Social media marketing provides you with a powerful way to engage with your customers and potential customers. As people spend more and more time on sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, it's now essential for businesses to establish a strong social media presence. Here are 7 social media marketing tips and tricks to help you make the most of this opportunity.
Have a plan for your social media activity. To get the most out of social media marketing, you need a strategy. This may differ slightly from one site to the next. For example, Facebook might be to get people to opt into your list from your Facebook page while Twitter might be to develop connections with influencers. However, all of your content should present a consistent overall tone that reflects your brand.
Post content in a variety of formats. When you post a mixture of text posts, images, videos and other types of content, you engage more people. Some people prefer visual content while others find it easier to absorb text. Your social media pages also look more interesting and appealing when there's diversity. This depends on the platform, of course. On Facebook it's easy to do this. On Twitter, you can include images in your tweets and link to videos.
Hold live events to engage with your followers. One of the best ways to differentiate yourself from the competition and engage directly with your audience is to hold live events. There are many webinar platforms that make it easy to create interactive events. Google Hangouts, however, is the simplest way to get started, allowing you to hold events of any size and then post them as videos to YouTube and your own website. Webinars and Hangouts are useful for product launches, interviewing experts, or answering customers' most pressing questions.
Experiment with different platforms. Perhaps, like many businesses, you only use Facebook and Twitter. With so many newer sites on the scene, it's always good to find out if your audience is also on Pinterest, LinkedIn, Instagram, or SnapChat. Demographics will give you some clues. It's important to stay current with the latest data. Pinterest, for example, established its reputation as a primarily female-oriented site. For the last couple of years, however, the number of male users has increased dramatically. If your customers are young, chances are they're on Instagram or SnapChat. B2B marketers can't afford to overlook LinkedIn. It's often worthwhile to at least test the waters of different social sites to make sure you're not missing out on a potential gold mine.
Use retargeting ads on social media. Retargeting website visitors on social media sites helps you gain more fans and followers. This is a way to connect with visitors who would otherwise be lost forever. There are various ways to do this, including Facebook Dynamic Ads.
Build a community around your business. The most successful brands in the world understand the power of building a community. Social media sites provide many tools to make this easier, such as groups on Facebook and LinkedIn. Google Plus communities are another option. If you don't yet have a large following, you might start by joining existing groups. However, having your own group is the best way to build a passionate community around your business. When doing focus not only on the products you're selling but also on the interests, needs, and lifestyle choices of your customers.
Make the most of social media monitoring. Keep track of what people say about your business so you can respond to concerns and complaints. It's also useful to track comments about your competition to learn what your potential customers like and don't like. This is simple to do on Facebook. Ehotelier.com describes how to use Pages to Watch to monitor the competition but this is applicable to any business.
For cutting edge creative web, graphics, and copywriting services contact us.