Today’s brands use social media marketing to engage their customers, educate users about their products and offerings, share industry knowledge, and sell merchandise and services.
In today’s competitive business environment, you must have a social media presence if you want to continue to grow.
According to a 2017 study conducted by Hootsuite and We Are Social, social media users now number upwards of 3 billion. That’s nearly 40% of the world’s population.
And MarketingSherpa reports that 95% of 18- to 34-year-olds and 92% of 34- to 44-year-olds are following brands on social media. That’s a lot of potential exposure.
How can you leverage your social media channels best for your business?
Follow these 8 tips from industry experts to grow your following and expand your brand’s reach.
Develop Social Networking Personas
Rohan Sheth, creator of Rohan Sheth Consulting, suggests creating social networking personas.
This will help you know what your audience is looking for so you can give them exactly what they need. Sheth adds, “This helps me constantly tailor my articles and also adds to my viewers.”
The number of shares, comments, and likes on your posts will tell you if the post is something people are interested in.
Helping you create more posts like the ones that resonate with your audience.
Create High-Quality Videos
Because of the ease of consumption and shareability, video gets a lot of engagement on the web. One study found that streaming services are the top reason 63% of people use the internet.
Video is also hugely popular on social media platforms and will only continue to grow.
Reginald Chan, co-founder of Marketing Lancers, suggests Instagramming daily. “Social media marketing will be moving towards video and live streaming,” he explains. “YouTube will be more important than ever.”
Videos are expected to receive 80% of internet traffic in the next few years, so if you haven’t started incorporating videos into your campaigns, now is the time.
Embrace the Hashtags
Hashtags are a huge part of every company’s Instagram marketing strategy.
Tracy Matthews, Chief Visionary Officer at Flourish and Thrive, shares this great tip: “I use hashtags that are trending in my niche and the hashtags that my ideal clients are following.”
If you’re just getting started, identify which hashtags represent your company and products, and develop a few of your own.
Hashtags are searchable on most platforms, and certain sites allow users to follow specific hashtags.
Therefore, your content has a higher chance of being seen by a new audience beyond your current followers.
Reach Out to Influencers
Connecting with social influencers who are relevant to your products or services can help you reach a larger audience in a short amount of time.
Influencers engage their audience in an authentic way, and followers look to them for inspiration.
The right social influencer can improve consumers’ overall impression of a brand.
Shane Barker, digital strategist at Shane Barker Consulting, shares, “Because influencer marketing isn’t pushy like traditional ads, your brand’s messaging appears more credible.”
Repurpose PowerPoint Presentations
If you’re constantly generating presentations for clients or your business, consider turning your work into SlideShare content to embed in your blog and upload to your LinkedIn account.
Jeff Bullas, digital marketing blogger, shares this tip because “it gives your target audience that perfect mix of high-quality information and visuals in one place.”
Posting the SlideShare presentations could also help your brand’s authority. Positioning your organization as a thought leader in your field.
Highlight Content on Instagram
Instagram stories are a new way to engage clients with fun content with GIFs, stickers and more, but stories disappear after 24 hours.
Sue B. Zimmerman, Instagram expert, suggests using Instagram Highlights as a way to guide your followers to your blog posts. She has a highlight simply called “Blog,” which features clips about her latest blog posts.
Each highlight can be tailored with links, as long as you have a business account with 10,000 followers.
Zimmerman also has highlights for her Facebook Live Show and a free guide for her viewers.
Limit Your Social Media Platforms
“Find three or four social media platforms where you can build the strong presence that will be most beneficial for your business,” is the tip from John Lee Dumas, founder of EntrepreneurOnFire.
With the wide range of social platforms available, it’s best to find the ones that work for you and your consumers.
Focus on platforms where engagement is the highest, so you can engage with your audience and not have to worry about being all things to everyone.
Stick to a Content Calendar
One of the biggest time-wasters when it comes to marketing on social media is trying to decide what to post on a daily basis.
Sunny Lenarduzzi, marketing consultant, suggests that all businesses create a content calendar to alleviate this issue.
Search for a free content calendar template online, and select one that fits your work style best.
You can then plan content for all of your social media channels to have an at-a-glance schedule for your business.
Just take care to adjust scheduled and upcoming posts as needed—don’t just set it and forget it.
Social media marketing has become remarkably cost effective for most businesses.
By applying a few of these ideas to your overall strategy, you’ll not only increase brand awareness for your company, but you’ll hopefully see a difference in your bottom line.
Did we leave any expert tips off our list? Let us know in the comments below if you have any more advice on leveraging your social media channels.
Massiel Ramirez
