Social media has emerged as the foremost influential and significant online domain, serving not only as a means of connecting socially but also as an excellent platform for digitally promoting your brand and products.
Quick Links
The remarkable potency of social media lies in its ability to swiftly reach a vast audience upon posting an advertisement, enabling cost reduction while effectively connecting with your target market through these digital ad campaigns.
Given that nearly 59% of the global population are active internet users, it is imperative for marketers to seize the opportunity to advertise on these digital platforms. Doing so allows them to access a maximum number of potential buyers, surpassing the reach of traditional print or television media marketing.
Utilizing social media marketing provides businesses, regardless of their size, with a potent means to connect with prospects and customers. It is through social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn that people discover, explore, engage with, and make purchases from brands.
Failing to establish a presence on these platforms implies missing out on valuable opportunities. Effective marketing on social media has the potential to yield remarkable success for your business, fostering loyal brand advocates and generating leads and sales.
Clearly, social media marketing is very important for every business today. However, a majority of businesses are facing challenges in establishing a strong foothold in the social media landscape.
Let’s dive into some smart ways that can help you shine your small business through social media marketing:
Choose the Right Social Media Platform for Your Business
If you’re seeking to expand your marketing efforts and explore fresh avenues, social media marketing is an ideal solution. Instagram proves invaluable for businesses specializing in visually-oriented products, such as clothing or jewelry, allowing them to exhibit their creations. Twitter, on the other hand, can serve as a powerful tool for fostering customer relationships and providing exceptional service.
Considering its status as the most popular online platform, Facebook is definitely worth exploring. Establishing a Facebook page enables you to share updates about your company, while also creating a community by engaging with related pages. By doing so, you can attract new followers who hold a genuine interest in your industry. Certainly, there are so many social media marketing platforms on the internet. So, it’s imperative to choose the right social media platforms and promote your business on them.
Create Diverse Content
Just like in other realms of online marketing, content takes precedence in the realm of social media marketing. It is crucial to maintain a consistent posting schedule and provide genuinely valuable information that resonates with your ideal customers, offering them assistance and intriguing insights.
This involves:
- Local and industry news
- How-tos, quick tips
- Data and insights
- Updates and announcements
- Polls, questions, contests
In addition, it entails leveraging the diverse range of formats available on social media platforms, such as videos, images, stories, online stores, live streams, and many other options.
Create a Social Media Calendar
Creating a social media calendar is very important. If you want to maintain consistency, then you should focus on creating a social media calendar.
Start by conducting thorough research on your competitors across all selected social media platforms. Analyze their activities, frequency of posting, and the visual style of their posts. By studying their approaches, you can decide whether you want to adopt similar tactics or chart your own unique path.
Once you have identified a strategy that aligns with your goals, create an editorial calendar outlining specific tasks and objectives for each day. It is important to update your social media channels consistently throughout the week, rather than limiting yourself to once-a-week postings. Regularly posting fresh content keeps your audience engaged and entices them to revisit your website.
Stay Up-to-Date on the Latest Trends
Things keep on changing in the social media marketing landscape. If you want to stay competitive in today’s business world, staying updated on the latest trends is important.
You can engage in reading blogs, magazines, books, and publications that delve into emerging technologies and innovations applicable to your industry. Participate in relevant groups, attend events, and network with professionals in the field to stay abreast of the latest consumer trends and discover new channels of communication they are embracing. By actively staying informed, you position your business to capitalize on relevant opportunities in the digital realm.
Host a Contest or Giveaway
Design an engaging contest or giveaway centered around your product or service, ensuring simplicity and ease of entry through a user-friendly form on your website. You can host this promotion on popular social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and more. If the giveaway involves physical prizes such as t-shirts or mugs, be sure to include shipping costs in the item’s price.
To enhance participant engagement, consider establishing a timeline with milestones that allow customers to track their progress as they advance through various levels of the competition. Inform them about the number of additional entries required to reach the next milestone. For instance, when a customer has five entries, inform them that they need ten more to qualify for winning a shirt!
Collaborate with other Businesses or Influencers
Forging partnerships with other companies or influencers can prove highly beneficial in harnessing each other’s audience and expanding exposure for both parties. The crucial aspect is identifying a collaboration that aligns with the industry and makes logical sense. For instance, if you own a beauty salon, teaming up with a hairstylist would be more fitting than partnering with an accountant.
Not only do they operate in distinct industries, but they also target different demographic groups. Other suitable collaborators for your business may include those operating in related fields, such as trade show vendors, suppliers, and manufacturers.
Conclusion
Utilizing social media as a marketing tool is an excellent strategy for keeping your company thriving. By regularly posting on platforms like Facebook and Twitter, you can maintain visibility and stay top of mind with potential clients. Additionally, consider leveraging other platforms such as YouTube, LinkedIn, or Google+ if they align with your company’s specific needs and target audience.
Author Bio:
Sachin Agrawal is an Enterprise Architect and heads up Business & Technology at Seven Magnets. He carries expertise and a flair for writing on Management Consulting, Software & Analytics and Digital Media. Apart from distilling his technical ideas into creating innovative solutions, he is a practitioner of Haidong Gumdo and at his leisure, taps the Cajon and strums his Guitar!