Earlier known as a platform to broaden your network, social media has successfully surpassed the age of innocence and entered the adulating phase. Although, we do find it very hard to justify our time spent on social media platforms especially for businesses. One of the obvious reasons is that you aren’t gaining significant ROI or selling the full range of social media benefits for the business. Of course, there is no denying the fact that social media works wonders when one requires building awareness and engagement among current and potential customers. But what next, how to utilize it to your own advantage?
Content is the Key
One of the best reasons for conducting a successful marketing strategy is high-quality content. Moreover, promoting content through social media and other channels is the best way to drive traffic to your website. I am sure after this, consumers are more likely to show their interest in you and your services. Now have you wondered why I would recommend marketing through social media platforms for you as a small business?
Customers are on social media, according to several studies social media users are expected to reach about 3.1 billion people.
- Consumers will be more receptive to your messages
- Makes your brand more accessible and familiar
- Reach specific audiences
- Last but certainly not least, it is cost-effective venture
Top Social Media Sites for Business
- Snapchat
- YouTube
- TikTok
Anyone Can Publish
Publishing content in your social accounts is not a tricky thing what’s trickier is how do you get the word out about your pages and where do you focus your time? Further below I would like to mention certain ideas that might Kickstart your marketing initiatives.
- Strengthen your profile
Of course, this is something quite mandatory! So I am sure you will be amazed to know what are you exactly missing out on and why I have mentioned this point in the first place. Even though you are thinking of an ultra- minimalistic look, your brand’s Facebook page requires to be filled out. So what you need to do is add a monthly check-in to your social media checklist to explore new features.
Right there in the about tab, add links including other social network profiles. Can you see the story section on the right? Now every company has a story to tell, so break out your storytelling skills from that random English class you took years ago and put them to work on your “About Us” page.
- Hashtags are still in vogue
Instagram recently added the ability to link other accounts and hashtags to your bio. Initially, people had to memorize the hashtags or creatively use emojis. But now the entire scenario has changed. Space can be used to promote other location-specific accounts and add hashtags.
These hashtags can be your standard branded ones or special hashtags, like for a contest.
In this example, the company makes uses of their bio space in context to both location account tags and their branded hashtag. Moreover, followers can be easily directed to their account and explore other relevant pages.
- Promoting via emails and newsletters
Are you sending newsletters out regularly? If so, don’t forget to add the social icons at the base. This acts as another subtle reminder to the recipients that you’re there if they need to find you. In fact, you can have a more direct approach to promoting your social media accounts in your newsletter. All you have to do is
- Add a fan section where exactly you wish to showcase a photo from the community
- Add relevant links to your email signature (another great branding opportunity)
In the image above they mentioned their social icons and their branded hashtag. It’s kind of call-to-action!
- Contests & Giveaways
If you wish to create brand awareness nothing can stop you! All you require is setting up a low-barrier contest for your brand. For example, one of the easiest gateways are those where the fans have to do very little to enter or else too much effort will act as a major turn-off. In case, if you are planning to conduct any contest near future; here is what needs to be done!
Initially, you can think of trying a user-generated contest where there’s a hashtag specifically for the event. To monitor and respond to entries, use a hashtag tracking tool like Sprout Social. Our reporting feature will also track how successful the contest campaign was.
- Different Approach for different network
The one-stop solution doesn’t work for every need. Similarly, writing the same copy won’t get you any results. For example, Writing for LinkedIn requires a professional approach whereas writing for Facebook doesn’t. Although, you may use the same photos or videos your copy should change.
Do some research, see how your audiences differ from one platform to another, keep experimenting in regards to tones and vocabulary? For example, if your sales partners are mostly on LinkedIn, then your copy will be more sales-oriented. If your audience on Snapchat is younger, then you’ll use more gifs and memes.
Conclusion
Competition for attention is something that is inevitable. And that’s the reason why generating a significant return on investment from social media takes time. By implementing the aforementioned pointers I am pretty sure that your advertising budget won’t go to waste.
Harley Marsh is a Technology Trend Observer at eTatvasoft – a mobile app development company and you can visit here to know more about his company. He likes to write about Technology Trends, Leadership, Social Media, SEO, Entrepreneurship, Business Trends and many more things about IT services. He is an avid reader of blogs related to technology and business development.