Step One: I decided I want to use social media marketing for my business, now what?

Congratulations! It’s healthy to face your fears. Social Butterfly Consulting is here to hold your hand and take you through the challenging and rewarding journey of setting up and running your social media campaign. There are three major steps in the process of preparing your launch and though they may be obvious, accomplishing them isn’t.

Step One: Analysis

Before you get overwhelmed with the numerous social networking sites and platforms, take a deep breath because you have to do the legwork first. The first part of any analysis is to listen. When we work with you, we need to listen to what you hope to accomplish with new media. Do you want more clients? More referrals? More exposure? You may also want to listen to your clients and employees. Listen to how they prefer to reach you, get your products, what sites they use, and so on.

The second part of the equation is experience. For us, this may mean getting to know your business in a hands-on way, but on your end, think about what it’s like to be a consumer. What sites would you want to see your favorite products and brands on? What would you like them to post, tweet, and pin?

The final part of the analysis is research. This step is easily the most important. Look at your sales records, target audiences, location stats, etc. There is no way to make the most constructive decisions with respect to who you should target, how, where, and why - without them.

Step Two: Set Up

Now you’re getting excited right? Maybe even a tad impatient? Well, social media marketing, like any type of marketing, requires a lot of patience. It’s time to pick and choose the networking sites and apps that make sense for your business. Once we’ve picked your choice of Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Foursquare, just to name a few, it’s time to get going.

Step Three: Learn It/Run It

So, everything is set up! You have your profile pictures, job descriptions, recommendations, and a sufficient amount of friends and followers. Okay, maybe you’re not there with the followers, but that’s because it’s not enough to just set it all up. It doesn’t have a life of it’s own, not completely. The power of social media networking is in your hands.

If you’re wondering why learning it and running it are in the same step, it’s because it’s impossible to learn how to use social media without physically using it. It’s not surprising that you leave a tech class of thirty plus people feeling overwhelmed. There’s no one-on-one attention. You’re taking notes and your mind is left racing. Sound familiar? Get some help.

Be brave. Be bold. Fly up the business ladder.