With today’s internet shopping and social media, this new age in business is not your father’s marketing arena. Modern entrepreneurs must embrace Facebook and Twitter each as a marketing tool like no other. Only then will they tap the full potential of their salesmanship.

Smart business owners know that a website is crucial to success. Moreover, knowing how to direct customers to that site is essential. Twitter and Facebook marketing is an established means to improving a company’s bottom line. However, entrepreneurs have a lot on their plates and discouragement comes quickly when results do not. To overcome that hurdle, Neil Patel has created a formula for helping business owners use social media to enhance their marketing strategies.

Facebook Marketing Strategy

Facebook marketing takes a little time, but is not difficult. After creating a Facebook account, business owners should send friend requests to what Mr. Patel calls “thought leaders” in their industry. Positive responses may be low at first, but they will come, nonetheless. Posting brief status updates about the industry, but not the particular business, increasingly engages the target audience with a soft sell approach. The Facebook page should not look like a commercial, so after a few weeks, make only 30 percent of all updates about the specific company.

Facebook is a social network, so be sociable by posting comments on other subscribers’ walls and “liking” their updates frequently. Asking industry related questions on Facebook attracts friend interaction. Furthermore, accepting friend requests from strangers is beneficial in this circumstance because each one is a potential customer.

Twitter Marketing Strategy

Twitter marketing differs slightly but is just as easy. Entrepreneurs should create their profile, commit to some research on relevant keywords, follow others in the trade, and tweet about that industry. Keeping tweets specifically about the company down to 30 percent or lower avoids the hard sell approach that turns many potential customers away. It is helpful to tweet to other people in the same industry, or retweet them occasionally. Once a following is established, entrepreneurs can begin tweeting specifically about their businesses about 20 to 30 percent of the time to keep the sales pitch soft.

After a few weeks, these two social networks can potentially add 1,000 or more hits to a company website. Another proven way to increase website traffic is to use solid SEO practices. The home page of this site offers a free website SEO evaluation for the wise business owner. Combining Twitter and Facebook marketing with a strong SEO strategy is just smart online marketing.