Role Of Social Media In Entrepreneurship

Social Media Levels the Playing Field for Entrepreneurs

The awesome power of social media makes successful entrepreneurship a reality for anyone who aspires to reach his or her full potential through business ownership. Although something of a cliché, no credible person can deny the sea change brought about by social media platforms on the Internet in the digital age. The rise of the smartphone has magnified that power one-hundred fold, growing not only the number of users with social media access, but also increasing the time users spend on social media web sites.

The statistics are staggering! Facebook has 1.44 billion active monthly users, Twitter boasts 236 million and Google+ has surpassed 359 million. Toss in Pinterest and Instgram

While almost everyone can agree that a strong ego is an essential trait for successful entrepreneurship, there are occasions when it needs to be checked at the door. Social media marketing is about listening to your customer—telling how great you, your product or your service is … not so much.

With social media marketing the emphasis must shift from promoting products or services to helping customers meet their needs. That is defined by listening to what your customers have to say. Marketing is nuanced. It is more than simple advertising and different from selling. Social media marketing is dynamic; it requires not only listening but also responding to the needs of customers. In short, love your customers, not your product or service.

Social Media Marketing Strategies

When it’s all said and done, business has but two core functions: marketing and innovation. Through innovation the product or service is created and through marketing, it is not only sold but, refined and perfected, to meet the needs of the

The best influencers to partner with are those with the right mix of reach, relevance and resonance. Reach refers to the size of their following. Relevance in terms of how well they relate to your product or service and finally, the level of resonance they enjoy with their following. By resonance, we mean interactions which can take the form of comments, Facebook likes, Tweets, re-Tweets and other quantifiable events.

Before attempting an influencer marketing campaign, it is essential to define the goal or goals you have for the campaign. Having established the goals, you can then define the parameters you will use to define success or recognize failure.

Many such campaigns use the give-away or free trial to facilitate tracking the response the campaign is generating. Whatever methodologies are used, it is important to understand that results must be measured to determine the success or failure of the effort. In other words, inspect what you expect.

Remember, this is a simple overview to provide the reader with some key insights into influencer marketing. It is by no means a comprehensive guide.

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