Social media has become ingrained in our lives that it’s impossible to not scroll on your news feed every single day. It’s been weaved into the fabric of society and has had a big influence on how we all communicate. If your business doesn’t have a social media presence, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to expand your brand and reach more customers.
In today’s technology-driven era, many people spend most of their time online looking for what they need. Why? Because it’s easy and accessible. If you want your business to flourish, it makes sense to go where the people are and market your products there. That’s why having a presence on social media is crucial for every business, whether it be big or small.
Perhaps you’ve just started a business and have been on social media for a while, but haven’t experienced much success on it. No matter where you’re currently at, here are a couple of tips from a leading digital marketing agency that you can apply to harness the power of social media and use it to your advantage.
- Find out your audience
The first step towards social media success is about finding out your audience. What are the demographics of the people that are likely to be interested in your business? Are your products for males, females, or both? Does your brand cater more towards the Gen Z as opposed to the Millenials? Knowing these details can help you target the right customers when you begin your marketing efforts on social media.
Once you’ve got a good idea of who your target audience is, you have to know what their interests are. Think about what motivates them and what makes them tick. You can post a picture that you think is beautiful, but if it doesn’t mean anything to your audience, then it’s pretty much worthless.
- Be specific with your goals
To experience success in this platform, you have to go beyond the specifics of just communicating with your customers. Are you using social media to boost your brand awareness? Or are you looking to generate more leads about your products/services? It’s important to be specific with your goals on social media so you can establish measurable objectives and monitor your success.
Be clear with your social media goals and make sure it aligns with your business plans. The results will follow when you get these two things to work harmoniously together.
- Make use of management tools
There are a number of management tools that you can use to further refine your social media strategies. Hootsuite is one example where it enables you to monitor what people are saying about your brand. Schedugram, as the name implies, allows you to schedule or queue your Instagram posts to streamline your content posting.
Other management tools provide content and conversation monitoring, in-depth reporting, RSS feed tracking, and more. Research on the best management tools that best works for your business and use it to improve your social media presence.
- Be active and show commitment
So you’ve created social media profiles and have scheduled out some content, but you’re not seeing any results. That’s because you aren’t actively engaging with your audience and the followers you’ve built up. You need to be active and show commitment to your customers by responding to their questions, replying to their comments, and even invite them for feedback through polls.
When you do this, it shows that you care about their experience with your brand. You don’t exist to line their pockets, but to actually solve a problem that they have. Being committed and interested in others will make them interested in you so take your time to show your audience that you genuinely care.
- Adapt to the ever-changing social media landscape
Social media is constantly evolving and its algorithms are regularly updated. Trends come and go and your audience may even change how they use socials, but don’t let these things concern you too much. All you need is to adapt and make sure you’re always on top of your social media game.
For example, you read a blog that said posting content between 3-5pm results in better engagement, but your target audience is mostly active around 6pm onwards. As they always say, the numbers don’t lie and the best way to confirm this is by taking a look at your analytics. If you get increased engagement by around 3-5pm, then by all means continue posting your content around that time frame.
Keep in mind that everything you read and learn about social media is just a guide, so take it with a grain of salt and try things out until you find a strategy that works best for you.
Bonus tip: Create a Google Plus page
Google Plus is considered the dark horse of social media channels because of its ability to impact your business, mainly with its visibility. You can post links, photos, and updates on Google Plus like you do on most social media platforms. A well-constructed Google Plus page can help boost your value on a Google search result, thus increasing your chances of getting noticed amongst your competition. If you have a physical store, its location will be listed on Google Maps via Google My Business and help direct more foot traffic. Essentially, you’re putting your business on the “map” by displaying necessary information that your potential customers need to make a transaction.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can benefit greatly from using social media. It allows you to connect with your potential customers much easier and gives you the opportunity to expand your brand’s reach. When utilised correctly, you can take your entire business to the next level and one-up your competitors.
Now, all that’s left is to create a consistent brand message across all social media platforms. With these helpful tips, you can hit the ground running and establish a strong online presence which is a prerequisite in today’s era of social media.
