Are you chasing numbers or engagements? Some online marketers post as much content as possible with the goal of getting ‘eyeballs’ or views. This is what is known as "vanity metrics".
Smart marketers know that social networking is not a one-way street. Social networking is a means of building relationships with your target audience.
It is not about eyeballs.
It is about engagement.
It is about visitors to your website and followers on social media who act on your offers.
Consistently publishing great content online is an important part of your social media marketing. Great content drives traffic and increases your audience. But, your social media marketing can also provide invaluable insight.
Track your engagement and analytics to learn about your audience. Your marketing and product creation decisions are easy when based on these insights.
Online Niche Marketing
Online marketing allows you to focus on a narrow niche of customers. In fact, one of the reasons online marketing is successful is because of the unprecedented access to your niche audience.
Marketing in the 'old days', before the internet, was more scattershot.
Niche marketing is conducted through topic-related discussion boards, forums, and social site groups.
In this way you can discover the answers to all-important sales and marketing questions such as:
- What does my target market care about?
- What are the most common ‘pain points’ of those interested in my niche?
- What is trending in relation to my niche?
- What trends are driving sales?
- Who are my main competitors?
- How do my products compare or differ?
- What social media marketing efforts on their part might be worth imitating?
Engagement NOT Eyeballs
Niche marketing is like fishing in a well-stocked pond. You know your quarry is in there; you have to find the right bait to get them to nibble.
Your social media efforts can be the bait. Show your audience that you have the solutions they need.
Engagement can take a range of forms. Create opportunities for your audience to engage with you. Then track the results.
For social media sales, create a special offer for each social media platform's target audience. Resist the temptation to run the same offer on all platforms during the same time. Track your results for each social media platform.
To build your brand and increase reach, create compelling content that your followers want to share.
Riding the Trends
Discovering trending topics is another important reason to monitor social media sites. Be on the lookout for opportunities to tie in your products with breaking news or a hot topic.
Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest show listings of what’s most searched for or engaged with. Join in the conversation in a helpful manner and see how much exposure you and your brand can get.
[Read more about Pinterest Analytics here.]
Stop working for vanity metrics.
Create compelling and shareable content.
Pay attention to your social media post's engagement.
Learn the desires of your audience.
Sell the products they want.
Watch your profits increase.
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