Social media marketing is the act of promoting your products and services for profit, on social media sites. Social media sites are internet/online sites, you can connect and network with others through them.

Some popular social media sites include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Plus, behance.net (for designers) etc.

You will need to connect and engage with others on social media sites, in order for you to be able to generate some sales through them, in your business.

You can connect with others on social media sites through profiles, pages and/or groups. A social media profile is a web page where you can fill in some information about yourself and/or your firm or company. A social media page is typically a web page that is specifically set up for a business, a social media group is a community that is made up of people with similar interests.

You may create a personal and/or business profile on one or more social media sites.

You can generally engage with others through the social media sites by

Posting Some Content (Text, images, videos etc)

Commenting (on your posts or others’)

Following others (that is, by subscribing to updates on social media users’ profiles, posts, comments etc). Anyone that subscribes to the updates on a profile, post etc, is typically referred to as a “follower”.

Sharing content (that is, yours or others’)

Messaging

Mentioning (other users on the social media sites in your posts/comments)

Liking (that is, up voting other people’s posts or comments)

In addition to these, you can also generate some sales for your business too through paid social media advertising, and with the help of one or more social media influencers. Social media influencers are online social media users with a large or some considerable active following, who may recommend your business, products and services to their followers and others. Social media advertising typically involve paying for advertisements on the social media sites, in order to promote a business and/or product or service.

You will need to choose or select the specific group of targets, that you will want to network (that is, connect and engage) with, on each of the social media sites that you may want to use for the promotion of your products/services. You may also need to choose your target groups by location too, depending on how you may have opted to sell.

Each social media user can generally create a profile, page and/or group on the social media sites, you can therefore create these too, to promote your business, products and/or services. There may be some rules or restrictions, on what you can use each one of these for, on different social media sites. You will need to read the terms of use for each site, in order to know what you can or cannot do with each one of these on a given social media site.

You will generally need to post some relevant and valuable content regularly, on your social media page(s), profile(s) and/or your group(s), in order to retain your social media targets/followers from the start and over time.

Your Target Groups

To generate some sales for your business, you may choose to connect and engage with some of the following target groups through the social media sites

Your Potential Customers

Businesses That May Help You To Market Or Promote Your Products/Services

Organizations That May Help You To Market Or Promote Your Products/Services

Individuals That May Help You To Market Or Promote Your Products/Services

You can connect with each type of target groups locally, on a national level and internationally too, within one or more regions, continents, countries and localities through the social media sites.

You can generate some sales for your business through such target groups, by promoting directly to your targeted audience and/or through referrals, partnerships and joint ventures.

You will need to do some research on your chosen or selected social media sites, in order for you to find the specific group of targets

That you can network (connect and engage) with, who may need or want the specific type of value that you provide with your products/services, or

That you can do some form of partnership or joint ventures with, that would provide your business with some referrals and sales.

Through your networking efforts on the social media sites

Your business, products or services may be found by your potential customers

You may also find some customers for your business by yourself too

Individuals, businesses and other organizations may also provide you with some sales through referrals, partnerships and joint ventures, through the social media sites.

You may use your employees to connect and engage with your targets on the social media sites.

Before you use any social media site for the promotion/marketing of your business, products and/or services, you should ideally have set up a website for your business online, in order for you to be able to direct the traffic (targets), that you will be getting through the social media sites, to your site.

To Succeed With Your Use Of The Social Media Sites

In order for you to be successful with your use of the social media sites, before you start connecting and engaging on them, you will generally need to

Know what your niche is

Know who your targets are (those that are likely to buy from you)

Know the specific locations you will be selling to

Know where you are likely to get to your targets (potential customers) at each of the specific locations you may want to sell in

Know the type of ads, content and offers that sell that should be used for your promotions

Know what your targets (potential customers) want or need, the problems they have and the solutions to the problems they may have in your chosen niche per the locations you may wish to sell

Know the value that you will be providing to your targets in each of the locations you may wish to sell

Know the value that you will be providing to your targets in each of the locations you may wish to sell Know the value that you can provide to your potential customers that will sell

Know what makes your business, product and/or service unique

Have created or found the products and services that will provide your targets with the value that they want

Know the number of buying targets (customers) that you will need to get to, in order for you to make as much as you want in your business

Know how to profit and succeed with your business

Know what your business can provide, that will complement other businesses and organizations and their products and/or services

These are part of what you would need to have researched on, before you start your business and your promotions, if you wish to succeed; you can learn more about this in The Profit Blueprint.

