Social media is everywhere these days, and if you’re running any type of business, you’ll need to have a profile on at least one of the social networks.
Even business-to-business brands are on Twitter and LinkedIn at the very least, and if your business isn’t on social media yet, you’re missing out.
If you’ve set up social media accounts for your business, then you might have noticed how competitive the market is, with almost every company and interested individuals trying to get the attention of your target followers.
So, how do you turn your social media accounts into powerful marketing and sales tools that can be used to drive your business towards the success that you crave?
Read on, and we’ll explain the basic principles of social media marketing and how you can boost your reach, following, engagement and, ultimately, profits.
Hire Professionals
If you haven’t got a clue about where to start with social media, and barely have any time to think about it – let alone create and post content – then the good news is that there are professionals out there just waiting to take the work off your hands.
Digital agencies specialised in social media can help you get off to the right start with your social profiles and make sure that your brand is getting in front of the right audience. They’ll examine your current social media presence, take a peek at what your competitors are doing, and learn all about your goals to come up with a social media plan that works for you.
Evaluate Each Social Media Platform You Use
When you first start social media marketing, it’s easy to create accounts on every platform out there. However, with so many popular social media sites on the market, you’ll quickly run out of time and struggle to make an impact on any platform. Instead of creating an account on every platform, take the time to research the different social media websites on the market, and assess which ones are the most relevant for your business.
Each platform has a different target audience, method and advert structure, so you should learn about these factors before you choose the solutions that will work best for your business and help you to get in front of your audience.
Post Regularly According To Schedule
Setting up social media accounts is only the start of a long process; once you have the accounts made, you need to make sure that you post regular, relevant content that informs and entertains your followers. You can use blog posts for some of this content, as the links to these will provoke a discussion and drive traffic to your website, but you should also consider other forms of content.
These might include sharing relevant, informative or just plain interesting content from businesses in your niche or whose posts are about your industry. You could also share funny memes, create polls to learn more about your clients and what they’re looking for from your business, and more.
Posting regular updates will keep your accounts relevant and will help you to attract more followers and enjoy enhanced post engagement.
See related post The Secret Of Timing In Social Marketing
Avoid Basic Boring Material
Nowadays, it can often seem like brands are all doing the exact same thing as each other on social media. If they’re not sharing product promotions, it’s polls and boring updates that nobody really wants to read anyway.
If you’re not going down the route of hiring a professional content creator and social media manager for your brand, then it’s important to think outside the box. What makes you stop scrolling when you’re looking through social media? Come up with attention-grabbing content that’s going to make your audience notice your brand.
Think Differently About Promoting
OK, don’t forget about it entirely. The truth is, social media isn’t just for sharing post after post about what you offer, your latest products, what you do, etc. While it can be good to remind your audience what you’re doing every once in a while, the key is to really engage with them.
A big mistake that many business owners make when using social media is to make it all about promotion and sprinkle in a little bit of engagement. Instead, flip that. Focus on engaging with your customers, making them laugh, appreciating them, and including them in what you do, and your brand will promote itself.
Evaluate Advertising Options For Each Social Platform
Like search engines, most social media platforms have two options for growing your reach; organic growth and paid adverts. While producing fresh, engaging content is crucial, you should also consider using pay per click (PPC) advertising on social media. Check out the advert options on each platform that you have a corporate account on so that you can find the ones that will bring you the best return on investment.
If you’re struggling to understand the options that you have, then consider working with a PPC consultant who can support you and make the process of creating top-quality, enticing adverts on social media easy and effective.
Don’t Forget Consistency
Last but not least, be consistent. A professional, polished brand doesn’t have a photo of the store’s front door or their star product as their profile picture. If you’ve had a professional logo designed, why let it go to waste?
It’s also worth putting some effort into coming up with an informational cover photo, or even a cover video on Facebook to show off what you do. And finally, make sure that all the information listed on your social profiles is consistent and correct.
Millions of businesses across the world are using social media to connect with customers and promote their brand, so it’s important to think outside the box and have clear goals in mind if you want to stand out from the crowd. Use these tips to find inspiration and create the strong social media presence that your small business needs to achieve the growth you want for it.
[Image credits – Main Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels; Handshake Photo by fauxels from Pexels; Social logos: Pixabay; Trombone: Flickr, Free For Commercial Use, Creative Commons CC BY-SA 2.0; Big Ben: Flickr, Tuula Olin, Creative Commons CC BY-NC-SA 2.0]
Grace Murphy is an experienced reviewer and journalist.