Let’s be honest for a minute, social media is darn popular, and that’s an understatement. Already, at the date of writing this article, a record 53.6% of the world population have a social media account or regularly use social media. That percentage is on a steep increase. The share in demographics shows a larger composition of the younger generation – ideally, your future market as a business.

The average person spends about 2hrs 25 mins daily on social media goes to show the enormous potential in social media marketing. Imagine what 5-10 minutes of daily exposure could do to your target audience. Humans are beings of habits: the question is, what’s your habitual social media behavior like?

Well, it’s not too late for you. If anything, this is the opportune moment to engage in social media optimization. This post will give you the basics of getting the most of social media for business using factual research, analytics, and proven data. Of course, these are only beginner steps for startups, but established ventures could also get a tip or two of some overlooked areas in social media marketing.

Successful Strategies for Social Media Marketing

The statistics for increased social media users may look promising and optimistic. However, there’s much work to be done on your side to grow a loyal community and build a brand. An ideal case study is of på Nätet, an online gaming site that applied these strategies and witnessed an increased engagement rate on social media of 24%. Eventually, their social media marketing strategy paid off after the third month, and the business recorded an ROI of 55%.

But that’s not the limit. If you’re keen to apply these tips as well as additional techniques, then social media will be your favorite marketing tool.

Remain Relevant

A robust social media strategy should not only focus on maintaining current customers but also on building confidence amongst non-clients. This should be a daily goal, and it is very much achievable. By the end of 2020, there was a stunning 1.3 million new social media users daily.

So how do you filter through all the noise, competition, and attention grabbers that would distract your target audience?

Give your audience a constant reason why they should remain hooked to your site. This does not mean constantly selling and calling customers to action. In fact, that may injure your business. It also doesn’t mean overloading your customer with posts.

Share your story, share what matters to you, your passions, share why your clients are relevant, share things that they care about – it could be music, or short clips, or tech-based information. Whatever you do, remain relevant and have your readers entertained and informed. Else, you will be that uninteresting swipe or that post you just scroll by.

Social Media Posts are a Two-Way Street

Now, social media is not a marketing tool! That’s a nut to crack, but understanding that is the fine thin line between success and hedonistic failure. Social media is a social forum – the name speaks for itself. The fact that you can conduct social media advertising is but a bonus.

Focus on building relationships with your business goal still in mind. This touches on Robert Cialdini’s principle of reciprocity. Don’t ask your followers to like your content if you don’t bother checking on theirs. If it’s on Instagram, a #followforafollowback strategy could work in building your community. Instead, like and frequently give positive comments on their social media posts, and they will be compelled to do the same to yours.

Develop a Strategic Marketing Mix

Differentiation is the term to use here. Have a diverse content base depending on the nature of your business. Don’t solely rely on written social media posts but use pictures and videos as attention magnets. However, whatever posts you make, ensure they reflect your brand and say something about you.

There’s proof that visual content may deliver higher engagement. Nonetheless, there’s also proof that carefully planned and articulated written posts have a slightly higher engagement rate. Take time to strike a balance and plan. That leads us to our next point.

Plan Consistently

Sitting to write down quick posts to meet your deadline will lead to unstructured, low-quality content. Moreover, with limited time, you won’t have time to be thoughtful and creative. As a result, you may eventually end up repeating old posts or content without intending to.

Boring!

That’s one word you want to avoid at all costs on social media.

Therefore, plan your social media content. Whether you’ll use social media hashtags, videos, or write articles – whatever it is, plan and schedule ahead of time. If possible, create a calendar for an entire month of what you will post and the frequency.

Talking about frequency: being inconsistent will make your audience forget you faster than you can say ‘fender bender.’ That’s bad news for your brand.

Learn Algorithms

First, settle on the platforms that best suit your business. For example, if you are a B2C and are a graphic/visual company, Instagram may do better than LinkedIn.

Then understand how the algorithm works. Know what it takes to rank you higher on your user’s social media news feed. Part of understanding the algorithm is tracking your user’s social media usage. Having data is one thing but having structured analytical data helps you make informed decisions. For instance, it’s one thing to know millennials comprise the largest population of social media users, and it’s another thing to know that most millennials within your target audience are active at 8.00 pm.

Learn the algorithm, understand the platform, and get acquainted with real-time social media analytics.

Be Provocative

Part of remaining relevant on social media is being controversial. Share content that a good number of your followers may not agree with. Controversial topics build engagement, thus increasing traffic to your site. Ever heard of that quote, “There is no such thing as bad publicity?”

Be cautious not to go overboard with this rule. And don’t make the mistake of assuming that controversial news means politics, far from it.

Sort Issues Earlier On

Social media may work for you. On a bad day, though, when everything seems to be going against you, social media can be tricky. If, by chance, you or someone else with malicious intent gets your reputation ruined, word will spread faster than fire. As you aim at working on positive reviews, comments, and feedback, constantly be on the lookout for any mentions that may negatively impact your business. Deal with those messes before they go out of hand.

Conclusion

Social media can work for you, regardless of the nature of your business. Be assured that there is a market for your product or service out there. That said, you need to be proactive in thinking about what your users need before they do and keep an eye on your competitor’s strategies.

What’s the best social media strategy you’ve come by?

Author’s Bio:

Jeremy Ambrose started his own small business on the Internet a few years ago. After many failures and difficulties passed, he decided that he wanted to share his experience and knowledge with other people.