Social media is taking over and almost everyone has a profile on various platforms. Utilize this trend by adding your presence on these sites. Social media can be a great tool to expand your business but can be confusing to get started into the process. There are a lot of do's and dont's so the importance of taking your social media campaign as serious as possible, will help you build your brand instead of tarnishing it. This article will go over some of the first steps to get you started with an effective social media campaign. 

Assemble Your Team | Assign Responsibilities

The first action that should be taken is assembling a team that can focus on your social media campaign. Whether you have your own team or need to outsource, having a team of professionals solely focusing on your social media campaign can help expand your business. Social media needs a delicate balance. You should be posting promotional information, helpful information related to your business and some fun posts that appeal to the viewers interests. Understanding what viewers want from social media posts will help build your brand and make you a reliable source for information. Social media shouldn’t be taken lightly because several people will find out about who you are and what you sell through the various online platforms. Know who you are as a brand and effectively represent that through your social media. Many business stick to what they know, which isn’t always bad, but it's important to keep your followers engaged. As long as you are staying on topic, it is okay to post something funny and witty. Avoid posting only promotional content because people will get sick of you. Strategically research what the best social media campaign will work best for your business. 

Plan A Campaign

Carefully research how you want to represent your brand. Include how often you should post, what information you'll post and what platforms will best represent your content. Keeping up with your the content is important. People need a reliable source that they know is consistent and provides them with descriptive and well researched information. Social media sites can be fun and informative with blurbs of information and sometimes added links to lead them to your site for even more information. Your campaign should  be well thought out with who you want to appeal to, how you'll help and how to consistently peak their interests. Your campaign should also include a calender that has your plans thought out for a period of time so your social media posts don't seem rushed and dull. Your calender may change overtime but it's important to have a well thought out plan and try to stick to your scheduling. 

Choose The Platforms Best Suited To Your Business

Knowing what social media platforms will best represent your information is important to know. Trying to utilize every platform available will actually hurt your brand.  With so many platforms, try starting off with one or two so you can effectively provide quality information. It's good to have a presence in more than one place but if you sign up for too many, it will look like you don't know what you're doing or your just trying to push unwanted information at people.  Social media sites may be a way for you to post information but shouldn't  sound like a business conference and it's important to master what people are looking for, what they are interested in and how you can provide that to them. It will be almost impossible to master every site out there, rendering your posts useless and obnoxious. Would you purchase something from a company that’s projecting how inept they are? This type of activity does nothing to produce trust, which is the basis of any customer relationship. 

Know Your Brand

Knowing your brand is important.  A planned and managed brand will build relationships and brand loyalty.  A strong brand will help expand your customer base and people know they can trust you so they pass on the word to other potential customers who are in need of your service. If you don't hone in on your brand like it's a person with thoughts and feelings of its own, then your online presence will seem like a confused mess that people don't want to get involved with. When developing your brand, it is important that you strategically and creatively come up with your own ideas to stand out from the rest. It also has to be memorable. Your brand will be the focus of all your marketing efforts so it should be creative and appealing and represent you not just a business trying to make a sale. Your brand will show people that you care and they have someone to go to if they ever need your specific products or services. 

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