Social media is a powerful tool. It can be used to market your business, drive traffic to your website, and connect with your customers in real-time. If you’re not using social media right now, you’re missing out on opportunities for growth and sales. But if you don’t have the right marketing strategy in place, social media can feel like an endless black hole of time and energy.
Let’s take a look at how you can set up a social media marketing strategy that works for your business:
Optimise your profile.
Your profile is the first thing people see when they visit your social media site. It’s important that it be optimised to tell a story about who you are and what your business does. A professional profile picture is essential, as well as making sure that all information is complete and accurate (you don’t want any typos!).
Use the right hashtags:
Hashtags can help others find your account or posts more easily on social media sites like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest by grouping similar content together in one place for easy browsing by users looking for specific interests related to those topics.
For example if someone searches “#socialmediastrategy” then all tweets containing this hashtag will show up in their search results whereas without using this tag only tweets specifically mentioning “social media strategy” would appear instead.
Plan your content.
Planning your content is an important step in creating a successful social media strategy.
A content plan can help you to:
- know your audience and what they want from you,
- know what you want to achieve through your social media channels, and how this fits with the overall business goals of the company or brand,
- understand how much time and money you have available for producing content so that it doesn’t take up too much of either resource.
Post often.
Your social media strategy should include posting regularly, but how often you post depends on your goals and the platform you’re using. If your goal is to grow an audience, then posting once or twice a day may be enough to keep people engaged and coming back for more. If you want to drive conversions–that is, get people onto an email list or make sales from products in your store–you might need to increase that number of posts per day (or week).
For example: if a user follows someone on Instagram because they like the photos and want more inspiration in their life, then maybe once every few days would be enough for them to stay interested without feeling overwhelmed by too much content coming at them all at once (and thus less likely to click through). On the other hand if a use follows them because they’re interested specifically in fitness tips and recipes for healthy eating options then maybe five posts per week would be better suited for their needs since there’s so much content being created daily anyway!
Encourage engagement.
Engagement is a key metric and an important indicator of success. It’s also one of the most difficult to measure, because there are so many ways it can be done. In fact, engagement can be measured by:
- looking at how many people like or share your content or comment on it (likes/shares),
- how long they spend reading your posts (time spent),
- how often they return to see what you’ve posted since last visiting (daily active users),
- whether they’re interacting with other people who follow you on social media (follower growth) and more!
However you decide to measure engagement, here are some things that will help improve it:
- Ask questions in posts or comments that encourage discussion among followers about topics related to your business–you’ll get more interaction that way!
- Share other people’s posts if they’re relevant for your audience, but always make sure you credit them appropriately so no one gets mad at you!
Study your analytics.
Social media analytics are a great way to see what’s working and what isn’t. They’re also a handy tool for tracking your success.
You can use analytics to find out the following:
- Which posts have had the most engagement? This will help you adjust your strategy accordingly, so that you keep getting more likes, comments and shares from future posts.
- What time of day do people engage with me most often? If it’s not during peak hours (morning or afternoon), consider scheduling some posts during those times when people are online more often–this could mean posting at night instead!
Plan for the long-term.
The most important thing to remember is that it takes time to build a following. You need to be consistent in your posting schedule, messaging and branding if you want to see results. It’s also important that you engage with your followers as much as possible–the more they like what you have to say, the more likely they will be sharing it with their friends!
Social media is different than other forms of marketing but it’s beneficial to use it if you have the right strategy
Social media is different from other forms of marketing. It’s not as direct and it doesn’t have the same measurable results, but it can be a great way to reach your audience and get feedback on your company.
Social media is also a great place to start conversations with others in your industry who may be able to help you grow your business further down the line, or even just provide inspiration for what they’re doing well.
If you want people talking about how awesome your brand is then social media platforms are where you need to be!
Conclusion
Social media is a great way to market your business, but it can be difficult if you don’t know what you’re doing. If you follow the tips in this article and use them as a guide for creating your own strategy, then we’re sure that you will see results! Looking for Facebook, Instagram and other social media specialists to offer you extensive support? Call Sarah on 07816071112 or email sarah@aiminternet.co.uk.
Are you an engineering company? You may want to read: Social Media For Engineering Companies: 4 Ways It Can Help You Grow
