Owning a business has become quite a trendy thing these days. In the past, it was convenient enough for people to sit behind desks and earn salaries. But this is no longer the case. Everyone wants to become their own boss. The shift to entrepreneurship by most people has prompted one motivation- growth.
Indeed, beyond owning a business, managing and growing that business is of more importance. Subsequently, many entrepreneurs without the skills to grow their business soon watch their businesses drown. Again, other people think it takes quite a lot to expand so they just choose to remain small. Well no, it takes less than you think to grow a business. Actually, it takes you to know and do just one thing.
Connect.
What does this mean? Let’s paint a case scenario. Before then, you would like to know about VTpass. VTpass is an online payment platform that allows you to pay for your electricity bills, cable tv subscriptions, phone airtimes and data subscriptions etc. with ease and speed. Ok? Now, you probably might not have known about this, but now you know. And by all means, you would need this service one day and use it.
So, if you were paying any close attention, you would know that what just happened now was marketing. Right? But no, there was no human marketer or vendor that walked up to you to say, “Hey, here is VTpass.” Rather, you clicked up right up here to see this. Because somehow it came off as something you liked to check out. Hence, much more than marketing, what happened up there was connecting.
To grow a business, you should always want to connect with your target customers on all levels. Those who could use your services are out there. But if they do not know about what you can offer them, there is no way about it. Getting them to know about what you do should not just be by advertorials and jingles. This makes people feel you are trying to sell something to them. And people don’t show interest in anything that is trying to get itself sold.
So, what you should rather be doing as a business person is interacting and connecting with the mass of people out there. The several social media platforms available have made this quite possible and convenient to do this. Consequently, you can grow your business just by paying attention to social media marketing. Here are a few basics you should know about it.
BASICS OF SOCIAL MARKETING
It’s basically what you already know
Social media marketing is nothing over the top. In fact, it is something you are well familiar with. If you are on Twitter or Whatsapp or Instagram, then you already are familiar with what social media marketing. Essentially, there is no difference except this is on a larger, more purposed scale.
What social media do for your business
Social networking helps you interact with and build a relationship with customers and non-customers. In fact, a whole community can be created online. It helps your customers and the wanna-be customers reach you directly and easily. Just as you can communicate with them virtually. Now that you know this, what you have to do is select the potential platforms you want to work with. And if you do not have time on your hands, you can hire a social media marketer. Also, be clear about the service you want to promote. Then every now and then, take note of your progress through performance metres.
The bottom line is discovery: Aim to be discovered as a brand
As social media has the ability to make things go viral, you should target your participation towards a purpose. And that is to be discovered by the appropriate audience. This should mean that you should not just post or engage people randomly. You should make posts that shed light on your services. Also, target an audience. Social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn help you easily do this.
Don’t be the only one conversing
When using social media to promote your business, try as much as possible to engage your audience. Do not be the only posting. Draw your visitors into several conversations. Also, get them to comment on your products and services. This way, you get to know your level of performance and aim for betterment.
Set a culture and familiar tone
When you hear MTN, what comes to mind is yellow, a lot of smiles and the motto, everywhere you go. Same goes for VTpass. We have our motto colours as blue and red. And our slogan is Payment at your convenience. Because this is what we essentially do. We make it easier and convenient to make payments for phone airtimes, data subscriptions, cable tv subscriptions and electricity bills.
Now taking a cue from this, you can as well give your brand an identity. This you can do by repeating a slogan or theme colour or logo description, phrase. Anything that makes people identify and remember what you do easily.
Platforms
Of course, there are various platforms through which you can get on social media marketing. For example, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook are popular social media platforms. But we also have Yelp, Foursquare, Blogs, Whatsapp, YouTube, LinkedIn etc. Just make sure to use those avenues that are popular with your target audience as well as serve your own purpose well.
To cut the long story short, your participation on the global front also determine how far your business will go. You would need a lot of vtpass.com for this to get your head in the game. VTpass allows you to get all the data and airtime and electricity you need at the quickest time possible. Just log on to vtpass.com now to stay connected and grow your business.