When you have a business or brand, social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook are the best options to promote your products and services. But exactly how do you use these sites to promote your business? If you want better leads, making content that is engaging is the best answer to this problem. But sometimes, you may be confused about what type of content is best for your social media account. While you may believe that there are only a couple of content ideas that you could make on these sites, the truth is that there are a lot of content ideas that you could create to gain followers or build a relationship with existing followers. Here are 11 social media tips that will help you effectively promote and grow your business.
Create a content marketing strategy
Before you create that social media profile, you need first to think about your content marketing strategy. A content strategy is a marketing plan that helps you know how to distribute and create your business' content. Instead of making a list of what to upload to social media, you need to figure out who you will post for and where you will post. Why is this important? If you're going to reach your goals of boosting conversions and gaining more revenue, you need to make a step-by-step plan on how to achieve it. Just think. If you wanted to go on vacation but didn't plan to get there from the airport to the hotel, it would be more challenging than taking the time to plan out your traveling strategy. This is the same for your content strategy. If you want to take advantage of social media for your business, then making your strategy will help in the long run. If you've already done this part of the process, then great! But if you haven't, then that's also fine. Take out a pen and paper because there are some handy social media tips and exercises to plan your strategy.
Research your target audience
The first thing you want to do is research everything about your target audience. Many businesses fail to do this simple step before they start marketing their brand. Instead of making content and ads for just one type of person, they end up making it for everybody. And what comes of it is content that is all over the place. There are about 3.2 billion people around the world who are on social media. And although it would be great if all these users could see your posts, it's, unfortunately, quite impossible to do so. And that's okay! For example, if you have a B2B business, your products more than likely aren't targeted at all 3 billion users. So instead, take time to write down all the detailed profiles of your one targeted customer.
Decide what platform is right for your business
The next thing you want to note is a list of social media platforms that you could use. If you have completed the last exercise, then this should be a little easier to do with these social media tips. Your target audience can be found in many places on the internet like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. You could even see them on forum sites such as Reddit. Knowing where they are will make it that much easier to connect with them and ultimately sell your products. Just make sure that you're connecting with them on the right platforms. It will be a waste of time if you post all your content on Facebook when most of your audience is on Instagram. So, decide which of these specific platforms will be perfect for creating your content to reach your potential customers with ease.
Create a Content Calendar
It's also essential to create your content calendar in advance. So, what is a content calendar, you might ask? If you own a business, then you know how important it is to be organized. For every aspect, from finances to meetings and events, you need to manage everything. The same applies to your content. A content calendar is a way to plan and organize what you will post for multiple channels. Just think of it as a creative schedule for your business. This planning method will help you post on social media and other digital channels consistently, which will push your business on more users' radars and increase your leads. There are apps like Trello or Notion that already have templates for content calendars. Not only that, but Social Media Calendar also helps you save time creating your content schedule with our social media calendars and planners that offer ready-made templates for every social platform.
Optimize your Profile
After the planning stage, you can now optimize your business profile for your target audience. This is very important for getting your customers to notice you. And unfortunately, many brands often have problems with this step. Your profile should tell users exactly what your business is and its mission. What does it create? What type of service does it offer me? These are the questions that your potential customers will look for when they first come up on your page. If you want to see an in-depth article on how to make the perfect Instagram bio for your brand, you can click here. Just remember, the most important tip about making your profile for your business is that you should make everything about your brand, from the photo and bio to formatting and even Instagram highlight covers. Everything should represent your brand and its colors.
Take advantage of Keywords and hashtags
When it comes to digital marketing, keywords and hashtags are essential to expanding your audience. And it seems that social media sites are seeing the advantages of utilizing keywords for their platforms. For example, Instagram has made a large step in SEO, allowing you to search for hashtags and common keywords. So how do you use it to your advantage? Select keywords that describe your business' services, products, or industry and place it in your profile name, username, and bio. That way, if you own a sticker shop, they will see that your business will come up in the results because you have a relevant keyword in your name. You can also use trending hashtags on Twitter or make up your own to get people to engage with your brand and get your name out there.
Take advantage of all social media features
Social media isn't the same as it used to be. Along with the basic things you can do, there are so many newly added features that seem to come almost every month. These features can keep people busy for hours, from making groups, writing text posts, and creating short-form videos. But don't think you can't also use it for your business. Create or visit groups that cater to your audience, make short video highlights for Instagram and Twitter, or put together live videos with YouTube, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Don't waste all the resources that are given to you at you're your fingertips. See what type of features works for your business and stick to it.
