If you’re looking for inexpensive ways to promote your website, you’ll want to make use of digital marketing opportunities such as blogging and social media. Creating social media profiles for an online business can help keep your customers excited about what you have to offer, while drawing in new customers at the same time. There are integration tools that can help you link your social media accounts directly to your ecommerce store, saving time and money.
The Benefits of Social Media
There is a multitude of benefits associated with using social media to promote a business. Connecting your business website to social media profiles allows you to access the millions of users on these networks. You can engage with existing customers and reach out to potentially unlimited new ones. Customers trust peer recommendations far more than paid advertising, and this costs no money to your business.
Direct vs. Indirect Marketing
There are two main ways to use social media in a promotional sense. To begin with, you can use it for direct marketing. This includes promoting your products, services, or special events using your Facebook or Twitter account. You can share news about new products, or tell fans about special offers. This helps build an engaged following who will want to share their great deals with friends. For example, an online pet store could let customers know about seasonal discounts on dog coats with Dogs Corner, and provide a special code for customers to pass on to friends. This creates exclusivity, which customers love. Contests and special events are also great examples of direct marketing.Another use of social media is in more indirect marketing. By interacting with your customers, social media provides the chance to build trust and a feeling of loyalty to your brand. Keeping a blog helps you showcase your brand’s personality, and you can respond directly to readers’ comments and concerns directly. This makes your business seem more human, and can boost customer engagement.
How to Make the Most of Social Media
To make the most of social media, you’ll want to integrate it directly to your website. Place buttons on your ecommerce site that go directly to your social media networks, and allow customers to like or share your products. Set up profiles on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, and Google+ to make use of all networking possibilities. Ask customers to share pictures of themselves using your products, and post polls to boost engagement. Using the pet shop example, you could run a contest asking customers to post photos of their dogs sleeping in dog beds from Dogs Corner. The cutest dog photo can be rewarded with special discounts or a free prize. Use multiple forms of media to spark interest, including photos and videos from your office.
Social media integration essentially gives a business free advertising, and allows you to show off how you are different from competitors. It’s considered a vital part of running an online business today, so it’s worth taking some time to put the right systems in place for both direct and indirect marketing opportunities.
Image Credit:
Stuart Miles – FreeDigitalPhotos.Net
