Question #14 How long does it take for a social media marketing strategy to bring customers to my business?

When people ask how quickly they should expect a return on their social media marketing strategy, the answer usually depends upon what type of customer they’re searching for.

To reach a prospect that will convert into a customer six months from now requires more marketing time than reaching a prospect currently in need of your service or product. The drawback of just trying to reach today’s customer is the fact that all of your competitors are also trying to reach them. There is a lot of competition for someone who decides to buy today!

But if today you can begin a conversation with a prospect that six months down the road will need what you’re selling, then when the time to buy arrives, the prospect looks to you instead of searching out your competitors. Meaning, there’s less competition for the sale.

Neither strategy is better than the other, but to fully maximize the return on the marketing dollars invested, it’s best to incorporate both. To turn prospects into customers immediately, you should engage in some sort of search engine marketing strategy. After all, when someone types a phrase in Google, he or she has already decided they need what they’re looking for.

To reach people today that could become customers six months from now, you should begin engaging your prospects in social media, like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. Setting your presence up in these social sites is relatively simple, but takes a lot of time to maintain. If you don’t have the time to personally keep up with a social media marketing strategy, don’t let that keep you from jumping in. Instead, just rely on a professional that can set up and maintain all your social media sites for you.

To learn more about social media strategies for your business, you can watch nineteen more videos just like this one for free at www.com.socialreachmedia.com