Top 48 Social Media Marketing Tactics to Build a Solid Online Business

Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter are the new trend of the internet. It opened new possibilities to communication and it improved the way people connect and share. Think of it as an online ground where people can meet and interact electronically.

But as you know, business thrives where people thrive. And having realized the large number of people that login to social media sites on a daily basis, internet marketers found a new marketing channel for their online businesses.

Today, social media sites are no longer just an ingenious way for people to meet, connect and share. It is now also one of the most powerful advertising tools which businessmen can use to connect to their targeted market niche.

However, it is noteworthy that social media marketing is like a double-edged sword – it is something that needs to be wielded correctly. In the hands of a skilled marketer, it is an effective sales tool. But in the hands of an amateur, it can turn success into demise.

So to help you avoid the pitfalls of social media marketing, we made a list of 48 tips that will guide you to the proper use of social media sites. So read on and learn how you can turn social media sites into an effective marketing tool.

Tips on choosing which social media site to use

  1. Choose a social media site that is popular in your area: Of course, you want people to view your social media site, especially your target market niche. However, there are social media sites that are popular in some countries but not in others.

For instance, it appears that Facebook is more widely used in Asian countries while Western countries are more likely to be active on Twitter.

  1. Consider using multiple social media sites: If you live in a place wherein there are several social media sites that are in use, perhaps you can sign up an account on all those social media sites. This way, you will be able to reach more people.

Tips on getting started with a social media site

  1. Make a draft plan of the contents first: Getting started without a plan can lead to a messy start. This will not be good for your company image. So before you make your social media account available, make sure that you planned for its contents and design first.
  2. Come up with an editorial calendar: You may have plenty of things you want to share and say. But if you post all of them at the same, people will get confused. Also, you will quickly run out of things to share in the future. So make a timeline and plan which things you want to post first and which ones should follow in a chronological order.
  3. Know your target market niche: There are plenty of people that join social media sites. However, you do not really want to reach to all of them. You need to focus on a group of people which are ‘potential customers’. Know who they are.
  4. Check for a possibly existing account with a similar name: You do not want people to confuse you for another organization, group, or individual. You do not know how these other accounts are behaving and anything they do might have implications on your company’s image.
  5. Try using checkusernames.com to create a unique moniker: If you found out that there are already existing accounts with a similar name or a mockingly similar name, you can go to checkusernames.com to help you come up with an alternative.
  6. Know how to lure in the people in your target market niche: Do you already have a clear vision of who your target market niche is? The next thing you need to figure out is how you can lure them in. You need to make a research on the things that interest them. For example, if your products are cosmetics and your target market niche are women, then perhaps some video content about makeup tricks will lure them in.
  7. Ready high quality graphics and Photoshop edited photos: Sometimes, it is not the content but the appearance. What really draws some people into a social media profile is the looks of it. You can make your profile page look more attractive by using pictures, photographs, and images.
  8. Ready high quality short articles, comments, posts: After luring them in with flamboyant graphics and attractive page design, your people will start looking for content. If they find nothing, they will leave. For some juicy content, you can hire people to write short articles, comments, and posts.
  9. Make sure that you have the resources to regularly maintain a social media account:

Yes, it is free to sign up to Facebook and Twitter. But you will need to hire graphics artists, video editors, content writers, and maintenance crew. And if you need to advertise, you will probably need to pay these social media sites. Make sure that you have a budget for it.

  1. Check to see if having a social media account will really be of help to your company or if it will just be a liability: There are a lot benefits in having a social media account for your company. But there are also dangers. You need to analyze if you can take these risks head on.
  2. Know the dangers and risks of having a social media account and see if it is worth it.

Tips on keeping subscribers glued to your account

  1. Keep your pages looking beautiful and/or professional: You may need to hire people to do this for you. This is important because if your social media profile looks shabby, people will probably not have a very good impression of your company.
  2. Sport a page design that corresponds to the nature of your company: You cannot just decide on what design to use based on your personal taste. Instead, it needs to be based on the nature of your services/products. For example, if your products are for children, your page should look fun and colorful.
  3. Regularly post new comments and news:
    If you do not post regularly, your subscribers will think that your company is not active and is slacking off. To avoid this, you need to post news and comments regularly.
  4. Always respond to questions if possible. Avoid ignoring your subscribers:

People will certainly ask questions. You should provide a response if you can. This is one way to show hospitability and people will appreciate it.

  1. Do not always use just words. You can use multimedia once in a while:
    If all your announcements are just words and sentences, it will soon get boring no matter how interesting your posts are. So once in a while, try to convey what you want to say through videos, images, and presentations.
  2. Try sporting several design schemes from time to time:

One design theme throughout the year is too boring. It will also give people the impression that you lack resources, so try sporting a new look for your page from time to time. One good tip is to follow the changes of season (summer look, winter look) or you can also follow the coming of holidays (Christmas look, Halloween look).

