Online Business, Promotion and Marketing

Ways to communicate between people has evolved over the years. In this modern age where computers and internet have a profound influence on our lives, social media has made it possible for people from various parts of the world to share and exchange information through virtual communities. Social media allows us to meet people who share our views on various topics and gives us an opportunity to express our views with ease. To know more about social media, click here, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media. As social media gained popularity, it started opening up new opportunities for online marketing.

Social Media Marketing

Social Media Marketing is a type of marketing that uses social media as a marketing platform. The advent and increase in popularity of social media has changed the way marketers, approach online marketing. If you are interested to know more about Social Media Marketing, click on this link, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media_marketing. The platform that social media networks provide for marketing is enormous and therefore it is not possible for any marketer to cover all possible options that social media provides for marketing. As most of social media marketing is done manually, there are limitations to the amount of marketing that is done. However, a few social media automation tools have entered the market that allows you to automate certain marketing processes. In this post, we will discuss about some top tools in social media automation that will help marketers achieve their marketing goals.

Why you should use Social media automation tools

It is true that there can be no substitute for authentic and genuine interaction with your social media audience. However, there are limitations to what people can do and achieve in any specific period. It is not possible for a person to be available in all social media platforms always. The fact is that, by using the right social media automation tool at the right time, you will be able to save time and that will allow you to engage more with your audience. Selective automation will allow you to communicate with your audience without the audience being aware of your absence. Let us have a look at some of the top social media automation tools that have been designed for marketers.

Top Social Media Automation Tools

1. Buffer:

This tool allows you to share information to your Facebook, Twitter, Linkedln and App.net accounts from one place.
You can schedule the time when the updates have to be posted in the respective social media.

Platforms: Web application, iPhone App, Browser Extension for Chrome, Safari and Firefox

2. IFTTT (If This Then That):

IFTTT gives you the option to create and share recipes to fit a simple statement.
‘This’, in the statement, acts as a trigger in the recipe. (Eg. If I log into Facebook)
‘That’, in the statement is the action in the recipe.
Trigger and action combination is called a recipe.
This service provides triggers and actions for more than 56 channels like Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, WordPress, etc.

Platforms: Web application, Mobile Apps, Browser Extension for Chrome, Firefox and Safari

3. Hootsuite

It is considered the leader in social media management tools especially among social media management clients. However, the tool is only available as a chrome extension and only caters to Google+ accounts.
Can create posts and publish them instantly or according to a schedule
It can support multiple accounts and has a scheduler and an auto scheduler
Can work offline

Platforms: Brower Extension for Chrome

The social media automation tools discussed in this post is what I consider as some of the top tools available today. Various factors have been considered while deciding on these three tools and is solely based on my experience in working with these tools.

Matthew Anton is a Social Media Marketing expert who has had the experience of working with many social media automation tools.

Some companies are still hesitant to join social media sites because they don’t see how it can help their business. Not only does social media help you promote your business and reach your audience, but it can also help you land a sale.

There’s a right way and a wrong way to sell through social media. Constantly sending hundreds of status updates and tweets about how wonderful your business is and why everyone should buy your products and services is not going to work. If you want to sell successfully through social media, you need to do the following.

Get your sales people on social media.

Make sure that your sales team is on social media, not just your company as a whole. When your company has real people as an extension of your brand, it allows your current and prospective customers to have a real person to contact when they’re in need of information. This is more engaging and more personable than using your company’s account to do all of your customer service.

Listen to what your customers want.

Social media isn’t just about talking—it’s also about listening. It’s very important that you listen to what your customers are saying to gain insight into what they want. You will be surprised at how much you can learn by reading through your news feed and the comments left on your own wall.

You may also want to get off of your own social networks and visit some popular online communities that your customers enjoy. Some people are more willing to talk openly on these sites about things that interest them more so than on Facebook and Twitter.

Engage.

Social media should be about the soft sell, and the more engaging you can be with your customers, the more likely they’ll be to choose your company. For example, if you’re a restaurant using Twitter and notice that a customer complains about one of your competitors, simply say something like “So sorry to hear that you’re having a bad time.” You’re not telling them to come to your restaurant instead, and you’re not saying anything negative about the other restaurant. But this simple gesture of paying attention to what is being said will make your company stand out, and these patrons will be more inclined to choose your restaurant next time they dine out.

Brand your social pages.

Sometimes a customer will come across your social channels by accident. For this reason, you want to make sure that all of your social networks are branded appropriately. When your social channels complement your company’s branding, your customers will know who you are and associate your company pages with your actual company.

When you try and self promote through social networks, you’re going to turn your customers away. But when you use these tips, you will know the best way to stealthily sell your products and services through social media in the most effective and successful way.

This article was written by the marketing team at SEOMap. Visit SEOMap go check out their social media fails series on their blog.

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