In the world of Drop Shipping Marketing, the most commonly asked question in these days is:
“Does Social Media Marketing really help in building a business?” – The answer is YES!
Once one puts thought to it, the evidence to it becomes clearer. That ad you saw a couple of years ago may have become old news, but that hashtag they came up with is still being grinded to date. That is without a doubt the power of social media.
We are still yet to discover the many ways social media can be used to our advantage since almost every business out there uses social media in a myriad of different ways. If you nail the perfect way around marketing on social media, you are bound to reel in an immense amount of success to your business.
What Makes A Social Media Strategy So Important?
Many people think that a simple Drop Shipping site and mailing list is all you need to ensure stable growth. Sometimes, depending on your niche, set of products, and target audience; there could be a chance that you may not require it. However, the majority of drop shippers may benefit more than others greatly with the help of a social-media strategy.
Some of the benefits may include:
- Increased Brand Awareness
- Improved rank in search engine
- Ability to attract more traffic
- More avenues for customer support
- Brand authority establishment
- Make use of the time your target audience and existing customers spend by engaging on their choice of platform
Where planning is absolutely everything, before you begin on formulating the ideal plan; it’ll help you greatly if you have a framework of the tasks you need to do in order to ensure a successful media strategy and be able to determine whether or not it will be a success.
Below are a few ways to get your basic framework in the flow.
How To Create A Successful Drop Shipping Marketing Social Media Strategy That Spells Out Perfection!
A social media strategy will make sure you execute your activities properly, while your target audience can keep a close eye on your content and the products you have to offer. It is important you engage with your audience, subtly entice them to make a purchase, and ultimately increase your sales – all while you aren’t being pushy about forcing them into a purchase.
Goals, Goals, and More Goals!
Every action you take – be it a social media post, comment, or an interaction with a follower should at all times be 100% intentional; which means they should be tied down to a larger business goal you wish to achieve. So in order for all of this to fall through correctly, it is important you define what outcomes you are looking forward to and how you tend to measure those outcomes.
Here are a few goals you can consider whilst creating your killer social media strategy:
- Broaden your reach spectrum. It’s essential to put your brand out there in front of more people as it increases the chances of getting the right kind of people to see your brand.
- Create a point of interest in your products. Usage of visuals that are both stunning and informative at the same time is the type of content that sparks interest like no other. This will make the viewer curious and interested in the product.
- Social proof speaks volumes. The more your followers post honest reviews about your products and services, the more others will believe in trusting your brand as a whole along with the products/services you have to offer. In turn, it will act as a gold mine for the positivity to flow through to generate more sales.
- Keep the mailing list at a growing pace. It is important to keep your list of subscribers at a growing rate as it acts as a way to measure as well as spread the word out to the audience that wants to know more about it without heading out in search of them.
- Roll in more means for customer support. Customer support may have been checked off your list for now, (as it should be) but once you have set up a few social media accounts where conversing with your audience is more accessible. This will enable a direct bond with your followers as they may have some suggestions or queries you can attend to one-on-one, which will yield a positive response from them
Reel in all that traffic to your site. Boosting traffic to your website increases the chances for a purchase which makes this an important goal to set.
Who Is Your Target Audience?
You need to know who your ideal customer is, what are their interests and motivations, and how could you use those to target them more effectively and efficiently. This is the part where you must be able to pick your target audience out of a crowd and grasp their full attention without hesitating. For this to be done you must research thoroughly. Form a mental image of them by collecting data that can help you in any way.
Once you have done all the research and collected it all to create the perfect customer or “buyer persona” – it can’t be stressed enough to understand how regardless of your target audience you cannot just exclude those who don’t exactly fit the persona you have created in your mind. Instead of that, try using the collected data to focus the marketing resources that allow you to target a specific group of people that is more likely to buy from you than look for others.
Briefly an idea of the demographic data you might want to look into:
- Gender
- Age
- Relationship Status
- Location
- Education level
- Income
- Career/Industry
- Interests
Got That Magical Blend Of The Perfect Content Right Up Your Sleeve!
In order to nail that perfect blend of content, you must know your goals and your target audience so you can post to each platform accordingly. You must plan and create your content in advance as that will help you produce a fully conceptualized and refined content that is worth looking at. You can never have too much of anything, but it’s essential to maintain a sweet balance to create a killer mix.
This can include things like:
- News
- Education
- Inspiration
- User-generated content
- Polls or Quizzes
- Promotions
- Behind the curtains
- Contests or giveaways
This Platform, Or That?
Till now it seems evident just how important social media truly is for your business and you can benefit from it in many ways if you really put your mind and heart to it. With that being said, it is still important to understand the value of a selective presence as you do not have to be on ALL of the platforms available.
This is where you must understand the strengths and weaknesses of each social media platform to decide which will be the most fruitful for you.
Facebook – Largest social network for both physical and online stores. It has the most page features that you can use for your benefit like Shop, customer reviews, and messaging for customer service. Think of it as the app that has it all in one place!
Although it may seem like this is it, you have found your true match -there are a few downsides to the platform. For example, the biggest weakness is the latest algorithm update. This makes the platform a lot more difficult to use as it prioritizes social interactions with individuals instead of businesses. Which means you’re constantly at war for a spot in your followers’ news feed.
Twitter – As we all know, this is the platform that lets you stay updated with what everyone is talking about, all the time, everywhere!
These days the platform is being used to show a more humane aspect of brands. While this is a 100% plus point, Twitter also allows you to have one-on-one’s with your followers, allowing you to communicate more freely while giving you the opportunity for social customer service.
The only major drawback is the lifespan of a tweet. Consider it relevant for the day and history by tomorrow. This all depends majorly on the number of followers and how many of them choose to interact with your posts.
Instagram – The ideal visuals that can either make or break a brand are usually spotted on the gram! The more your followers interact with your business account, the more Instagram will push your content to the top in their feed. Hence, posting aesthetic eye-capturing posts, stories, videos, or even IGTV’s – might just be the key to open the door to success here.
Final Thoughts?
While running a drop shipping business, social media might be that one powerful tool you have been holding back on for so long. If you use it prudently, you may be able to accomplish your purpose. However, if you end up using it haphazardly or abuse its power, you’ll do more bad than good.
Keep your objective positive, stay focused on getting a return on time, money, and effort. Find what your target audience wants and how to give them that and draw them to the better side of your brand.
Most importantly have fun!
[Images – Main Photo by WinSon 5293 from Pexels]
Asad Ali is a professional SEO expert with 4 years’ experience. He is working with a Dubai based company Go-Gulf and is currently working on the Web Development Dubai segment.