People only use social media to connect with others right?
Wrong!
While the primary use of social media is to make connections, it is also a lucrative avenue that you can use to smile all the way to the bank at the end of the month.
There are various money-making opportunities that you can explore to earn that extra money. The catch is that you must be willing to put in the hard work to see the results.
The Role of Social Media in Marketing
Examples of tried and tested social media marketing techniques that you can employ to make those much-needed extra dollars include:
1. Increase Social Media Presence
Although it is still possible to make money even with a few followers, it does not hurt to cement your social media presence with a larger following.
This is extremely important if you are running a business.
You should:
- Offer quality content that people like consistently
- Use videos
- Hashtags
- Create competitions so as to engage with people on your social media pages
For example, for MeiggsMedia’s Instagram page we are using these methods to target entrepreneurs and small businesses.
2. Promote Consulting and Coaching Services
Social media is an ideal platform where you can generate leads for various consulting businesses.
Whether you teach people how to stay in shape or offer expert services as a life coach, you are bound to get clients from your social media pages.
Joanna Rohlf, our social media coordinator, does this really well on her fitness Instagram account. She gets clients who pay $1000-2000 upfront for a fitness coach. Her fans trust her, and it’s all because of her social media marketing skills.
You should:
- Let your friends and other connections know the services you offer.
- Be careful, however, not to over-advertise as people may get irritated and even un-follow you.
- Learn to strike a balance by mixing up things, so that people still remain interested in your pages.
Do not sell yourself cheap, you should always charge a fair rate for your effort and time.
At times you may not even have to leave home since it is possible to conduct coaching sessions over Skype. This may be ideal for those who dream of working from home.
To increase your earning potential, you should sell your services and informational products such as eBooks.
People who are interested in your advice may purchase courses and eBooks you create.
Just be sure to provide value; you may even have to quit your day job and live your dream.
3. Enroll For the YouTube Partner Program
With at least 10,000 views on YouTube channel videos, you become eligible to become a member of the YouTube Partner Program.
This is something that you will have to put in loads of effort because building a successful channel that people are genuinely interested in is not a walk in the park.
Do not get tired of promoting your videos online using organic outreach to receive more views on the videos you post.
Within no time, you should be making money on the ads that Google displays on your videos. You can see how much YouTubers make and decide to see if you want to try it out.
If you do, once you have many views on your channel, you become a sort of “influencer”.
This implies that companies may want to advertise their products and services through your channel.
You can become a big-shot where brands approach and pay you to advertise their goods or services.
4. Become an Affiliate
This is probably one of the most popular methods of earning money from social media.
It works out well even for the people who do not have large followings on the avenue. There are numerous affiliate programs you can benefit from such as Amazon, FlexOffers, ClickBank, iGain, and CJ Affiliate.
As an affiliate, your responsibility would be to conduct brand promotion or advertise a company’s goods on your social media channels. Typically, this is done using an affiliate link. When people use the link to make a purchase, you get a commission from the sale.
To increase your earnings, you can create your own blog and include affiliate links in your blog posts. We also recently published an article that shows you can you can create your own blog in under 20 minutes.
You can demonstrate how to use a certain product by writing up a review and placing the link in your blog posts or social media profiles.
Remember to be honest with your affiliate partnerships because your followers will most likely appreciate the openness.
Conclusion
Making money on social media may not be a walk in the park.
This is not to say that it is impossible.
Your efforts are bound to pay off making your bank account fatter to set you on the path of financial freedom.
The role of social media in marketing can make, or break you.
Have you found creative ways to use social media to your advantage with your small business or blog? Sound off below!
