Social media marketing is a powerful and cost-effective approach for companies of all sizes to reach out to prospects and customers. Millions of people use social media to discover, connect with, and shop from brands at any given time. If your business does not have or has very little social media presence, you’re already several steps behind the competition!
For the longest time, social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram had this reputation of being an addiction or pastime. Over the years, however, it has evolved into a rather lucrative medium for businesses to cultivate prospective clients, advertise their products or services, and publish contents that benefit the brand.
In today’s digital landscape, being “social” can greatly impact your marketing strategy. Done right, social media marketing can propel your company to new heights, driving leads and sales and transforming audiences into loyal advocates of your brand.
How to Use Social Media to Grow Your Business
Thanks to social media, many small businesses and start-ups have thrived and experienced unprecedented growth. Most of these success stories, however, did not happen overnight. They were products of meticulous planning and brilliant execution.
Before you take on social media marketing, make sure to learn everything you can about it first. Otherwise, work with a reputable social media management company. Going in blind could end up doing your business more harm than good.
Here are a few useful tips to help you start your social media marketing journey on the right foot:
Set realistic social media marketing goals.
Before you can achieve your social media goals, you have to define them first. Do you want to build a larger following? Boost brand awareness? Connect with your customers more efficiently?
Your goals will define your marketing strategy and the time and effort you’ll need to put into your campaigns. That said, make sure to set meaningful social media marketing goals that make sense for your business.
Determine your target audience.
Different people respond to marketing approaches differently, which is why businesses must understand their market and identify their target audiences.
Much of the information you need about your audiences is already available. You just have to know where to look. With the help of social media analytics, you can find out who’s purchasing from you and connecting with you on social media. Once you have a better idea of your customer base, you can devise a marketing strategy geared towards those demographics.
Image by Thomas Ulrich from PixabayChoose the right social media platforms.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn are all important business platforms. But less popular sites like Pinterest and YouTube are also effective promotional channels. Each one has a place in the market and may be more effective than the other in targeting a particular group of people.
Many businesses (and even marketers) need to understand that not everyone utilizes the same social media channels.
If you’re just starting out with social media marketing, it would be better if you focus on two or three platforms first. Once you’ve built a decent following and gained favorable results, you may consider venturing into new platforms.
Create content that people want to see.
The success of your social media campaign hinges on the quality of your content. Users are greeted with an endless thread of updates as soon as they open their accounts. Your content must stand out, or people will just scroll past them.
Whether posting text-only status updates, photos, videos, or reels, create something interesting or eye-catching that users want to check out. Brands generally use the same content formats for their social media campaigns; find ways to set yourself apart. You won’t get noticed if you don’t command attention.
Check out the competition.
To get ahead of the competition, you must know what they’re doing. Monitoring the competitive landscape allows you to evaluate your strategies and determine if they are on pace with the rest of the market. Moreover, it gives you insight into how other businesses in your industry use social media to grow their brand and engage with their audiences.
If your competitor is doing better, find out what makes their campaign more effective or what they’re doing differently. Competitive analysis will help you identify what parts of your strategy are working, what isn’t, and what needs improvement.
Determine and work on key metrics and KPIs.
Your social media approach should be data-driven, regardless of your goals or industry. This means focusing on key metrics such as your post reach, clicks, engagement, likes (both paid and organic), user sentiment, and other social media metrics that matter.
Don’t rely on vanity metrics. Dig deeper into data for a thorough assessment of your campaign’s performance. A successful social media marketing strategy is founded on evidence and numbers and then using that data to further your goals.
Image by Marie from PixabayPublish content regularly.
Inconsistency is detrimental to your social media marketing efforts. If You’re already investing precious time and resources on a particular platform, you might as well make sure that you maximize its potential by ensuring a consistent flow of content.
People follow or subscribe to your page because they enjoy your content. Regular postings promote credibility and brand awareness and foster customer loyalty.
Engage with Your Audiences
Your followers not only expect you to put out fresh content but to connect with them as well. Use social media to bring your brand closer to your audiences and showcase who you are as a company.
Engaging with your audiences doesn’t have to be a complicated or elaborate process. Posting interactive articles and polls, holding live streams, or hosting giveaways can turn audiences into brand advocates and increase customer retention. Most importantly, respond to queries and shout-outs as soon as possible. Survey says 47% of consumers agree that strong customer service defines the best brands on social media. Prompt response makes them feel valued.
Leveraging the Power of Social Media to Grow Your Brand
The reach and exposure you can get on social media just by posting quality content are unlike any other. Even if you count your advertising spend to boost your campaign, the cost per impression is still significantly lower than other promotional methods.
The tips mentioned above are fundamental elements of an effective social media campaign, but you’ll have to apply them in context with the goals and objectives of your company.
Social media marketing is not one-size-fits-all. A software company cannot employ the same approach as a retail brand. Developing the right social media strategy takes time, but the payoff is worth it.