Was it helpful?

Question

Market your Business for Free using Social Media Tools

BusinessSocial MediaApps/Applications

A couple of days ago, I happened to read an article where I encountered this statement-“There is nothing called free lunch.” However, I do have a soul-searching question to all the business owners – Who doesn’t like free marketing tools?

Small businesses and low budget startups know the value of every penny they invest. Big brands invest BIG money every month, every hour and probably every minute on marketing. Marketing on Social Networking sites has been gaining traction since the past decade. Well, Facebook and Twitter are age-old names and world is obsessed with these two platforms. However, people are connecting on other platforms as well. To minimize your spending on marketing your business to around zero rupees- yes, both literally and practically, you can rely on the following social media tools −

To minimize your spending on marketing your business to around zero rupees- yes, both literally and practically, you can rely on the following social media tools −

Reddit − Reddit is the front page of the internet and perhaps, the caption couldn’t have been better. Marketing on Reddit is like singing a siren song. Reddit is a community of argus-eyed users who become your friends the moment you start contributing some genuine stuff. If you are a business owner, it is suggested that you first identify the sub-reddits relevant to your niche.

  • In the sub-reddits, answer questions that your fellow registered redditors ask. Ensure that the redditors are in awe of your answers. If your answers get 100 up-votes within an hour of posting, your post gets populated to the first search page results on Google Chrome. There is distinctive flavor that can be attributed to Reddit alone- The first ten up-votes are as powerful as the subsequent 100 up-votes. It is important to have minimum or zero down-votes.
  • Once you make a mark for yourself in the subreddits, try to wear the hat of a thought leader. Slowly, start promoting your business by placing a few outbound links and thumbnail images of products you wish to sell. Once you taste success, it is advised to start your own sub-reddit. Reddit can take your business to the best possible level.

Quora − Quora stands for Question or Answer. Registered users of Quora are called Quorans.

  • Quorans may ask questions on any topic. People who have expertise in any subject may express their opinions and pitch a few important points. Just in the case of reddit, fellow Quorans may either up-vote or down-vote your answers. There is an option called follow that allows Quorans to follow one another.

  • If you have a good number of followers, you can wear the hat of an influencer and start marketing your product. You can post links to your website or blog and increase your page/blog hits. It is a common conception that Quorans are acutely intellectualized individuals.

So, it is important to know the rules of marketing on Quora and do it safely.

Snapchat − Did you ever think of conveying your idea with-in ten seconds and making a long lasting impression on your viewers? Well, if you haven’t, just think for a minute. Snapchat is a C2C and B2C social networking app that lets you create very short videos and keep your target audiences engaged.

  • The very fact that Snapchat has as many as 100 million registered users is a testimony to its tremendous popularity. It is estimated that more than 2 billion videos are shared per day on Snapchat.

  • As most of the experts say, if your target audiences are people of the age group 18-30 years, you can bank on this application. Whenever you create a video on Snapchat, it is imperative to have a few elements that trigger the curiosity of viewers. Here is an example- “Oh My God! Susan shouldn’t have done this to get herself stuck in the noose of faith..!”

Pinterest − You can make your brand appealing both personally and professionally on Pinterest. The key to marketing your brand on Pinterest is to pin more often a day. Experts say that it is best to pin a minimum of 5 times per day. Also, it is important to space out your pins so that audiences never lose track of all the pins that you have pinned and shared.

  • To add in-depth details and make your pins information rich, you can include these five types of rich pins- Article pins, Product pins, Recipe pins, Movie pins and Place pins. Article pins let you add a keyword rich headline, description of the pin, name of the author etc.

  • Product pins let you add real-time pricing and availability details. Recipe pins let you add cooking ingredients and serving information. Movie pins let you add ratings and reviews, crew members etc.

  • Place pins let you add address and a phone number complemented with a map. It is important to create right-sized images with an ideal aspect ratio of 2:3 and a minimum width of 600 pixels.

Instagram − Instagram is an important social networking photo-sharing app and has been described by Forrester Research marketing firm as the “king of social engagement.” Instagram lets you add all the relevant hashtags and engage your intended audiences. Here are a few hashtag recommendations for −

  • Products and Services − hashtag your product niche type- Example − #Data Analytics Insights

  • Experts in any activity − hashtag your industry niche- Example − #Expert Content Writer, #Accomplished Website Designer

  • Once you find your intended audiences, create a small community on Instagram. Ask your readers to post their own photos. Engage them by asking them questions such as ‘Quote your favorite attire and post a pic of you in your favorite regalia.’

  • Sometimes, simple questions such as ‘Have we left anything out and failed to deliver what we promised to deliver?’ will receive a plethora of replies. Well, these are just a few ways to leverage Instagram for your brand promotion. Explore the net to find out more.

With Social media marketing becoming the order of day, it is imperative to make the best use of the aforementioned tools and engage your intended audiences. While Facebook and Twitter will continue to rule the industry of Social Media Marketing at-least for a decade, all the tools detailed out in this write-up are here to stay.

raja
Published on 17-Jan-2020 14:22:59
Advertisements
Was it helpful?
Not affiliated with Tutorialspoint
scroll top