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Hearing the success stories of businesses who marketed on social media, and the growing numbers of followers and customers these companies are acquiring, have given first time business owners unreal dream and expectations in the short term. Depending on the product and the demand, some businesses can experience outstanding sales in a matter of months, but realistically, it takes time, determination, and commitment to finally get a loyal and strong customer base.

The question every business owner should asks themselves when it comes to social media marketing is, “How did the businesses who looked to social media become successful and grow their companies?” The answer shouldn’t be any different than what business owners gave 20-30 years ago. Be aggressive and constantly search for where the customers are, and where the money is. Social media shouldn’t be looked at as a tool that gives you overnight success, but like all avenues of marketing, should be utilized consistently and built up through persistence.

For startups, it’s going to take time to build up a clientele that can further promote your brand. Promote your company on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest; link to your business’s website and drive traffic to every aspect of your marketing strategy. Essentially what your goal should be is to drop as many bread crumbs as possible and lead customers to the main dish; your website, online store, or retail store if you have one. Just posting statuses, maybe tweeting a bit, and posting a picture every week isn’t going to cut it. You must reach out to where your customers are going to be.

A few months back, a man who designed t-shirts wanted to sell some shirts that pertained to Auburn football for the BCS Championship. While he already had his business on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, he took another step and joined group and fan pages on Facebook to promote his shirts, and not surprisingly, he was getting customers off these pages. Old school marketing doesn’t pay off with immediate dividends like that, and neither does social media marketing when it’s not used aggressively. If you want customers, you must go to them. Join other Facebook groups and pages where your customers are going to be and promote your brand to them.

Like all of you, I wish being an overnight success through social media marketing was true, but hard work, commitment, and determination will get you results. Remember, this isn’t the 90’s anymore. While cold calling and old school marketing is looked at from a customer’s point of view as bad, social media marketing can be seen as friendly and direct, yielding positive results you’re looking for.

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When discussing social media marketing, questions are constantly being brought up by people who are new to incorporating social media into their marketing strategy for their business. One of the questions is, “How often should I post updates to my social media accounts?” Depending on who you talk to, you’ll get opposing answers. Some say at least two times a day on Facebook, over a handful on Twitter, and posting pictures daily on Instagram and Pinterest. Sometimes you won’t find the exact answer until you start engaging with your followers, or the business sector you’re in may require more or less posting. However, there is a saturation point to social media marketing, and the minute you give your followers too much, they’ll leave or ignore future posts.

Facebook is a prime example as posting too much could desensitize your audience and consequently, they’ll either unsubscribe to your updates or unfollow completely. Posting the same content every week is redundant, and continuously sharing your business or brand to the same people more than three or four times a day makes the viewer avoid what you’re selling more than attracting them to your website or online store.

You must create engaging content that’s fresh and new that your followers haven’t seen before. This also includes when you constantly post memes and nothing else, your followers will eventually get bored, or if you just share content that makes your customers read 800-1200 word articles. There must be a balance when it comes to marketing on social media; sharing a picture or meme at 8am in the morning, posting an article at noon, and sharing a video at 7pm at night is an example of that balance. Of course, it really depends on your customer base and followers, as they’ll help you notice what works and what doesn’t. Pictures always work as potential customers love visuals, while articles may not be the appropriate choice for your audience.

Twitter on the other hand can go either way. Posting too little starves your followers and they’ll eventually leave for someone who is always relevant and sharing tweets in a timely manner. But sharing too many tweets at once may have an affect on traffic that you’re directing to your site, as your followers may not read all of the tweets, unless your posting quality content that is a must read.

Ultimately it’s your customers and followers that will dictate how often you post on the social media platforms you operate. If you’re sharing quality content, great pictures, helpful tips, and intriguing videos that promote your business, you can post less and still get outstanding engagement that further develops your relationship with your customers. Remember, in all fan bases there is a saturation point. When they get more than enough, they’ll either be overwhelmed or will avoid future content. Give them enough to enjoy, but make them crave for more!

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When it comes to marketing on Facebook, creating fan pages to connect and acquire new followers and customers is a must. However, group pages shouldn’t be forgotten about. Fan pages are great for posting and sharing content for followers to read and interact with, but in some cases and industries, a group page on the side would be beneficial. The way Facebook pages are currently constructed, there is the potential for a disconnect between followers and the business, and also from one customer to the other.

As a hobby, and as an owner of a specific vehicle, I created a Facebook fan page for the car that I own. Without any advertising the growth rate of the page was tremendous, and the amount of viewers being reached was impressive, considering every single like and view was all organic. However, a problem arose a few months later when people who liked the page began posting comments and pictures of their cars on the Facebook page’s wall. No one other than myself, and anyone who looked at the comments section, would have seen the questions and pictures fellow car owners posted.

On a few occasions there would be questions that were posted that I couldn’t answer, as the model the owner had wasn’t sold in the United States. Knowing that the page had a global audience, there was most likely someone from Europe who could help answer the question and knew more about that specific model than anyone in the states.

A few months later, I stumbled upon a group page dedicated to the manufacturer that made the car I and my followers own. This group page had members who would post pictures and discuss news about the manufacturer, making it an open forum and a friendly place to socialize with other car owners. The comments and questions that were posted could be seen by all members, not only on the group page’s wall, but also on the members’ own news feeds. This allowed for more engagement, more answers to questions, and an endless supply of pictures that were constantly being posted.

How does this all tie into marketing strategy for a business, or become an invaluable asset to companies? If your business sells products, not only are you posting pictures of those products, but your customers might do the same, depending on what you sell. Unless you publicize your customer’s pictures on your fan page, not many, if any of the other fans of the page will see it. This has nothing to do with posting content, but more of connecting yourself to the customer, and having that customer connect with the other followers of that page.

Especially for businesses, there is also a review section where customers rate your business and hopefully write a nice comment to go with the rating. While it’s a great feature to have on the fan page, all the fans see is the 5 star system, while the comments themselves are in a tiny box which needs to be clicked on to show all comments and ratings.

With a group page, the customers can all be in one place where they can share experiences, talk about the product, and you the business owner, can further engage with your clients on a more personal and friendly level. The group page shouldn’t be a substitute for the fan page, as you’re not going to post marketing content there, but have that go hand-in-hand with the fan page as a mini forum option for the customers and followers. Also with a group page, you can link your fan page on the wall, and pin it to the top where everyone can see it for as long as you keep it as a top priority status.

As business owners, you must use every weapon in your arsenal to attract future customers and connect with current clientele. A group page should be utilized to create that engagement with your fans and customers. Even though you can’t promote it as you can a fan page, it’s primary goal is to bring all current fans into one place where they can discuss your products or services. There you can gauge what they want to see and find out what will work best for your business in the future. Group pages stopped being popular when Facebook gave owners the power to advertise, but there is still an opportunity to revive that aspect of the social media platform, and use it to your business’s advantage.