Social media is one of the best places for brands, with social media marketing businesses and individuals can expand their reach, build a fan base, and increase sales. It’s an incredible place to meet millions of loyal followers and buyers. Social media is a beautiful place where billions of people socialize, discover new things and make good decisions.
Social media is a potent tool for businesses. It’s a marketing tool that can increase any company’s website traffic and revenue regardless of the size. Social media is an excellent option to increase your content’s exposure and drive the traffic your website receives. It will help you build a loyal fan base, generate leads, increase sales, and even increase search engine rankings. Marketing on social media is a challenge; without the proper strategy, if you don’t have the right approach, you could feel like you’re shouting in the void and have no fans or followers.
Leveraging the power of the most potent platforms in human history to steer your business and products to the greater heights might seem like a daunting task without proper marketing strategies in place. But I bet you, if you follow these 13 tips you’ll be on the way to success on social media.
Without further delay, lets look into strategies for effective social media marketing
#1 – There Is No Single Rule On Social Media
It’s a common place for people to discuss the best practices just like they discuss” the “one ring.” But the truth is that there isn’t a single rule that is more important than others in social media. Trends in marketing change frequently. Also, the strategies that work for company A may not be the best for your company. The follower of business A might appreciate large pictures that include inspirational quotes, but other followers may be more responsive to blogs filled with advice. Deciding which social media strategy is most effective for your needs will require research and some trial.
Remember that social media is a long-term strategy, not a quick solution. Spend time thinking about what will work for you over the long term, and be prepared to change your strategy to the latest information.
#2 – Identify Your Followers Needs
It is necessary to identify your followers and their needs if your business needs to excel on social media. Knowing your followers and their needs will give you insights into the right approach to communicating with them. Communicating with your followers based on their needs will keep them engaged with your page and stay glue to you. For instance, if your company is into real estate, sharing tips on acquiring genuine properties in the juicy area of the city without falling into fraud will keep your audience glued to your page.
- Learn about your target audience’s preferences. You can ask yourself:
- What kind of posts will get the highest response?
- What is it that your ideal customer would be most interested in?
- What posts can help you reach your goals the best?
- What posts can result in more sales, or increase awareness of your brand or increase brand awareness, etc.)
Knowing what your followers are attracted to will improve your social media efficiency. Be aware of what your followers are looking for from your business, and then give it to them.
#3 – Make New Friends
You need to be social to enjoy social media marketing. Engagement is a critical factor in the success of social media. Fortunately, it’s also fairly easy to do. Engagement is basically about making new acquaintances. As a brand, you must learn how to engage with individuals and companies on social media. Respond if you spot a potential customer asking questions about your brand, products or services on Twitter.
It doesn’t cost you anything but promotes your brand more. If someone on Facebook shares your post, image or product, Thank them! If another brand, business or individual within your niche hosts a live session, webinar, or Q&A session, join the discussion and air your opinion, it won’t take long before the participant starts following you.
#4 – Share Plenty of Photos
Humans are visual creatures, and images fascinate and appeal to them. Sharing photos on social media can influence new customers to purchase your products visit your website, or request your services. When you upload beautiful images on your social media page, you humanize your business and make people stop by to engage with your business. Sharing photos of your products, team members and the building will make potential customers know more about your brand and feel at ease, knowing they’re dealing with real people and a reliable business.
Sharing images on social media increases click-through rates and engagement because people are curious about appealing images that will make them stop strolling to engage with your photos.
#5 – Keep it Casual and Friendly
The use of corporate language can be a turn-off most times. It is crucial to be casual and friendly; it’s called social media, and no one always gets social by being serious. Don’t be too formal in your language on social media; learn to include some humour when sharing content. It makes you humanise your brand since everyone can relate to humourous content. Being casual in your dealing on social media puts some laughter on your fans’ faces, which keeps them engaged with your page.
