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Advertising and Social Media Marketing

Social media sites have been offering advertising programs for a while now. Sites like Facebook and LinkedIn provide business owners with the means to promote and reach targeted audiences on their sites. The programs are becoming quite popular because of the results they’re able to deliver. Additionally, it’s a new way to reach your audience and may help you extend your advertising strategy beyond Google.

Why Social Media Advertising Works

In addition to the fact that millions of people access their Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr accounts on a daily basis, they’re also accessing the sites on their mobile phone. That means that as an advertiser on one or more of these sites, you’re getting in front of your audience on a fairly consistent basis.

Unlike other advertising mediums, it’s new so it grabs their attention. Some types of advertising can begin to lose their potency when users become accustomed to them. Their eyes barely glance at the ad before they move on. Social media advertising is new and therefore it’s effective.

Targeted Ads

Social media also has the unique ability to market directly to highly targeted prospects. For example, Facebook makes the following statement, “While most online advertising provides about 38% targeting accuracy, Facebook, on average, delivers 89%. On Facebook, you’ll only pay to reach the right people who’ll love your business.”

This is because Facebook and other social marketing sites allow you to segment your audience. You can create ads based on your prospect’s location, age and gender, interests, and connections. For example, you can advertise specifically to people who have joined a Facebook event. In some cases you can also find people who are similar to your best customers and create ads specifically for them.

Social media advertising is also generally less expensive than many other advertising opportunities and tactics. You reach more people and get more response from those people. Social media advertising also provides analytics, whereas some advertising methods do not provide this and make advertising efforts a guessing game.

Without analytics, you just don’t know if your ad worked or not. With any type of advertising for an internet business, analytics are essential and a clear-cut way to identify which ads are working and how well. You stay in control over your budget and your results.

If you have an advertising budget and strategy, consider adding social media marketing to that plan. You may be surprised at the results. It could change the way your business approaches advertising.

Advertising and Social Media Marketing

5 Ways to Give Your Customers What They Want

Thanks to the Internet, consumers are savvier than ever.  They do their research before they buy.  They comparison shop.  They’re more demanding in what they want from product and service providers.

Gone are the days where consumers were loyal to products or brands.  However, consumers ARE loyal to the PEOPLE they do business with.

So how do you develop a customer-centric focus that keeps customers coming back time and time again?

Here are 5 ways to get you started:

1. EMPATHYHave you turned on the news lately?  It’s nothing but doom and gloom.  Times are tough, and consumers want to do business with people and companies that empathize with them about the hard times they’re experiencing.Put yourself in the consumer’s shoes and let them know you understand where they’re coming from.  If you show you can relate to them, they’re going to be much more likely to buy from you.


2. SOLUTIONSTo gain a customer, you need to show that you have the solution to their problems and can help them improve their life in some way.  Let consumers know you have the solutions they’re looking for, and let them know you care about helping them, and you will gain their trust…and their business.When explaining your solutions, be sure to focus on the benefits of your product, service, or working with YOU.  Consumers don’t care about the features…they want the answer to the question “What’s in it for me?”


3. COLLABORATIONSocial media has changed the way we do business by creating interaction and conversation between brands and consumers.  Engage your customers on social media, and encourage them to interact with your brand and even share their ideas for improvement with polls, surveys, and virtual “suggestion boxes.”  When you collaborate you will never run out of ideas to improve your products, services, or customer experiences.  When customers are engaged and feel like their voices are heard, they become more likely to become loyal customers for life.


4. CONFIDENCEYou want customers to have confidence in you, your products, and your services.  Consumers should believe in your ability to deliver the solutions you promised.  And they want to be confident that if there is an issue you will be there to assist them or provide an alternate solution.  Finally, they want the confidence to know that if they open their wallet and hand over money to you, you won’t take advantage of them.


5. SERVICEAll customers want to feel special and receive a high level of service and a flawless buying experience.  They want to do business with people…not machines.  Make it easy for customers to contact you and get the level of service they deserve and they will become repeat customers and your biggest source of referrals.

What are you going to do to give your customers what they want?  Comment below to share your ideas.

5 Ways to Give Your Customers What They Want

Earn Customer Loyalty With Selfies?

When you think of customer loyalty, “trends” doesn’t immediately come to mind, as trends come and go.  Here’s a great example of how one man is currently cashing in on the selfie trend that just might lead to customer loyalty.

Will this new novelty item be the next “pet rock”?

It’s trendy.  It’s personalized.  And it’s unique.

And it even has the potential for customer loyalty and repeat business since the plates are interchangeable.

Imagine:  each family member will want his/her own selfie on toast.  Or even a variety of selfie pics of the same person.  After all…who wants to eat the same thing every day?

Will it stand the test of time?  Or will it go up in smoke?

Earn Customer Loyalty With Selfies?