Do Effective Social Media Marketing

To make your social media marketing efforts effective, you should ideally

Focus on building a relationship first with your targets before trying to sell, you will get some better results that way.

Focus on a few social media sites at a time, you can start with one social media site and then add more to this over time

Keep in touch with your targets/followers regularly

Help your targets/followers out whenever they need it – with a resource, tip, some other act/function etc, that you can provide

Follow up with your targets/followers and find out if they need your help in some way

Share some of your knowledge, skills and expertise that could help your targets/followers

Define what (the benefits) you can provide to the specific groups of targets that you will be connecting and engaging with on the social media sites

Define what you are likely to gain or benefit from the specific groups of targets that you will be connecting and engaging with on the social media sites

Create promotional plans for each of the social media sites that you will be using to promote your products/services

Do targeted social media marketing and promotions

To Promote Your Products/Services Through The Social Media Sites

You will need to

Define the target groups (potential customers, other businesses that may help you to generate income in your business etc) that you will want to connect and engage with on the social media sites

Choose some social media sites to use for your promotions

Do some research to determine if you can find your targets on each of your chosen or selected social media sites

Create a profile for yourself on each of your chosen social media sites

Create a business profile for your business (if this is available) on each of your chosen social media sites

Create a page for your business (if this is available) on each of your chosen social media sites

Look for some groups where you can get to your chosen targets on your chosen social media sites

Decide on what you are going to use to connect with your targets on each of your chosen social media sites

Determine the medium/options that you will be using to engage with your targets, that is, determine if it is your profiles, pages and/or groups that you will be using to do this, on your selected social media sites

Determine where you will be posting the content that you will be using to connect and engage with your targets, and for the promotion of your products/services, on the social media sites, that is, determine if you will be posting your content on your profile(s), page(s) and/or group(s)

Determine if you will be responding to comments on your posts (you should) and if you will be using mentions (in your posts and comments) too.

Determine if you will be posting, commenting and using mentions on your targets’ and other users’ profiles, pages and/or groups too.

Create some promotional plans on how you will network/promote on your chosen social media sites within some specific period of time

Determine the content, ads and offers, tools, skills (yours, your employees’ and/or third parties’ through outsourcing), resources, expert help (you may need) and the extent or level of promotional assistance that you will need, to implement your promotional plans on your chosen or selected social media sites

Determine how much all of these will cost you

Create and/or get the content, ads, offers, tools, skills, resources, expert help and/or promotional assistance that you will need to implement your promotional plans on your chosen/selected social media sites

Incorporate your tracking codes in your content, ads and offers

Promote, that is, engage and connect with your targets on your chosen social media sites

Track the results that you are getting from your profiles, pages, groups etc, from your selected social media sites, on your website, using your tracking codes, ads and sales tracking system/software. You should also make use of any of the analytics tools that may be available on your chosen social media sites

Determine the total number of customers, subscribers, leads and traffic/visitors that you are getting from your chosen social media sites, through your tracked results

Determine the social media ads, content, offers, promotions and ad campaigns, that you may either need to drop or continue to use, based on how effective each one of these has been, at providing your business with some customers, subscribers and/or visitors

Optimize your social media marketing tracked results for more sales

Choose or select your next promotions, ads, content, offers and ad campaigns based on your tracked results

Plan your next promotions on the social media sites, for a specific period of time, based on your tracked results

You can generally use or apply all of these steps repeatedly in your business, in order to profit.

You will need to track the number of customers that you are getting in your business, from your chosen/selected social media sites, within some specific periods of time, in order for you to be able to determine how effective each social media site has been, in generating some revenue and income for your business.

You will need to collate the results of your social media promotions together, with the results from all the other ad media/methods, that you may be using in your business, to promote your products/services, in order for you to get an overall overview, of what may be working for your business. You should be able to do this with the help of your business’ ads and sales tracking software/system.

You can apply all of the above on any social media site in order to profit and generate some sales for your business.

.

How To Make Money Through The Social Media

Using Social Media Marketing For Profit

Social Media Marketing: How To Make It Work For Your Business

How Do You Make Money On A Site Through The Social Media?

How To Generate Some X Amount Of Sales/Profits Through The Social Media

… more >>

Resolving Your Social Media Sales & Profits Issues And Problems

If You Are Having Some Issues With Your Profits/Sales

Some Core Reasons For Your Social Media Sales/Profits Issues Or Problems

If You Are Not Making Any Sales

… more >>