Before you jump headlong into Social Media Marketing, it's important to develop a strategy.

Just like you'd first tease out the goals and plan for any type of marketing activity you're about to embark on, so too is it important to create a Social Media Strategy.

First of all you need to decide on what you actually want to accomplish through Social Media.  Are you going to use it to:

• Attract new customers?
• Increase retail sales?
• Increase traffic through your door?
• Enhance your business image?
• Get important information to your customers quickly?
• Educate your customers about your products and services?

Once you've considered these different goals, pick one or two as a starting point. This gives you a tighter focus and makes it easier to get started.

Next: do some research on the different types of Social Media Platforms available and see which ones are most appropriate to your goals.

Let's say you're in the health services. You're a Chiropractor, Doctor, Massage Therapist, Dentist or similar. You might want to run a health awareness campaign to attract new clients. In this case you might want to look at setting up a blog and and writing about some topics relevant to users of your service.

Not sure what to write about?

Get your employees on board. I'm sure they'll be able to give you a list of the 10 most frequently asked questions they get asked by your clients. Start by creating a series of answers to these FAQ's and posting them on specific dates. This is an easy and safe way to get the creative juices flowing.

Once you get the hang of writing the posts you'll find that new topics will come thick and fast. As these pop up - write them down so you'll never run out of things to blog about.

If you're unsure of how to actually write a blog post then check out peer sites. I'm sure you'll find examples of people in your industry who have already mastered the art of regular blogging.

How can I use my blog to attract more business?

O.K. Let's say you wanted to increase the sales of one of your services. You can post a blog about this service and how it can benefit your client. You can then include a Special Offer for your readers for a limited time.

The Good thing about this type of marketing is that it's cheap to set up and cheap to maintain. Plus, you can track the results easily just by seeing whether the demand for this service has increased during the period of the special offer.

How do I set up my own Blog?

Setting up a blog is easy. You can set one up through wordpress.org or blogger.com Or you can ask your web designer to set one up for you.

Over the nest few weeks we'll provide further information on blogs and blogging, Facebook and Twitter and how these can help reinforce your brand and build your business.

Gaby

Simply Business Coaching

You simply can't be in business these days and not be aware of Social Media Marketing.

While many businesses - turned a blind eye to the growing online phenomenon, it's now no longer something to be ignored.

Like it or loathe it, the online conversation has most definitely started and is growing daily. The only question now is: "What are they saying about your brand?"

Social media expert Erik Qualman (author of the book Socialnomics) presents some mind blowing statistics in his latest video.

Did you know?

• Facebook tops Google for weekly traffic in the U.S
• Facebook added 2 Million users in less than a year
• 80% of companies use Social media for recruiting
• 25% of search results link to user generated content
• 78% of users trust peer recommendations

And, it gets better.

Watch the video.

So, what does all this mean for for your business?

Are you meeting your clients where they hang out and talk, listening to what they're saying? Giving them what they really want from your business?

Or are you still talking about your company?

Need an online strategy for your business? Quality content for your blog?

Talk to me.