  1. Just a logo is not enough. Try uploading more photos related to your company: Some companies only upload their company logo. This is boring. You should post more photos about your company.
  2. Always upload photos of recent events that involved your company: If your company recently hosted or attended an event, you should post photographs of it. This way, people will see that your company is active.
  3. Do poll questions once in a while. Keep it exciting: Studies show that people like answering quick poll questions on social media sites. Try doing it once in a while to entertain your subscribers. But keep it related to your business. For example, if you are in the fashion industry, maybe you can make a poll of which among a list of artists is more fashionable in their opinion.
  4. Post updates about new promos that your company offers: Your social media profile is one good channel to announce promos and events that your company hosts. Also, it will keep your subscribers checking your profile.

Tips on using multimedia content

  1. Use only high quality media content. Do not settle for mediocre quality: The quality of the media content you upload will have a huge impact on your company’s image. Make sure that you only use high quality ones.
  2. Instead of uploading videos to the actual social media account, considering using links instead: Some social media sites limit how many megabytes of file you can upload. So instead of uploading a video to the blog site, consider uploading them to Youtube first and link the Youtube URL to your blog site.
  3. Choose multimedia designs that suit your targeted market niche: The design scheme of the multimedia contents you upload should match the nature of your business.
  4. Always check for possible mistakes before uploading so as to maintain credibility: Especially if you hired people to make the video or graphics for you, it will be necessary that you check it for errors first before you upload it.
  5. Know the upload limitations of your social media of choice: Facebook, for example, limits how many megabyte of file you can upload. Know these limits so you can plan how much multimedia file you can use to improve the look of your page.
  6. Remove oldest multimedia uploads to free up your upload limit: If you ran out of storage space and you need to upload a new file, perhaps there are some previously uploaded media files that are no longer needed and may already be deleted.
  7. Know which uploads should never be removed to matter what: Not all multimedia you previously uploaded may be removed. Some need to stay for your subscribers to see. For example, if you uploaded a video that features the product specs of your main product, you should probably keep that video file for new subscribers to see.
  8. HD quality is good but does not always use it: Your subscribers will appreciate an HD quality video upload. But it will take a lot of space. Even if you use Youtube, an HD file will take longer to load on slower connections.
  9. The dimension of photographs does not always have to be big in order to be high quality: There is this connotation that the higher the pixels, the better the quality and clarity. But it is not always the case. It all depends on the editing. A 640×480 photo may look clearer than a 1024×720 photo.

Tips on using language

  1. Decide on a language to use: English is considered the international language. But there are still plenty of people who cannot understand English. If your target is a small locality, maybe you can use their language instead.
  2. Consider duplicate pages that are translated to other languages: If you are targeting a market niche that is composed of people from different countries and ethnicities, perhaps you can make several accounts that use a specific language.
  3. Use appropriate tone and language that suits your targeted market niche: For children’s toys, you should sound fun. For fashion items, you should sound trendy. For serious stuff, you should sound corporate.
  4. Be precise and brief in your message: People hate to read lengthy messages. Some of them are also busy. So keep your posts and comments brief and concise.
  5. Always double check spelling and grammar before posting: Grammatical errors and typos can tarnish your company image. People will think that your posts are done in a hurry with no regard for quality.

Tips on using YouTube effectively

  1. Decide on the appropriate comment sharing settings of your Youtube account: You can decide if you want to block other users from posting comments on your videos and on your profile page. Do this to prevent possibly derogative comments.
  2. Decide on whether to use the ‘Like’ and ‘Dislike’ button or not: Dislikes have an effect on potential customers. If you think you video will get a lot of dislikes, you can turn this option off.
  3. Learn how to use related tags: If you want people to easily find your uploaded video on Youtube, you should use tags which people are likely to use when typing keywords in the search bar. For computer products for examples, tags like iPad, laptop, internet, Intel, and as such should be used.
  4. Check comments regularly: If you decided to allow comments, you should check them regularly so you can deal with derogative and damaging comments as soon as possible.
  5. Use the ‘delete comment’ option sparingly: In Youtube, a comment is not completely removed. The username of the person who posted it will still be there and with a note “Deleted comment”. People will wonder why you deleted a comment. So use it sparingly.
  6. Using courteous and well-informed replies instead of deleting: Instead of deleting, you can reply to derogative messages instead. But do not be rude. Simply defend in a very convincing and informed manner. Make sure that readers will side with you because of the way you answered.
  7. Customize your page and use your logo for better credibility: Using the company logo adds credibility. And customizing your page makes it look more authentic.
  8. Upload only high-quality videos: Videos do not have to be in HD to be high quality and clear. It just needs to be properly done and edited. All videos should be high quality because it will affect the image of your company.
  9. Screen videos for possibly offensive elements: People on Youtube can be pretty harsh. Make sure that all videos you upload are free of potentially offensive contents.
  10. Take time to learn the policies of Youtube: It is damaging to the reputation of your company if your account gets suspended. People will wonder why it happened. So take time to read Youtube’s policies.
  11. Update users about the increase in subscribers: Others usually update about their first 1000, 5000, 10,000 and 100,000 subscribers. Make these updates so your subscribers can see that your page is moving forward.