Social media marketing has grown to become one of the most popular marketing tools. It’s not surprising when you consider that social media marketing is free to get started with and relatively inexpensive should you choose to invest. Though it can be such an effective tool, social media marketing can still be a waste of time (and sometimes money) if you’re not doing it right. Here are four tips to keep in mind if you want to get good results from your efforts.

Know what you want to get out of it

Perhaps because most business owners already have personal social media accounts, and perhaps because it’s free to start, many business owners are quick to jump into social media marketing without a clear goal of what they want to accomplish. While you may achieve some positive results, you can’t achieve success unless you’ve first decided what you want to get out of your social media marketing efforts. Set an achievable, measurable goal against which you can measure success. Only then can you begin to create a social media marketing strategy so you can work towards that goal.

Use real photos

Assuming your social media marketing efforts will involve the use of images, don’t settle for whatever image you can get easily. Don’t browse the web for stock photos that aren’t copyrighted. Consumers can spot stock photos a mile away. Take your own pictures. Better yet—ask your customers to submit their own photos of themselves using your product or service.

Get creative

As with other marketing channels, it’s very easy to get into a rut with social media marketing. It’s especially easy when whatever you’re doing is working. If you’re achieving moderate success, it’s tempting to just keep doing what you’re doing. Unfortunately, if you never experiment with your social media marketing ads, you will never improve either. Find what works and integrate it into your existing strategy, cut out what doesn’t work.

Market your social media marketing

You heard right. You have to market your marketing campaign. Social media is primarily a mobile channel. Use existing mobile channels such as text message marketing and your mobile website to spread the word about your social media presence. Use every opportunity you have to market your social media marketing campaign. Provide links to your social media profiles and make it as easy as possible for your customers to like or follow your brand.

Source: huffingtonpost.com/lisa-parkin/4-tips-to-improve-social-_b_5959144.html