If you've been looking for a way to take your business to the next level, social media marketing may be what you are looking for. It is a way to connect with your customers and clients in a technologically savvy world and still maintain the ease and simplicity of use that you are looking for.

1 - Tailor your posts to your target audience's experiences. You should write about things your customers and followers can relate to or they will not share your content with their friends. Take the time to read the status updates your customers are posting, and identify recurring themes and issues you could mention in your own posts.

2 - Keep your Facebook page or profile up to date with your most recent blog posts. As soon as your blog is published, update your Facebook page to reflect the new post. This allows your followers to access your fresh content as soon as possible. The sooner your content is available to others, the sooner it works for you to attract new visitors.

3 - Choose the snippet you post to Facebook about fresh content carefully. You want to create an interesting headline or sentence or two about the new content. When what you post is alluring, it generates more followers. It does this because those who already follow you or have "liked" you on Facebook will be more inclined to share your link with their friends.

4 - Make sure Twitter is included in your Facebook menu. Facebook's settings on your fan page sets this up as a standard settings, so it does not take much effort on your part. Plus, it gives your followers yet another way to stay connected to your website or blog. The more options you give for customers and / or followers to stay connected, the more involved they will be and the more likely they'll visit your site and share your link with others.

5 - Use Facebook to run a special promotion or a competition. Everyone loves winning something, so your followers are sure to get involved. Whether you offer a free product, a special high-amount coupon or a big or small prize, it will get people more actively involved with your Facebook page. It also builds goodwill with your customer base.

6 - You can measure the success of your social media marketing by the sentiment and number of comments you receive about your posts. You need to pay attention to the comments because your followers will tell you if you are posting relevant information. If they are mostly positive, then keep up the good work. If they are negative (or you're not getting any feedback at all), try tweaking your posts for a more positive sentiment.

7 - Provide unique content by setting your landing page up as a reveal tab in Facebook. You can include content like a special video that your followers may find interesting, or you can do something like provide a special coupon or voucher that is redeemable on your website. Unique and engaging content keeps followers interested in what you post, and it keeps them coming back to both your Facebook page and your website.

This article has shown you a lot of ways that you can start to move your business forward using social media marketing. Social media is the newest way that people are staying connected with one another. Businesses are quickly jumping on board too. You need to be one of those businesses... and make sure you're using Google+ | Google Plus in your social media marketing mix, it is now the second largest social networking site in the world... knocking Twitter out of the #2 spot back in January 2013.

Until next time, all the best...

Bill Straub - Team24k.com

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