.2) It is also important for the business to understand stand former and future postings, and protect them from going back on former posts.

                                      (It is beneficial to make your message crystal clear)

6)      No over posting

It is important not to post every minute of every day as it would more than likely lead to your business unfollowed due to over posting. Many negative outcomes can come from this and it will in turn cause the significance of your posts to weaken as they will be taken less seriously by the audience.

Kaplan, Andreas M., “Users of the World, Unite! The Challenges and Opportunities of Social Media,” Business Horizons (2010) 53, 59-68

Kietzmann J.H. et al., “Social media?  Get Serious! Understanding the Functional Building Blocks of Social Media,” Business Horizons (2011) 54, 241-251,

R2 - Using a Social Media Campaign to Grow Your Business? Here's How to do it.

Using a Social Media Campaign to Grow your Business? Here’s How to do it.

Businesses often try to utilize social media to widen their reach to consumers, and often these campaigns fail.  Take this statistic for example, 86% of marketers believe that social media is important for their business, but only 3.4% of business leaders say that social media contributes highly to their performance (O’Grady 2017).  It isn’t enough to have a large social media presence to capitalize on your target market.  Here are a few tips to start, or refine, your social media campaign in a way that will effectively reach consumers and generate revenue for your business. 

KNOW YOUR GOAL.  

What do you want to get out of this campaign?  Of course, the end goal is to capitalize on your market that is using this space, but get specific.  Fishing for followers and likes doesn’t always equate to dollars in your pocket, so have a plan for what you want to do online and create an identity. As Kaplan explains, the key reason why people create identities online is to present themselves online consistent with their personal identity.  Knowing specifically how you want the consumer to see you online is the first step; you don’t want to seem like you need their follow or likes, just be interesting to your target and they’ll associate your business with your online identity.  Knowing this will help you decide which platform is best for you to use, most commonly Facebook or Twitter, and from there you can decide what kind of content to use in your social media campaign.  Lastly, you’ll need a way to record and analyze the results that you get from the market.

KNOW YOUR TARGET.  

Once you know your goal, you need to know the best way to reach those goals.  After all, it’s a social media campaign you’re launching, so the next step is to figure out your target market.  Using social media sites like Facebook and Twitter allow you to access more than the location and gender of your target audience; they will let you see their likes and hobbies too (O’Grady, 2017).  Using this information, you can generate a customer profile that you’re looking for to best fit your business model.  

BE PREPARED.  

Once you understand how to best utilize this tool that is social media, plan your campaign.  As you prepare products for the market, know how to push them the right way.  Be relatable.  Using national themes or events is a great way to guide your campaign.  Use that in your social media posts and have your product launch coincide with, or right around, the event utilized in the campaign.  This helps the launch feel more natural and less like a product is being forced onto the consumer.  The best advice is to plan, well in advance, and release some teasers leading up to the leading up to the product reveal. 

CONNECT WITH YOUR MARKET.  

Widening the reach of a business by gaining followers does not imply an increase in sales.  Gaining the right followers is how to maximize sales in a social media campaign, and a high engagement rate is a good metric to illustrate whether a business is gaining the right followers.  The more engaging you are online will attract more consumers.  Users don’t like advertisements, so don’t advertise.  The best way to do this is by embracing social media for what it’s intended for, “It’s all about participation, sharing, and collaboration, rather than straightforward advertising and selling” (Kaplan, 2010).  So, the more you engage your target market, the more you may influence their decision to buy from your business.  Next, it is best to look in the mirror; that is, look at what you are doing to engage your customers.  Change the things that you aren't getting great feedback on, and keep doing the things that are engaging the consumers.

TRACK THE PERFORMANCE.  

There are many ways to track how your social media presence is playing with the consumer.  Look to see if you’ve generated significantly more traffic to the site because, if nothing else, with more traffic to the site, that means more exposure.  Use analytics to see what your target market is liking, reposting, and sharing, and if what you’ve released is fitting the interests of that audience. 

HOW DO YOU STACK UP?  

Using Facebook has a lot of advantages, one of which is that as a business, you can look at a snapshot of a week of your competitors’ activity.  The best model to look at is the leader in your field.  Look at what they do well and look at what they do poorly.  Model yourself after them to see if you can generate some useful traffic and followers doing what they do.  Don’t copy them, but look at their strategies and see how to best apply those strategies to your business and fine tune things until they work for your model.  

Sources:

http://thenewswheel.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Be-Prepared-Gif.gif

http://www.prescientdigital.com/images/SocialMediacampaign.png

Kaplan, Andreas M., “Users of the World, Unite! The Challenges and Opportunities of Social Media,” Business Horizons (2010) 53, 59-68

O'Grady, Natalie. "3 Ways to Grow Your Business With Free Social Media Analytics." Entrepreneur. N.p., 27 Feb. 2017. Web. 28 Feb. 2017.

Solovic, Susan. "3 Strategies to Nail Before You Launch Your Social-Media Campaign." Entrepreneur. N.p., 18 Feb. 2017. Web. 28 Feb. 2017.