Social Media As The Ultimate Marketing Tool: Turning Hobbies Into A Business
In 2017, social media will play an increasingly important part in how businesses connect with their customers. Before, it was treated as just a way to build up a brand. Now, customers are finding and connecting with the companies they buy from as much as they can.
As high as 80% of social media users will buy something due to their social media experience with a business. New digital business is appearing overnight. The difference is that some are lasting based on the strength of their social media marketing plans alone.
Bigger brands such as Arby’s put a chunk of their marketing budget towards having an effective and continuously engaged social media presence. For a lower cost than more traditional marketing opportunities, the results and expansive reach pay dividends.
How Is Social Media Marketing Useful For Entrepreneurs?
Social media marketing is an opportunity for the creative to turn their hobbies, their interests, into products that sell. Social media provides the perfect space for testing how well an intended product that hasn’t even been made yet would be received.
Social media marketing can mean a lot of things including:
-Paying for ads on social media.
-Consistently engaging with customers in groups, pages, or in comments.
-Engaging in sweepstakes, contests, and active sharing campaigns.
From “Just a Hobby” To A “Sustainable Income”
Business owners and would-be entrepreneurs are rapidly getting their feet wet in a variety of ways. They are using social media to raise funds for their business or ideas. They are building up masses of loyal customers by finding what they enjoy, what their ideal customer’s background is, and what they don’t like about similar products.
As a research tool for development, it’s unparalleled due to its minute costs and flexibility. It’s only limited by the creativity and time investment any entrepreneur would want to put into it. The amount of money required to get started can adapt to any budget.
Two Steps To Make the Most of Social Media:
If you’re someone that wants to start a business based on your hobbies, ask yourself what you have paid for.
Step 1: What tools, events, knowledge do you need to start or enjoy your hobbies? If you’re a fisher, what tool boxes, hooks, etc. etc. did you need? What do you wish was better?
Join groups and follow pages on Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, twitter that is relevant to your hobby/niche. See what kind of things people discuss or post about. What needs do they have that you can satisfy? Look for trends or commonalities in things that aren’t available.
Step 2: Source relevant content for your own brand’s pages that will be interesting and captivating to your target audience. Test your target audience by posting the content you create or find in other groups or pages and gauge their reaction. This will tell you what people are interested in.
All pages and groups rely on discussion and interesting content to flourish. These groups and pages are valuable for getting traffic, learning what is and isn’t working for other businesses. You can perfect or improve upon on their mistakes. It will give you the perfect blueprint for a fraction of the cost it cost them.