It is important to note that there is a restriction in this guideline: the tone should be in line with your brand’s image. For instance, a formal tone may be appropriate for your business if you’re a B2B brand. You can use a casual approach for most businesses.
#6 – Keep your Message Short
Shorter messages on all social media get more engagement than long posts. You get maximum engagement from your followers when you keep your message short. Short posts appeal to readers more than any longer posts; it’s easy to read and relate to shorter posts on social media than to reading an epistle.
You can summarise your content on Facebook into a 40-character post and keep your Tweet on Twitter within 140 characters limit.
#7 – Don’t Forget The Hashtags
Hashtags are a group of unique words or phrases used on social media to amplify your brand, expand content reach, target your market, get your content found quickly, improve your page SEO, and more. It is an excellent method of attracting more followers and giving your brand better visibility.
You can create unique hashtags for your business or products and use them for marketing your brand and promotions; Hashtags help you track campaigns and find the right people interested in your business.
You can also create your brand hashtag, make it your company name, and use something easy to pronounce and unique to your business. Do some findings on social media to know if someone else is using your hashtags so that you won’t get your customers and fans confused.
#8 – Ask Questions
One of the excellent methods to increase engagement with your fans and followers is to ask questions. The best way to engage your followers is by asking them questions about themselves or their opinions about your brand or products. Asking them questions like:
Asking for your followers’ opinions about your brand gives them a sense of belonging and a chance to air their voices. A post with questions encourages your followers and potential fans to leave a comment under your posts, which could lead to having a meaningful conversation.
#9 – Host Contests
Human love gifts, of course; who would not love to get free things online? Hosting a contest or giving away a prize for participating in a quiz is a great way to get people involved with social media pages and share them with others. To meet your goals, you can use contests. You could use the “share this article to enter” strategy to increase brand visibility.
Hosting contests or running a giveaway package is an easy way to connect and engage with your followers. People love challenges and competitions that keep them engaged online.
#10 – Show Some Gratitude
Being grateful for every little thing done for you is an excellent way of keeping people close to you. Learn to appreciate people who tell you they love your blog posts or share an experience they had using your products. Don’t be shy to thank people who give you a thumbs-up or a pat on your back. Showing gratitude to people on social media is an incredible way of starting a conversation.
#11 – Be Open Minded
Depending on your business, followers may have different opinions or even questionable ideas about your products on social media. Do not be afraid to converse with them; sometimes, great ideas are found in unexpected places. Some people have difficulties voicing their opinion correctly, especially when your language of communication is not their primary language. And it might look as if they are bringing down your brand; no matter how difficult it may seem, try to be open to them and make an effort to engage with them and educate them more about your business.
#12 – Reach Out to New Followers
Learn to reach out to new followers with a thank you note or send them DM thanking them for joining you. When you receive a notification that someone likes, follow your page or joins your group, send them a thank you message to make them feel necessary for joining you. This strategy alone is capable of making them your loyal fans forever.
#13 – Monitor Your Brand Engagement
Find out who is talking about your brand and when and what they are saying. HubSpot allows you to create a stream of social media messages in your inbox that seamlessly organises the conversations. Knowing what people are talking about you will allow you to respond and start a conversation quickly. Customers can voice their concerns on social media if they have a problem with your product or services. Social media has become a great way to provide customer service in modern times. You can monitor what people say and join in on conversations relevant to your product/service by monitoring their conversations using Social media management tools like Hootsuite.
Final Words
Social media is a powerful tool that you can use to help your business understand its customers and prospective clients. Engaging on social media with your customers is an excellent way to get valuable insight and can be as simple as starting a conversation. You will increase brand awareness and your online results by communicating with your followers in the most humorous way.
Social media can be a potent marketing tool. Creating a Twitter and a Facebook page for your company is simple and quick. If you make a bit of work and effort, you can create an effective social media marketing plan. Keep these rules in mind, and you’ll be well on your journey to the first person you follow and the next one.
