If you are a business owner, regardless of niche, hopefully you know by now that social media today is not an option, but a requirement. For many years business owners, network marketers and home based entrepreneurs sat on the sidelines “waiting” to see if social media was just a fly-by-night trend. Well if you are trying to play catch up and are looking for a proven social media marketing strategy to get more traffic, leads and sales now, then listen up!

It’s time to dive into the wonderful world of  fans, followers, likes, shares, retweets, pins,tweets, friends, bookmarks, Google hangouts, viral videos, content sharing, syndication, mobile marketing, wordpress blogs, tribes and more.

Social media today is about engagement, building a community and creating awareness around your brand, business and products. Building a successful and profitable business is all about creating and implementing a solid social media marketing strategy that drives long term results.

What is Social Media Marketing Exactly?

Social media marketing refers to the process of gaining website traffic or attention through social media sites.

Right now, your prospects are reading about your products and services on Facebook, Twitter, blogs and in forums. They’re browsing YouTube videos for information about what they want to buy and being influenced by the opinions  of their friends and peers on sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Potential customers, partners and clients are viewing your LinkedIn profile and blog posts and reading reviews on Yelp and Google to see how you stack up to the competition before spending their money. Social media today is the new world of “social selling”.

Social Media is important for any business, and whether you are a solo-entrepreneur, a small business or major corporation, social media is here and here to stay. 93% of marketers use social media in some capacity to increase exposure for their business with 72% stating that their social media efforts improved traffic and subscribers.

But while small business owners recognize the importance of social media today, very few actually know how to integrate all of their social media marketing activities to maximize customer engagement, generate more leads and convert fans and followers into paying customers.

If you have a message, a product, a service you want to deliver to the marketplace, the way we use social media today provides one of the most effective and powerful ways to spread that message quickly.

How you use social media today will dictate how much traffic, leads and sales you generate for your business. That means how you share value and content online has a huge impact on potential profits.

Here is an example of three Facebook posts I published recently:

Notice the first Facebook post was “liked” by 12 other people and shared 11 times– which means this same post was exposed to their FB network as something they were interested in. Meaning a copy of this exact post including a link back to my original content was FEATURED to everyone within their network.

The middle post was liked by 21 people and the third post was liked by 23 people. Not only am I sharing value I am sharing content that is encouraging, uplifting and giving people a peek inside my world as a REAL person. People using social media today expect and demand transparency, authenticity and realness. They want to know who you are first before they decide to buy your products and services or partner with you in business.

So while this one post may be seen by only a few dozen people, it is shared with hundreds if not thousands because they are all sharing, liking and commenting on my content which exposes me to their networks! Most of whom I would not be able to reach any other way.

When people share, like or push your content – you are also getting a subtle endorsement, recommendation and nod of approval.

Social Media Marketing Challenges

Social media today is not about pitching your products or spamming your links online. It is about building connections and engaging your audience in a way that allows them to learn more about you. You want to start serving instead of selling and encouraging instead of pitching, helping instead annoying the heck out of your networks. Social media is for connecting, your email list is for converting!

The way you monetize social media today is by attracting and connecting with your target audience and then driving them back to your blog, lead capture page or money site where they can then opt-in to learn more about the awesome valuable you share on social media. Once they are on your list, that’s where the real money is made! Click here to learn more about building a list.

When you use social media effectively, you are providing a way for other people to see your value! Social media today is much more than another way to publish and distribute content, social media is about creating and nurturing relationships.

So a great social media marketing strategy positions you to NOT just push your brand or new offer, but to establish credibility, favor and value in the market place.

To our success,

Andrea Bolder
Gold Medal Olympian & World Class Online Marketing Trainer

PS – Make sure to LIKE, COMMENT and SHARE this post. What social media challenges are you struggling with? What have you learned here today? How can I best help you produce the results you are looking for online?