Engage with your audience
One of the best things about social media is that it connects people. The networks and relationships that grow from it can be fun and beneficial for both parties. Use social media to connect and engage with your audience. Don't think that you will gain followers if you upload content once and then never get back on until the next scheduled upload. You will be wasting the potential growth of your business. Make sure that you're also responding to comments and answering their questions. This gives off a feeling that your brand cares about the people that invest time and money into it. Your followers will love your business' authenticity and will become loyal customers in the future.
Create relevant posts
When deciding on what you'll post on social media, how do you make sure that it adds value to your business? All you need to do is keep your brand's identity in mind when creating your content. For example, if your brand identity is formal and classy, then maybe you shouldn't create posts with the latest meme smacked right on your feed. But if that is the identity and feeling that you want to make the brand, then go straight ahead. After all, the fast-food chain Wendy's makes it work for them. The point is to create posts for how you want your audience to see your business.
Cross-promote with links
Social media makes it incredibly easy for users to link other sites and accounts for their followers. If you want to grow your leads the right way and encourage potential customers to take your desired actions, you should link your social media across different platforms. If you have an Instagram account, but you're also on LinkedIn and Twitter, link them to your bio or anywhere the platform lets you. Also, go ahead and add a link to your business website as well. This way, you'll be able to get people engaging with your content on multiple channels.
Give people a sneak peek of your product
Everyone loves looking behind the camera. And as a business owner, let people see how everything gets done by showing your customers what goes on behind the scenes. Either you can post a short video on an upcoming product, spotlight employees, or show how an event or campaign is coming along. Visitors will be interested in your products, and customers will build a bond with your brand. Interior designer, Adam Hunter, has a whole Instagram highlight category dedicated to showing BTS of his current projects, from planning to construction. This type of post will grow not only loyalty but convert new visitors into customers.
Share user-generated posts
The simple fact is that people will more than likely not buy from a brand or business they don't trust, which means if you're just starting your business out, it could be hard to get customers to buy your product. Not to worry! one way they could be swayed is through creating social proof. Coined by Robert Cialdini, this psychological phenomenon states that people will likely act if they see others doing the same thing. So, if you want to convince people that they should buy from your business, you need to show them that others are engaging with your product, so they should too. How do you do this? By using social media to post user-generated content. UGC are posts created by anyone other than your brand. If you have a product that you sell, you can show off your customers' happy experiences by sharing their unboxings, reviews, and hashtag posts. Private jeweler, That Diamond Guy, reposts a lot of photos from satisfied customers that show off his work. This method of social media engagement will promote trust and convert skeptics into loyal customers.
Build a community through giveaways and campaigns
Do you want attention to your business? Then there's no better way to get quick eyes on your social media page with content giveaways. Social platforms let anyone set up a simple giveaway or contest for their followers. And you can take advantage of this idea by getting social media users interested in your product. But just remember that even though you'll get followers from this method, many of them will probably not become the most loyal customers, likely leaving your page the minute they didn't win. These types of users will most likely not convert to customers. So, don't be surprised that you have gained and lost a lot of followers during a giveaway. But don't worry just yet. You can always build trust with new giveaway visitors through your other engaging content.
Offer discounts
Everyone loves discounts, and they especially love deals from their favorite business and services. Discounts are everywhere online and offline. You can build brand awareness and grow sales by offering social only discounts. For example, if you offer courses online, you can post on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook post, promoting a 30% discount. This type of content encourages people who were not going to buy your product to think twice. Just create a discount code and share it only on your socials. You'll encourage people to follow you on multiple platforms and promote your business.
Bring in influencers
Social media is home to thousands upon thousands of influencers. These are either celebrities or individuals with a significant amount of influence in the consumer world. With just a snap of a photo, they can get thousands of their followers to buy whatever product their promoting. You can get in on this type of marketing for your business by contacting one of these influencers, like popular vlogger and YouTuber Jenn Im, who can promote your business. This will increase your social proof significantly and boost your sales and audience. So be bold! Go out and find an influencer that can best represent your brand with their image.
Conclusion:
Social media and its features can be useful for any business. Whether you're a small or large company or whether you sell a product or service. You can utilize as many social platforms as you can to promote your business. Take advantage of all social media has to offer, and you can see a difference it can make with your business growth. As long as you have all the right information on your audience and a well-structured social media content strategy, you can use the platforms to grow your authority, generate leads, convert customers, and build loyalty. Social media is a large part of the marketing strategy, and it should always be a part of yours too.
