How to get the most out of social media for your business
With most people being connected with a social media account (or several) in some form or another - it’s no wonder social media marketing is becoming of more importance to companies. I’ve debated what order to put these points in but feel they are of all equal importance so without further a-do here are some things to bear in mind when preparing content for your relevant platforms.
Know your audience
It is firstly important to KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE. Who do you want to engage and why? Are you trying to generate sales? Are you wanting to use social as a platform for customer care? Knowing your audience will enable you to stay relevant and focused with your content. Everything you post should have your audience in mind.
Most companies prefer to use Twitter for customer care and response method for queries, posting updates while Instagram and pinterest are for more creative, audience building techniques and Linkedin more for B2B posts. It is important to pick your platforms and determine what you want to use them for. And remember you don’t have to be on ALL of them!
Love your audience
Once you’ve defined your audience you’ve got to love them! If you don’t love your audience how do you expect them to love you back? After all social media is all about relationships so get social and love on your audience by engaging, liking, following, sharing and responding to them.
Be authentic
Being real will help build trust amongst your brand following. Your followers are likely following you because they like what you do and what you stand for. To suddenly change this up will create doubt so try to avoid doing this. Tell authentic stories and share moments that matter to your defined audience. Don’t be afraid to be raw or vunerable - this humanizes your brand and will allow others in a similar place to relate to your brand.
Quality over quantity
Post great content. Always remember quality over quantity – Posting regularly is ideal but don’t let your content suffer in order to do so. It’s better to not post at all than to put up any old rubbish. It may help to generate content in batches ahead of time and schedule it once a month so you don’t have to ‘panic post’ when you realise you haven’t been active for a few days. This is a great way to always be on top of your online presence. Of course you can still look for windows of opportunity to post outside of that too.
Use hashtags
It’s clear that using hashtags broadens your reach. However using the RIGHT hashtags will enable you to reach YOUR defined audience more closely. Remember to use a variety of hashtags rather than use the same ones everytime. Make them relevant to the post so people do not feel misled when searching for hashtags - again this helps build trust and reliability amongst your following.
Stay Active
Post regularly to keep followers engaged. Regularly follow others, comment, like and share to get noticed. However do watch out for ‘over-sharing’ One of the biggest reasons for a user to unfollow a brand is because they post too frequently about promotions. Next.
Engage with others. A friendship goes two ways - make sure your followers feel it goes two ways by engaging with their content too. Engage with your audience even when they are not expecting it. Build relationships.
Respond promptly. Users have high expectations when it comes to response time with many. 53% of social media users expect a company to respond in under an hour (Lithium-commissioned study by Millward Brown) Nobody wants to talk to a robot or be greeted with generic messages so make sure you humanize your brand by being responsive.
Work with influencers
Consider using an influencer or micro-influencer to leverage your brand. Find people that echo your brand values to promote your service/product - the more you reach out the more people will find you. Having like minded people help promote your brand will increase trust. And remember, influencers don’t have to be Molly-Mae from Love Island – They can be friends and family - Just make sure they are aligned with you values and audience!
Be consistent
Make sure your social media accounts are consistent with each other. Use the same profile name, logo and bio to create familiarity ESPECIALLY if there are other accounts out there using a similar name. If you are able to use brand elements in image posts to create a sense of belonging and write with the same tone of voice. Maintaining your brand voice helps build trust amongst your customers.
Get Creative
Don’t be afraid to get creative. Try new things - see what works for your brand. Perhaps once you have built up followers you could run a competition or giveaway. Theme posts and stories. Use video and animation, enlist a designer to get help to generate content visuals or define some themes. But remember whatever you do – Keep it quality – Keep it active – Keep it real and most of all have fun with it!
Here’s a fun template to download
Be sure to tag @shiiftcreative so we can see what you make!
