How To Make Social Media Effective For Your Business
Social media is here to stay. So, how can you use it to help achieve your business goals? How to use social media platforms, what do they offer and how can you use them for your business?
Before you jump into any platform and start dropping content there, develop a strategy. It can sound like too much Social media is here to stay.
So, how can you use it to help achieve your business goals? How to use social media platforms, what do they offer and how can you use them for your business?
Before you jump into any platform and start dropping content there, develop a strategy. It can sound like too much work, but it’s worth it.
You start by conducting a social media audit to know what you have and what you have been doing on these platforms until now. This audit is for you to check all your social media, identify your strengths and your weaknesses, what is being done, what’s working and what’s not.
Then you will take a look at your competition, what they are doing, and check what you can learn from that, what’s working really well for them and what’s not.
Look at your competitors through your customer’s eyes, what they see, what you think that they would feel or think.
Take also a look at your website or blog, to each page, check your social media accounts and the content that has been posted until now.
When you post content online your goal should not be “to go viral”, but instead your goal should be to appeal only to your customers, so create content with value for them, content that speaks to them, that answers their questions, that solves their problems, that helps them or that entertains them and keeps them engaged.
After doing this audit, it’s time to look into your analytics:
Which days do your posts perform better?
What time of the day do they work best?
What type of content attracts more engagement?
In social media the right timing, good content, and consistency is everything.
And, of course, you need to make sure that your content is relevant to your customers. For that, you need to understand your audience, you need to know who they are, what their needs are, and what they like.
It is also important to have a content calendar, know what to post and when to post. Schedule your posts a few days in advance. Of course, you can always add more, especially some short videos about what’s happening at the moment, people love that.
Then, you keep monitoring your calendar, the engagement of each post and optimize over time, checking what is working and when it’s working better.
If you have a team working on this, you could check who is responsible for producing the best-performing content, reward them accordingly, and encourage them to keep it up.
The key is not to just drop content or even count how many likes, the important thing is to check how your customers behave and react to each piece of content.
You don’t need to go viral to get good results.
Facebook is the platform with more users at the moment and as a paid platform, and it does provide a good return on investment, which means that when advertising on Facebook you do see some very good results. So do not underestimate the power of Facebook for your business.
Facebook has great targeting options, such as location, demographics, behavior, and interests. You will be also able to retarget people, which means targeting people who’ve already interacted with your brand before, just be aware of the user’s privacy considerations.
You can post on Facebook but you can also create pages, ads, lives, stories, and reels.
Just be aware that not all brands are the same, so what works well for one might not work well for another, so make sure that you know your audience and what works for them.
You can create Facebook Groups, think about it as a community, and share valuable content with them on a daily basis.
What about going live on Facebook? Broadcast a conversation, a Q&A, a virtual event, show behind the scenes. But I would advise you to practice before you go Live, so that when you are live, you are more comfortable, more confident, and your customers will tune in and stay tuned.
Facebook Lives allows you to reach a wider audience and build a relationship with them. Always ask for interaction on a Live, ask them where are they from, or if they like the content, or make them a question and ask them to type in “yes”, for example. It’s a great way to engage with your audience.
You should pick one day a week and go live that day every single week on the same day at the same time, so your followers know when and what to expect.
Facebook Pages are more professional than a profile, so this is not for your friends, this is for potential customers only, and you can even add a call to action, like “contact us” or “shop now”.
You can even boost your posts to people who liked the page.
And you should always try to send them to your list! What does that mean? It means that, as much as possible, you want to keep their details, so ask them to send you a message or sign up for a newsletter, make sure you keep their contact details.
Instagram is probably the most popular platform at the moment.
Owned by Facebook, now known as Meta. It became a multifaceted visual platform. Instagram allows users to share their photos and videos, and you can use filters, hashtags, and location tags.
The key to Instagram is visual creativity, it’s all about sharing images and videos.
So how can you use it for your business?
You can create business accounts and you have advertising options.
You can also create Instagram Stories or advertise on stories.
You can Livestream interesting moments of your brand, events, show them behind the scenes, they get the feeling of VIP treatment, which makes them feel special and more connected to your brand.
When you are done with the livestream you could replay it on Stories and target your audience or look-a-like audiences and attract new customers.
You can also create your own hashtag and encourage viewers to include it in the caption when they share their photos and videos, and tag you so that you can comment or reshare it.
Also, encourage viewers to send you DM’s (Direct Messages).
And, of course, you can advertise on Instagram. You connect your Facebook account to the Instagram account, and ads will show on both platforms.
You define exactly which audience you are targeting.
And you can add a Call-To-Action button in your ad that will direct your audience to where you want. Call to action buttons could be something like: “buy now”, “learn more”, “visit website”, or any other action more suitable.
You could also look for Instagram Collaborations. An Instagram Collaboration is a post that will appear in yours and in other user’s feed or reels, so it will appear in two places at the same time. This way your post will have more viewers.
Brands look for collaborations with influencers, these are users that have many followers. Look for an influencer who has an audience that is interesting for your brand.
