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Local Voices

Social Media Marketing Made Easy

With over 300 million active users on LinkedIn and 1.28 billion on Facebook, social media marketing is here to stay.

The key is to keep it social. It's about having conversations online and knowing how to engage your followers, friends and connections. 

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If you are new to land of LinkedIn or are a Facebook novice, here are 5 steps to help you get started and how to maximize your professional online presence.

1. Have a Strategy

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As the old adage goes "you have to know where you want to go to get there,” the same rings true for social media. Sit down and review your your overall business goals and see how social media marketing can help you reach those goals. The key to a successful marketing plan is to make sure every strategy you use, whether on or offline, are in sync with those goals. By identifying your target audience (who are you talking to when you post? Whom do you want to engage?) will help to lay the foundation to your posts and blogs.

2. Set Aside Time Each Day to Post

Study the optimum times to post since there will be a bigger audience to read your content. For instance, studies show that LinkedIn tends to have high traffic on the weekends. Facebook, early in the morning and after work, tends to be the busiest times for this social media platform. In addition, common sense would say that the times in our day when many of us check our emails would be a good time to post. Try to fit in a little extra time when you check your emails and add some content to your social media channels such as posting an article of interest or a recent blog. 

3. Use Social Media to Educate

In many ways, social media has provided me with an informal education about relevant facts in regards to my business – coaching, social media, even getting published (I am writing a book). As a result, I spend some time during the week reading other profiles, fan pages and other company pages that are professional from my field, resources they recommend and workshops they attend. This does two things: keeps me aware as to what my competitors may be doing and keeps me informed as to the latest news in the social media consulting world, for example.

4. Think  “S.I.S.” When Posting

Here is a posting method I use - which is to keep it short, informative and simple (easy to understand) when posting. In a world that is all about quick facts and getting the job done, social media is no different. The good news is that you don’t have to write a novel when you post. In fact, I notice I get more “likes” on my fan page with shorter posts. It’s having more bang for your buck, so to speak. Think about ways to be engaging without being too wordy to keep reader interest.

Also, posting a visual with your post increasing engagement and shares.

5. Know How to Delete

When it doubt, you can always delete a post. If you find there is a typo or you simply changed your mind, you can get rid of your post.  It happens to all of us and the good news is that it disappears from your friends’/connections’/followers’ wall.

My biggest piece of advice as to how to incorporate social media into your daily routine is, as Nike so eloquently states, is to “just do it.” 

It’s not as hard as you think and can take your marketing to a whole new level. I have seen this first hand what this can do for business - and the results are very impressive. I have seen law firms literally triple their profile views on LinkedIn simply by posting once a week. This led to a broader referral network and yes, translated to 3 new clients in less than two months. 

Most of all, be consistent, study your industry and the trends and keep it personable. Don't be a robot. 

Have fun with your online audience and show them a bit of your personality and what matters to you - both personally and professionally. This will help to have your audience see a 3-D view, which is so much more interesting than having your LinkedIN profile resemble a Yellow Pages' ad. 

Be multi-dimensional and have fun. 

About Patti:

As a business and online branding consultant, I specialize in creating and implementing unique marketing strategies broken down into simple, manageable steps for business. 

My goal is to teach businesses how to leverage social media marketing, in addition to other creative marketing strategies to save time, money and build (as well as implement) a plan to reach select target audience to generate a lead pipeline for client acquisition and retention.

I am an enthusiastic problem-solver who loves helping professionals as well as businesses tell their story in a way that humanizes their brand. With a focus on having a message that stands out from competitors, I work diligently to get that message across various online platforms in a unique and consistent manner.

My online marketing methods have proven results. With an increase in visibility utilizing creative engagement, networking and connection strategies using various sites such as LinkedIn®, my clients can attest to an online branding technique that works which will generate new leads and build your network.

Overall, my main focus is to help you tell your story and humanize your brand. No matter how great your services and products, the goal of a successful social media campaign is to learn how to creatively market you, what makes you unique as a professional - people are buying you first, your services second.

Specialties include (but not limited to): 
- Creative Marketing, strategy and brand development
- Corporate Training - The Power Of a Profile, LinkedIn® 101 & 102 for business
- Engaging social media marketing methods to find new business
- Aligning business goals to successful online marketing plan
- LinkedIn® strategy and management for colleges and universities
- Independent trainer not affiliated nor work for LinkedIn®

Having studied the pros and cons of social networking sites such as LinkedIn®, Facebook and various blogging platforms, I create a social media action plan that is in conjunction with your specific business goal.

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” Albert Einstein

Contact Info:
623 River Road - Suite 1 
Fair Haven, New Jersey 07704
patti@patriciaphelan.com 
(732) 865-5377

Specialties:- Social Media Strategies
- Entrepreneurial Business Consulting
- Marketing Methods to Align Business Goals to Social Media Plan
* Social Media Appreciation Marketing Methods
- Linkedin Profile Optimization
- Linkedin 101 Training and Seminars
- How to Grow Your Business Using Social Media Workshops
- Professional Blogging Methods
- Facebook 101 Training and Seminars
- Time Saving Tips on Social Media Maintenance
- Be Your Own Success Story and Professional Development Seminars

Call for a free consultation and social media assessment for your business - (732) 865-5377.

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