Social networks are getting bigger. It has become the premier network that every company, large or small, new or established, relies on to market their business. Even my local bakery has a “Follow us on Facebook” sign hanging in the windows.

Here are several social media marketing strategies and tactics when using a social media website to market your business.

respond quickly

These days we live in a fast-paced environment. We are obsessed with speed; we want fast food, fast internet and fast service. In the social media society, people also expect a quick response.

If a visitor responds to one of your posts with a comment and never receives a reply, you are ruining your public image. That visitor will probably lose patience and turn to your competitor to search for answers. This means that you are losing one of your potential customers.

Remember, responding to your visitors in a timely manner not only builds your good standing in your circle, but also increases your chances of converting a lead into a sale.

Build trust

There is an old saying that one man’s flesh is another man’s poison.

Even if you think you provide the best services or products, you will inevitably see some negative comments on your social media sites. It’s easy to delete negative comments, but it’s not practical or recommended.

Marketing experts understand that bad things are not always bad.

The simple truth is that removing a negative comment or complaint will destroy the trust of others in your brand. They just think that you are trying to hide something bad that is probably a misunderstanding from others.

Instead of deleting these negative comments, you have the opportunity to respond openly. It is as if you are sending a message to tell the public that you are actively working to solve the problem and, more importantly, that you are honest and trustworthy.

Don’t be too ‘salesy’

We are bombarded with unlimited options in today’s consumer culture and it overloads our brains. As we are faced with many choices, it is not easy for us to make a quick decision when purchasing.

In fact, these days selling is a gradual process. Smart sellers create a positive emotional connection with potential customers and encourage them to choose whether or not to buy from you.

Social media is the most powerful tool for marketers to make such a passionate connection with their audience. By telling personal stories, company history, or creating other interesting content and product reviews on various social media sites, marketers psychologically shorten the distance with their audience.

As a result, a sale can happen between people who already know you and already have some relationship with you.

Target your audiences

Reaching your target audience on social media is not easy. It requires you to spend a lot of time and put your efforts into it.

To reach your target audience effectively, you need to choose the right platform.

For example, Facebook has become popular among adults and young people; MySpace is the favorite of teenagers; LinkedIn and Twitter typically target business audiences; Instagram likely has an audience that is looking for engaging visual content.

It’s important to identify the platforms that are most likely to reach your main market segments and pay attention to your followers on each platform, then post content to engage them accordingly.

Create Facebook business page

Creating a Facebook business page is an amazing way to promote your business.

After you have established a personal page, you can create a business page.

Unlike the personal Facebook page, a business page can be viewed by the public who are not logged in. People don’t need to join Facebook to view your business page. This increases the visibility of your business in the public.

Also, the business page provides a free link. You can create a meaningful URL that includes your company name.

Use Google+ to create your circles

Google Circles is the core feature of Google+. Google circles are a way of grouping people based on the relationship you have with people. It allows you to manage your specific groups, simulating real life relationships.

The default circles are “friends, family, acquaintances, and followers,” but you can delete, rename, or add additional circles if you like.

Circles can provide a lot of business value.

For example, if your company sells health products for both women and men, you can set up two different circles, one for women and one for men. By doing this, your company can provide different product information to different circles.

In summary

To be honest, these social media marketing strategies won’t give you immediate results and can’t make up for a bad product or service.

The rule of thumb for these strategies is to consistently create quality content and engage in real conversations with people.

If you can cope with all that, you know the essence of these social media marketing strategies.