This collaboration will permit you to promote your stuff to a qualified audience, it’s a fast way to build followers, by getting their followers to follow you and it will gain more credibility making it easier for customers to buy from you.
The key to use Instagram effectively for your business is to be consistent and engage visually with your audience.
Now owned by Elon Musk, Twitter might go through some other changes in the near future.
Twitter is great to know the last news, and to know what is happening right now.
It’s all about fast-paced news feed, but like other social networks, Twitter is now getting adjusted and putting big emphasis on video and Livestream. This way brands can engage virtually with customers, taking them behind the scenes or to a major event, showing them the launch of new products, or showcasing your business.
Twitter also has DM’s (Direct Messages), so you could use them for customer service, but if you do, you need to be responsive. Because when having a conversation on Twitter, the expectation is that it has to be fast, as close to real-time as possible.
It is also possible to advertise on Twitter, but it’s more about Promoted Tweets. You could use them to build followers or engagement, and increase web traffic.
Linkedin is a social media networking site for business professionals and it provides great options for businesses: posts, live videos, ads, articles, newsletters, build a professional network, and post job opportunities.
To use Linkedin effectively for your business, create content that will position yourself or your business as an expert, and do it consistently.
To make sure that your audience doesn’t miss your posts, use hashtags that are trendy in your industry.
Make sure that the content posted brings value to your audience.
In Linkedin you can create a company page and you can invite followers, promote your posts, create ads, create sponsored InMail messages, publish articles, and send newsletters.
You can target your audience by location, company, education, demographics, experience, and interest to get your message in front of the right people.
Like in any other platform, videos became a bigger part of the Linkedin experience. So here you could also show behind-the-scenes moments or the launch of a new product.
Another feature that Linkedin uses that is very useful for your business is Linkedin Groups. With Linkedin Groups you create and manage a specific community with the same interests and problems, and share experiences and ideas.
You start by posting content that your customers want or need, or answering questions that they might have. It takes time, a good moderator, persistence, and consistency, but it’s worth it, you can turn this group into your brand ambassadors.
Linkedin Ads are interruption marketing, it is all about catching people off guard, and when you do you have to hook them, but make it relevant, don’t just start selling or they will stop listening. Maybe present a solution to a problem in your niche, something like “How motivational speakers can get more speaking gigs?” and then give them a direct Call-To-Action: “Click here”, “learn more”, “visit website”, “book now”, “buy now”.
Linkedin is the only B2B exclusive social media platform that lets you showcase who you are and what you do. So take advantage of everything they offer you to grow your brand.
YOUTUBE
People spend many hours every single day watching YouTube videos. If someone is searching for something, where do they go? To Google or to YouTube.
Sure brands would love to create a video that would go viral on YouTube, but is that really what your brand needs? A better way to go is to consistently produce content that your customers like and attract more and more viewers that eventually will turn into customers.
Start by creating your channel, upload an attractive header image, and write a good description about your brand or channel in the “About us” section.
Develop a strategy and content calendar, decide what type of content you will produce, and when you will post it. Be consistent.
Upload your content, and create playlists to make it easier for your customers to find it.
When uploading a video, choose a title for high ranking, people tend to look for descriptive topics, write a description of the video that will engage your audience, research Keyword Planner to know which words to use, and use tags for ranking.
To get more views have a hook image that will make people want to click and watch the video.
You can also Livestream or advertise on YouTube.
The way to use YouTube effectively for your business has nothing to see with going viral, you can succeed on YouTube by creating videos that help, educate and entertain your customers.
And to turn views into sales, send viewers to a free offer, such as: “If you want to know more, drop me an email and I will get you a free coaching session”.
Don’t create videos for no reason, create videos with an objective in mind.
TIKTOK
You cannot deny it, it has become a sensation and you should not underestimate it. It might not work for every business, but it can surely work for many.
You don’t even need to dance all the time, but you may at times…
For now, TikTok appeals to a younger demographic, most of its users are under 30.
It’s all about entertaining videos often synced to a popular song.
But media companies and brands are jumping on, creating digital campaigns, taking part in promoted hashtag challenges, or creating sponsored stickers and effects.
So how do you know if TikTok is worth for your business?
You need to start by knowing if your customers are on TikTok. And if they are, check for some hashtags that are trending and appeal to them.
And remember, especially on TikTok, your content doesn’t need perfection, it needs personality and as always, consistency.
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We have now spoken about several social media platforms that you can use effectively for your business and how you can use them.
It is very important to understand your customers and their needs, that will always be the key to any marketing strategy. So, see who your customers are, what they need, what they want, and look at their demographics, behaviors, interests, purchases, questions, and anything else that might help you know them. Now try to figure out your customer’s day, what social media platforms are they using, when they are using them, what they need and how can you help them.
And which platform should you choose? Well, it all depends on your brand, your audience, and what kind of team you have. But I would say, do not settle for just one. Try them all and see which one gives you better results.
So, Now You Know!
To know more, visit:
https://www.mariamollen.com/
https://www.nykacademy.com/