Social Media is Today’s Billboard
Its no surprise that social media has caught on so much these days in everyone’s personal life but when it comes down to business, its key to have a social presence.
In this post I will explain some of the most beneficial things I have taken away from my Social Media Marketing course which i have taken this Spring 2016 semester at The Monfort College of Business here in lovely Northern Colorado.
1. Make your presence known!
Being a physical business is the easy part. Making your presence known to the right target market online is where it gets tricky, but is necessary in today’s business world. When it comes down to social media, this can be achieved in many ways from advertising to specific customers or even offering customer service. When it comes to sites like Twitter and LinkedIn though a good way to generate more traffic to your business is to get a mention or have your business featured in an online publication. The problem here however is, that its difficult to do! The trick I have learned is to be persistent and consistent with your efforts throughout multiple social media platforms, and it will pay off with web page traffic to get you and your business known!
2. Figure out the best time to post.
Timing is key in most aspects of life just like with advertising and brand building. If you are trying to advertise to reach out to specific people, then you must post at the most optimum times when they are using them. Consider the fact that 80% of the United States population is in the Eastern and Central time zones and your goal is to reach them but you may live in California. Most people use social media from 12 pm to 6 pm which would mean you need to be posting content anywhere between 9 am to 3 pm which can be tough for someone who may have to balance work and home life or two jobs perhaps. This is where a platform such as Hootsuite comes in handy. You are able to schedule your posts to go up at certain times and not all at once so people aren’t flooded with your content and have time to look at them more thoroughly. This alone will increase traffic, generate followers, and increase engagement.
3. Post evergreen content.
The best content to post is always evergreen content which is considered long lasting and sustainable while continuing to be relevant to your followers long after its publication. It’s a good idea to keep a sorted list of your “evergreen” content which you have published, and re-publish them on a sporadic and rotational basis to help keep your different social media profiles generating updates, and this will maximize the long-term value received from satisfied customers and followers. The tough part is to time your posts so people don’t get sick of seeing the same post over and over which is when you begin loosing followers so be careful! What’s best about this though is that it isn’t an overly time consuming or budget breaking method to better brand building.
Takeaway
I have learned so much about marketing with social media and it truly is a great way to build your brand and personal learning network in order to successfully market over different platforms. The three things I found to be the most detrimental are having a well known online presence, knowing the best times t post to your audience, and making sure to post evergreen content for your followers.
Check out my Professor Denny McCorkle’s blog page here for more tips and information on Social Media Marketing!
I would love you hear your experiences with social media marketing, opinions, comments, or questions in the section below!
Leadership and Entrepreneurship 
