It’s no secret these days that the internet is where you want to be to get noticed and sell something. The only problem is that everyone else probably knows that too. The good thing is that all you have to do is do it better than them, and you will find yourself reaching tens of thousands of people on a daily basis. Ideally, you want a mix of organic and paid advertising, and the best place to do this is on the web’s most popular social networks. So let’s go over how to expand your reach and gain more traction across the internet.
Facebook is your oyster
Facebook is the New York Yankees, New England Patriots, and Montreal Canadiens of the social media world. That’s how far ahead of the competition they are. In 2014, they reported 12.4 billion dollars in revenue. What makes them so great for your ads is that you can boost your post to be seen immediately, and if you want to put in the extra work (you absolutely should), then you can use the FB ad manager to customize age, gender, and location. It would help to have tangible research into your demographic for this, but estimating goes a long way. If you are selling running shoes, then target people still young enough to run, for example. Simply posting updates or sharing blogs isn’t enough. Thankfully that is what everyone else is doing for the most part, so all you have to do is out work them a little bit.
Twitter isn’t for the birds
This fast-paced social network is one of the best places on the web to express yourself and your interests quickly, and is one of the few places that celebrities choose to ruin their careers in less than 140 characters. It also happens to be a great place to grow your brand. First things first, if you are going to promote something, as always, make sure that you are hitting the right people. One great way to do this is to target followers of the movers and shakers in the industry. For example, if you are promoting your international wire transfer business, target people who tweet about living abroad such as travel gurus. Their followers are almost certainly going to be interested in what you are selling. One study found that Twitter leads were 20% more valuable than their leads from elsewhere.
Pro Tip: Target by device. If your site is simple, and can be accessed by mobile users, then do it, but if it involves sign-ups or complex data, then mobile users are not where you should be focusing. Don’t waste time or money.
Take advantage of LinkedIn’s professional network
Unlike other social media networks, LinkedIn isn’t really for fun and games. It has built a great reputation for itself as far as building relationships amongst colleagues, and helping businesses find new talent, but not many people are aware of how to use it to help their business.
Aside from the fact that it is a great place to make a good reputation for yourself, and show off to all of your colleagues just how much better than them you are at your job, it can also be a good place to sell things, or grow a brand. Targeting ads to specific skill sets and industries is a plus for this network.
Posting content that generates discussion is a good way to promote either yourself or your company as an expert in the field, and focusing a product into a niche can help you make more sales. For example, if you own a cloud-based computer start-up, you can target freelancers: The more people who buy it, the more that people in their networks will see it. Think it doesn’t work? Ask Hubspot how they felt about getting a 3x higher conversion rate than Facebook or Twitter.
Expanding your reach across the web isn’t easy, but with a bit of hard work and perseverance, you can firmly wrap your company’s tentacles around the beast, and get people to see, and in the end buy, what it is that you are selling. Whether it be growing a brand, or selling a product, or supporting a cause, the social media world is where to do it. Follow these tips, and you will be able to gain more traction across the web.
For help with your social media advertising campaigns, contact the experts at BlueHat Marketing.
