Social media marketing should be an important part of your brand today. However, it is not enough to have a presence on social networks; you must apply a strategy to obtain the desired results.
Regardless of who your audience is or what niche you operate in, they are out there and active on one platform or another buy facebook comments. These social media platforms are part of their communities, so be a part of them and build those relationships. With the right strategies, you will be able to establish stronger connections with your core audience.
Without further ado, let’s get straight to the tips:
- Go where your audience is
There are a lot of different social media platforms. Among them are:
Facebook
Twitter
instagram
Youtube
reddit
Pinterest
LinkedIn
TikTok
And that’s just to name the most popular ones. The thing is, it can be a little overwhelming.
No, you do not need to have a presence on all of these social media platforms. Therefore, you will have to plan where it is worth focusing your efforts.
Knowing who your client is will be the first step. Create a buyer persona. This is a “profile” of your ideal client. You should include information about their age, gender, economic class, education, and things like hobbies. Along these lines, you should also determine which social media platforms they are most active on.
- Keep your brand voice in mind
While social media should be a fun channel to connect with your audience, you must remember that you are still “speaking” on behalf of a brand. A good brand will have decided on a “brand voice”, which reflects the lifestyle the company wants to be a part of.
Your social media posts should not stray too far from this voice. At the end of the day, social media marketing is still marketing and, therefore, it must be in line with what your brand hopes to achieve by positioning itself in the market.
- Patience and perseverance
Many social media users hope to get their “15 minutes of fame.” Nowadays, this is called viral marketing: content becoming famous overnight. Likes, comments and shares are the sign of success on social media.
Unfortunately, it’s not that easy for most of us. Your goal should be to create a solid group of followers . Chances are it won’t happen overnight, so don’t plan for it. The best thing you can do is create solid content that speaks to your audience. Of course, there are certain things you can do to expand the reach of your content, but in general, focus on creating quality content and let the rest take care of it.
The main idea is that if you start a social media marketing strategy, you should follow it and make sure that you are publishing your business regularly. Be consistent and, over time, you will see your number of followers grow.
Of course, you can use a Facebook marketing agency or one that specializes in many platforms to handle this task, but with a little planning, you should be able to handle it yourself.
- Use a calendar
Speaking of consistency, a marketing calendar can be very helpful in planning your posts. You can plan a few weeks in advance and take some of the pressure off.
A good marketing calendar will help you have an overview of what you have done in the past and what is coming in the future, so you can plan ahead for upcoming events that are important in your niche, as well as holidays in your target market(s).
- Try different schedules
One last thing about timing: part of knowing your audience is knowing what time they are on your preferred social media platforms.
An older audience may tune in early in the afternoon or on their way home from work. The younger audience can connect after school or in the evening. If you post too early or too late, your core audience could miss your posts entirely.
The best way to know what works for you and your audience is to test. Try, with the help of A/B tests, to schedule your posts on different days of the week and at different times of the day. After a few tests, you should analyze the results and choose a day and time to post regularly.
- Hashtags
By now, you should know what hashtags(#) are. However, do you realize why they are so important?
Hashtags are a discovery tool. Just like keywords are used by Google to help pages rank, think of hashtags as a keyword strategy for social media platforms.
Some users will “follow” certain hashtags on their platforms of choice. This will make content that uses those hashtags more visible to those particular users. With relevant hashtags, you can reach your target audience easily.
- Mix up the multimedia elements
By now, you know that video content is all the rage. Between YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram, video content is everywhere.
Creating good videos takes time, energy and planning. Of course, not all small businesses have that time. Remember that it is not necessary to focus exclusively on videos. However, if you manage to make a video from time to time, it can be a really attractive insight into your business for many users.
The same goes for many of the social media platforms out there. Although Twitter is thought to be a text-based platform, you should make use of different types of visual content from time to time. That includes both images and videos.
- Provide value (and have fun)
Maintaining a social media calendar can be challenging, so don’t go overboard by posting too much irrelevant content. Generally, your content should provide some value to the user. Whether it’s stylishly presenting your store’s latest sneaker or showing users how to pitch a tent in the rain, valuable content is something users love and engage with.
That said, you don’t have to take things too seriously all the time. We’ve talked a lot about strategies, calendars, and planning, but social media should be fun too. Make sure you’re having fun because that will show in your posts. It can be fun and engaging to show what happens behind the scenes at your company. If your employees really have fun in the office, your brand will be more friendly and approachable.
- Listen
One of the biggest advantages of social media is that it is a two-way marketing avenue. That’s what really separates social media from other marketing channels: they are open to dialogue between brands and consumers.
With this in mind, remember that publishing content is only part of the equation. Listening to your followers is also very important. Not only can they participate in the “conversation,” but it gives you the opportunity to see what your customers are talking about. Plus, you might even get some ideas for creating content tailored to their interests or see what products they really like (or don’t!).
Just as you would respond to customer reviews, you should take your opportunity to engage with your followers, even if it’s just to say “thank you!”
- Use user-generated content
As we just mentioned in the previous tip, social media offers consumers the chance to engage with your brand. If your followers are willing to interact with your company, you should share the best of their voices.
On the one hand, you can encourage them to participate in a content creation contest. Here, hashtags will again be very useful.
But you can also share some of the best reviews of products from your store. Whether in the form of text on Twitter or image (with text) on Instagram, you can show your best opinions to generate a little trust in your company. Don’t go overboard with these posts, but if you get a particularly glowing review, there’s no reason not to share it.
If your store doesn’t collect reviews yet, what are you waiting for? With the Trusted Shops review system you can show your star ratings on all possible Google sites. Furthermore, with our App you can share your best opinions on your social media accounts quickly and easily. For more details, contact our experts without obligation:
- Collaborate with influencers
This may be one of the most controversial tips on the list. We can probably all agree that we’re pretty tired of the word “influencers.” With so many people desperately wanting to get their 15 minutes, many people claim to be influencers when they are not.
Without going into too much detail, it is important to know that many influencers are professionals and take their work very seriously. In some cases, their audiences are very loyal and often very niche. This is where the concept of micro-influencers can be very useful. With a smaller follower base, these types of influencers can be more affordable and much more relevant to your target audience.
Conclusion
Finding success for your business on social media can be challenging, but it can also be very rewarding. With a good strategy, you can reach your perfect audience with engaging content and take your brand to the next level.