Last week, I published a post where I shared some of the similarities that I see between effective social media use and fishing. Well, guess what — I see even more similarities today! Thus, here are a few more that I’d like to share with you:

Getting Ready for Fishing

In order to succeed at fishing, you must prepare properly. The same applies to social networking.

Before you dive into social media, you will want to make sure that you have the right resources. You will certainly want to ensure that you have people that are experienced with using different social networks… but who also have an understanding of marketing and achieving business objectives.

Also, you will want to fill your tackle box with content that is useful and effective. Don’t fall into the trap that every piece of content needs to be a flashy lure either! The bottom line is this: you need lures/content that deliver results.

When it comes to fishing, it’s important that you have the right captain. Someone with experience that is also willing to take risks. When it comes to social media, it’s important that your management team supports the efforts in some fashion. Your management team can help you to build a plan that guides you in the right direction, and enables you to grow and develop with each project.

In regards to team members, you’ll certainly want to target individuals that are flexible, creative, and willing to work cohesively with you through your campaigns.

Having designers to make your pages attractive and interesting to your potential customers is crucial.

Last but definitely not least are the people who create the content that carries the message or voice of your company. These people will help build a relationship with your customers that will last.

Bait & Cast

With fishing, you could have the right bait and right team, but you also need to cast your lures at the right time.

The same applies to business. While it’s important to have creative folks and people that can create content, you also need someone that can help you to determine what the right time is to publish your content and other online materials!

When making that decision, they will do with the goal of “posting with a purpose” — whether it’s to create awareness, generate leads, or to simply be helpful (which will hopefully position you as a thought-leader).

Hook em’, Reel em’ in, and Keep Them Around

The most exciting part of a successful social media campaign and a fishing trip is when you successfully bring in your catch. In social media, you might start to measure this by the amount of “Likes” that you receive on your Facebook page, or re-tweets and Twitter followers.

Always have the goal to attract your audience with useful content and give them a reason to “like” you! If you do that, you’ll develop a relationship with clients that continue to grow as you interact and reward them for being a part of your community.

Once you’ve got them on board, it is important to remain in contact with them and reward them for connecting with you. Incentives motivate people to be a part of your community and to continue to stick around. Why would a fish eat your bait if it knows there’s better meals elsewhere? Keep reminding them that you are glad they’ve come to you and keep them around with more rewards and incentives.

Now the final part of fishing and maintaining your customers is a little different since you eventually stuff, eat or let go of your fish — but hopefully you get the idea! Getting a customer on board is your main goal as a social media marketer. Knowing the right steps to success is critically important.

By executing a successful strategy, you will generate more leads and develop better relationships with your customers as your company grows.

Get connected with us and see who’s in our boat at Grow Socially!

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