What if your next social media campaign could achieve the viral success you’ve always wanted?
It’s an open secret that social media marketing is an important part of any small business strategy. Unfortunately, most small businesses are squandering the opportunities that social media provides.
But you can turn things around, starting today! Keep reading to discover our best tips for improving your social media marketing efforts.
1. Build A Better Blog
Sometimes, social media marketing feels like something of a paradox. That is because platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and especially Twitter encourage shorter posts. But you can add a lot of value to those short posts by linking out to longer content such as your blog posts.
There are a few important tips for this, including crafting regular blog posts that you update frequently. But most importantly, use those blog posts to create useful content that is relevant to your customers’ needs. Don’t try to sell them a product: instead, offer solutions to their biggest problems and you will develop customer loyalty in an organic way.
2. Make It Visual
Most businesses think about text posts when they imagine posting on social media. But let’s be honest: focusing primarily on text is so 2010.
To really stand out across social media, you need to explore ways of making your posts more visual. One basic option is to include images and animated GIFs with your posts. A more advanced option is to transform some of your content (especially researched content) into useful infographics.
Finally, it’s worth creating video content whenever possible. You can now shoot and edit amazing videos on your phone, and video content is very likely to be shared by your biggest fans across social media.
3. Ask For Feedback
When you get right down to it, all marketing is about providing customers with the kind of content you want. This is why companies throw a lot of money at complex analytics software and practices.
However, the beauty of social media is that you can easily and seamlessly capture customer feedback without spending any extra money. All you have to do is ask your followers for feedback!
You can use your platform to give customers polls and surveys or just ask their opinion regarding open-ended questions. And, of course, you can monitor which posts are getting liked and shared the most to get a better idea of what your customers really want.
4. Create A Content Buffet
Do you want to know what the biggest rookie mistake is when it comes to social media marketing? Simple: sticking to only one kind of post.
Just like customers expect variety when it comes to your products and services, they expect variety when it comes to social media content. Try mixing in polls, videos, and questions along with a mixture of longer and shorter posts.
The simple fact is that no one kind of post is going to appeal to everyone equally. But by changing things up and offering a veritable content buffet, you can make sure your social media feed offers a little something for everybody.
5. Walk A Mile In Your Customers’ Shoes
Some of our social media strategies are simpler than others. For example, one of the most effective tactics you can try is simply logging out of your work account and visiting your social media feed as a typical user.
This will give you a better idea of how easy it is to navigate your posts, how often they show up in your feed (this is important because most platforms are not chronological by default), and so on.
While you’re at it, take the time to use your own products and services with fresh eyes. You might be surprised at what you discover and how this will transform your marketing!
6. Schedule Those Posts
As an individual, nothing is wrong with just firing off social media posts whenever the mood strikes you. But as a small business, it is vitally important that you schedule posts ahead of time.
This makes sure that you post content on a regular schedule that your customers can rely on. On top of that, scheduling posts in advance means you never miss posting on important days. In fact, with a bit of planning, you can create fun posts based around unconventional holidays (such as “Star Wars Day” on May 4th).
Finally, scheduling your posts ahead of time means that you can make posts when people are likeliest to see them. But the best times change by the day and by the platform, so be sure to do your research ahead of time!
7. Offer Free Goodies
Why do you think people follow your business on social media? On the most basic level, it is because they feel you offer added value to their lives, even if it just making them laugh with the occasional funny post.
If you want to really nurture that feeling of goodwill, consider offering customers some free goodies. This may range from coupons and discounts to e-books full of useful content.
Want to “double-dip” in your marketing? You can always use your social media platform and blog to encourage customers to sign up for your weekly newsletter to get the goodies. This will give you a new and very effective way to engage with customers.
8. Ditch Those Buzzwords
Our last bit of social media strategy advice is as simple as it gets: you need to ditch all those marketing buzzwords and write like you are a real person.
To be blunt, the average social media user (especially millennials) can smell standard marketing BS a mile away. And the last thing they want is to follow an account that is basically one big commercial for your business.
Instead, speak plainly and honestly, and integrate your personality whenever possible. A little humor can go a long way. If you don’t believe us, look at the explosive popularity of the sarcastic Wendy’s account on Twitter!
Social Media Marketing: Your Next Move
Now you know our best social media marketing strategies. But do you know another way to take your marketing to the next level?
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