This post is part two of a social media marketing series. If you missed the first part of the process, click here. 

For business owners, the option to ignore social media marketing has long since past. If you want to graduate to first grade, you’re going to have to learn the ABCs of social marketing.

Social marketing is about attracting attention for your business, building relationships with your target audience, and collecting contact information for potential customers.

ABC Social Marketing: Attract, Build, Collect

We learn to sing our ABCs before we learn to write the alphabet. In part 1 of this series we covered how attracting an audience is like singing the ABCs. 

It wasn’t long before you could confidently sing the ABCs as you skipped through the playground. At this point, you were ready to learn to write individuals letters. But don’t let time fool you, this was a process that involved a great deal of practice.

Step 2: Build Relationships with Fans

Just like each individual customer, each letter is different. In order to write the entire alphabet, you have to get to know each letter. This is the process of building relationships. 

The stronger the connection you make with each letter, the easier it is to recognize and remember its meaning. The more authority, confidence, and trust your build with your customers, the easier it is for them to make a purchase with you. 

Build Authority

Being an authority in your industry is 50% learning and 50% leadership. You should be consistently expanding your knowledge in your area of expertise. Furthermore, you should be able to combine all your knowledge to become a thought leader on that topic.

Establish yourself as a go-to expert in your industry by freely sharing your knowledge. The easiest way to share your knowledge is to give it away. Here are three ways to build authority online:

• Write guest posts for other relevant blogs
• Answer frequently asked questions
• Host a live Hangout on Air, webinar, or other virtual training

If you want more ideas on how to build authority, check out this article by Hubspot.

Build Confidence

Building confidence is a great way to reduces feelings of risk consumers experience before making a purchase.

Show your customer you are a credible resource for quality information. Make yourself accessible by participating in forums or groups. Share your knowledge openly and encourage people to ask you questions. Give people a feel for the quality of your work by providing samples or trial periods.

In June of 2013, Yodle conducted their First Annual Small Business Sentiment Survey. They polled 306 small business owners in the service industry.

The survey found that 42% of small business owners said they are worried about finding new customers. It also found that more than half of small business owners do not measure results from their marketing. If you’re not measuring, you’re not marketing.

I don’t want anyone in my community to be wasting time or playing guessing games when it comes to their marketing. That’s why I designed a simple printable marketing worksheet and put together a Facebook group for support.

The worksheet is a tool to make marketing planning super simple. The more simple the process, the easier it is to introduce to someone. You can get the marketing worksheet here.

The Facebook group is an easy and convenient way for people to post questions and get answers about social marketing. If you request the worksheet, you’ll get an email invite to join the group.

Build Trust

Every interaction is an opportunity to share your story and your mission. Be true to yourself, your morals, and your message. Here are a few Dos and Don’ts when it comes to building trust:

• DO be authentic
• DO share your story
• DO ask questions
• DON’T abuse your customers contact information (don’t be a spammer!)
• DON’T waste your customer’s time
• DON’T expect trust to build overnight

 

continue reading ➺ Part 3: Collecting Conversions

 

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