Social media is where the action is in regard to advertising nowadays. The audience is vast, organic, and willing to take action when they see a product or service they need or want. Knowing how to make the most of social media means knowing some SEO as well as applying good common sense and new strategies.
First of all, look at what you want to achieve. Establish thsat first. Having a clear goal to what it is you’re gunning for is a solid foundation to start from. If you’re selling shoes, then you’ll want your ad campaign to focus on what it is about your shoes that makes them stand out. Why are your shoes better than someone else’s? Why should someone buy shoes from you and not the other guy? These are the questions that need to be answered and once you’ve established the right answers you should be good to go. Your shoes are spectacular, amazing, cost less than the competition, ship faster or for free. Put all the good points out front that the customer needs to see.
Next step is to embrace the blogging and social media world. Your product or service has to look real. Not just some cookie cutter presentation that gets lost in the crowd. Original graphics, great copywriting will make all the difference in the world. You’ll need to take photos of your products. If you’re selling someone else’s products don’t always use their stock images. Shoot some yourself with customers or friends wearing the items or using the items. People like to look at themselves and it builds a sense of familiarity and trust when they see real people doing common things. If you’re selling swimming pools then take pics of people having lots of fun and post them appropriately on social media venues and blogs. Same goes for if you’re advertising roofing. Show pics of the diligent roofers before and after. It shows people that there’s guidance and a purpose behind the ad.
Be innovative and don’t get stuck in a rut. Try out new ad designs and catalog all the ads you’ve done and what their statistics say. If one ad did great and had a picture of your staff in it, then try another add with a picture of your staff in it and see what happens. Branding yourself means first getting the message out and having it stick in the minds of the public. Careful design will do this. Once you’ve got your pattern down you’ll know how to follow through. If one ad works on a Facebook Fan Page for your niche, see if it will work on all such niche pages. Don’t forget the basic message though.
Finally, seek and have fun. Try getting ads on blogs relevant to your products and services. See if you can post an article and image on these blogs that enhance the person’s blog but also gets your brand out there. You’ll be doing both of you a favor and on top of that you can check the comments and have that attention fed back to your own blog or website.
It’s all about paying attention and applying common sense along with today’s pop culture. Doing it smart means more gains along the way.