Everything comes at a cost so does social media marketing. But, before all the advertising agencies in the industry tell you the hefty budget for your business’ social media marketing, let us tell you that there are ways by which you can totally reduce the marketing budget to absolute zero and the only price you have to pay for it will be your internet bill. Sounds too good to be true? Take a look at these salient points and give a second thought to them. These techniques don’t come at a cost. They just require your time, hard work and a bit of smart work from your end.
1. Consistency
Post daily on your social media platforms. Let’s say 4-5 posts a day with equal intervals of time to cover the maximum hours of the day. Maintain uniformity. We understand that if you are already running a business then you don’t get time post on your social media daily 4-5 times that’s why there are alternatives available. You can schedule any post at any time via Hootsuite. So you can schedule the post for Friday on Monday. Spend a few hours in a day on scheduling the posts for the whole week.Read this full coverage on consistency on Social Media Platforms
2. Responsive
It’s not about your website we are talking about. We all know that Google wants every website to be responsive because of the rise of the people using internet on several devices. It’s your responsiveness as a page admin to every comment, message or a like for that matter. Capital One and Jet Airways maintained their responsiveness on social media and their customers gave them 5 stars for it. “Reply to every comment within seconds” was one of the top social media tricks these companies used. By replying on time, they also resolved customers’ complaints and got good feedback from them in return.3. Keywords/Hashtags
Keywords are not only for the Search Engine Optimization. These are also what’s trending on social media. In this town, they are called hashtags! Almost every social media now has clickable hashtags. Find the most searched keywords related to your business, find some of the common ones, see what’s trending particularly today and then create a bunch of 4-5 posts including important hashtags covering your business, common ones and the trending ones. Inserting hashtags don't mean flooding your post with hashtags only. Have a meaningful text, and insert a couple of hashtags related to the post and the text.Here’s a complete guide to keyword research for social media
4. Referrals
If you go on the zero budget path for social media marketing then you are going to save a lot of money, which you can spend on goodies as an incentive for referrals. Tell people to tell other people about your product and offers and in return give them a discount or a free coupon for their next purchase.Here’s why companies have a separate section of Referral Marketing
5. The Right Social Media
If you are getting traction on Facebook and expect the same on other social media platforms then stop expecting because the fan bases on different platforms are different. E.g: If you want to recruit someone you do that on LinkedIn, not on Facebook. If your products definitely need a picture with a post, then push full throttle on the platforms that are based on pictorial posts such as Pinterest, and Instagram, etc. This doesn’t mean you neglect other platforms. This only means you prioritize the right social media platform for your business so you spend maximum time on that to generate a maximum turnover.6. Relations
If you can really build good professional relationships online, it’s second best to nothing. It is a slow shot but a sure shot. Why slow, because you are not going to build trust among people with just one comment. Answer their queries; share your general thoughts and their general comments. Develop an image of some who regularly read their comment and replies. Have valuable conversations on forums, communities, groups or in the comment section. Don’t let them know in the first online meet up that you are here only to promote your products and page. Instead, start a conversation, share your knowledge and be helpful.7. Keep an Eye on Insights
Like the major corporations, hold month end meetings to discuss what they did last month and what to do in the next to pull maximum profit towards their company, the insights of a social channel are exactly the same. Almost every social media channel provides a view on the stats of the page. Just the way Google analytic provides analysis for the website these insights provide analysis of the page.You can know which post got maximum reach. At what time your page is most active, and people of which age are most engaging on your page. Analyzing and evaluating your insights, you can focus on your target audience and know the best time zone to publish the posts. Start planning for the next month in advance with the help of page insights.
Facebook and twitter provide the insights by default. Pinterest also provides insights, but only to the business pages. You can get the insights from the third party websites too. Some are paid and detailed and some are free.
8. Relationships to Partners
A step above the individual relationships is the business partnership. See which local or global companies align best with your product. Partner with them and get better network and customer base. Remember“A single water droplet evaporates easily and quickly than the full glass of water”
Having said that, build your customer base or fan base stronger online. Don’t just be single droplet, collaborate with other droplets to stay for long.
9. Contests/Polls
Ask a question that has people’s interest. It may or may not relate to your business. They will get engage to your page while answering that.Start a contest. Tell people to share your page or a particular post. You put out the word that 100 lucky winners will win a prize. And, give the prizes as well (out of your profits). Let the winners brag about their winnings so that next time more people engage in your contest and page.
10. Keep Customer’s Mind in Mind
Every product needs what’s in customer pocket – money. But do you tell your customer straightforward that give me your money and buy my product? If that isn’t good strategy in real then it isn’t online too. Tell them why they should buy the product. Tell them, what they are getting for the money they are spending. Choose your words wisely. Content is the King.Conclusion:
These strategies don’t come if you have cash in your pocket. They are out there just waiting for you to use them. Try them out and if they generate good results, use them as long as you want. Let us know your thoughts on this. Share with us your $0 budget social media strategy that generated good results for you.
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