Marketing and Social Media: How to promote yourself

Social media marketing is influencing the way companies interact with the public. Through the use of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Blogging, and more, companies are able to connect with the people who buy their product. Social media marketing allows companies to promote products, as well as themselves, in a positive light that reaches people through multiple platforms.

In an article from Forbes.com by Jayson DeMers, he explains,

“According to Hubspot, 92% of marketers in 2014 claimed that social media marketing was important for their business, with 80% indicating their efforts increased traffic to their websites.”

DeMers then proceeds to list the top 10 benefits of social media marketing which include: increased brand recognition, brand loyalty, customer insights, decreased marketing costs, and more.

Susan Gunelius gives advice to people about the ten laws of social media marketing in an article at Entrepreneur.com. She writes,

“Leveraging the power of content and social media marketing can help elevate your audience and customer base in a dramatic way.”

Gunelius advises that people listen, focus, be patient, connect, and be accessible.

Alex Cerone, a Social Media Coordinator at Laundry Service, thinks social media helps companies create a brand and point of contact by engaging people in fun ways.

Cerone thinks, “Social media marketing is important because you can reach such a specific targeted audience, especially with paid media.”

Regarding Facebook and Instagram, Cerone said that people are able to target ads to people in a specific way to reach people. In order to grow your social media presence on different platforms, Cerone offered some advice.

For new startups, she advises for them to post photos vertically on Facebook and Instagram while posting photos horizontally on twitter citing that it performed better that way on those channels. When using Facebook or Instagram, vertical photos take up more space on the platform while scrolling and is received better. Conversely, it was observed that horizontal photos work better for marketing on Twitter due to the structure of the platform. She also said videos are favored and new companies should engage different accounts as well.

She believes social media allows companies to grow their brand in an organic way, saying,  “You’re basically creating what your brand is on these social channels.  You can interact with fans in a different way. Its a good way to engage with fan and gain more followers.”

This article by the Content Factory writes,

” . . . social media marketing has a 100% higher lead-to-close rate than outbound marketing.”

This means that social media is able to help companies build their fan-base more efficiently than regular marketing. Social media marketing allows companies to use a variety of platforms to reach new customers. The article by Content Factory also states that  70 percent of businesses have been able to gain customers through Facebook. When companies are able to adapt and use multiple platforms to promote their product, they are able to reach a variety of people that are interested in their brand.

The Social Media Examiner offers people advice on how to become successful at social media marketing. Social media can be used for self promotion or corporate use. They advise the use of links, videos, finding out what posts are successful and why and then utilizing that information. They also advise the use of LinkedIn and being consistent with content while managing your time effectively. There are many ways to utilize certain platforms to adhere to the needs of the company; however, it is up to the people to create a community and engage them in a productive way in order to earn their support.

Social media is diverse. There are millions of different people that could see a business’s promotion. Douglas Holt from Hbr.org wrote,

“Social media binds together communities that once were geographically isolated, greatly increasing the pace and intensity of collaboration. Now that these once-remote communities are densely networked, their cultural influence has become direct and substantial.”

By being able to reach so many people, businesses can grow their consumers. It is also helpful for people looking to promote themselves through websites that provide blogging.

In an article from Millennial Ceo it states,

“Because of social media networks, we are now able to interact with thousands of people all over the world – this is why we see people who have thousands of Facebook friends or tens of thousands of Twitter followers.”

Start up businesses, such as New York Beard & Co., use Facebook to promote their new product. They provide photos of their process, product, and a timeline of when their website will go live. Their posts are then shared by friends and family which has the potential to reach many new people and potential customers.

Photo courtesy of Gary Priore, off Facebook from New York Beard & Co.

Gary Priore, co-owner of New York Beard & Co., uses social media to promote his business. The company sells beard balm for men to help moisturize and style their facial hair. He said, “Social media on all fronts actually . . . it’s better than word of mouth. It helps everybody know what your company is about and what you’re trying to do with it.”

On their website, https://www.nybeardco.com, they have links to Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Already on their Instagram they have reached 528 people.  Their use of social media marketing will help promote their product and business.