Secrets to Help Your Business Grow: Maintain a Strong Social Media Presence
Guest Blog by Sarah Therese
There’s no denying that social media has changed the way brands conduct marketing. Even outdoor signs need to be created with social media in mind, as stated in the post ‘How to Create an Effective Outdoor Advertising Campaign’. That’s because people spend more and more of their time looking down at their phones than up at billboards.
With modern social media consumption patterns, how can brands use digital platforms to continue growing their business? The key is to maintain a strong social media presence. And here’s how you can do it:
1. Understand your Audience
You first have to determine your target market and understand their online viewing and interaction habits. Who are your customers? What specific platform do they like to visit often? What kind of content do they engage with?
Answering all of these questions will paint an accurate picture of the kind of audience you attract and how to keep them loyal with relevant posts. And if you’re not enticing the right kind of consumers, it will also help you to refocus your strategy.
2. Be Authentic
Authenticity is a word often associated with brands and it really is a defining factor. Instead of influencer marketing, a survey cited by Social Media Today highlighted that consumers are more drawn to user-generated content. These are posts that have been created by other users and not paid ads by influencers because they are seen as more authentic.
Sharing real feedback from your customers will boost your profile. If you’re still thinking of using influencers to promote your business, it’s important to choose those who are aligned with your overall message and/or vision.
3. Formulate a strategy
The next step is to create a social media strategy. Begin by identifying your goals. In most cases, targets such as increasing brand recognition in order to boost sales should be a main focus.
It’s best to hire or outsource a communications strategist that can help you reach this specific goal. Social media managers are very important to businesses nowadays. A detailed post by Maryville University targeting communication grads states that communications strategists are instrumental in helping businesses transition to digital. They can help businesses get to grips with their social media channels, expand a company’s reach and identify key areas for growth.
Above all else, comms strategists can help devise campaigns that are fresh, relevant, and engaging to your audience.
4. Post or share relevant and engaging content
When it comes to social media, hard selling doesn’t really work. Posting too many offers may be perceived as pushy and can end up with consumers unfollowing your accounts or even paying customers blocking you.
Instead, take a soft sell approach through posting content which is relevant to your target market. Consider a cosmetics company for example. Instead of constantly bombarding their feed with sale offers promoting a new makeup line, you can post tutorials on how to properly apply lipstick and other related material. It’s relevant to the brand and can display the product without coming off as aggressive. Posts like this are also easily shareable for fellow makeup enthusiasts.
5. Leverage current trends and tools
Websites like Facebook and Instagram are constantly coming up with new features. These present an opportunity to stay relevant to digital savvy consumers. For instance, the story feature on both platforms can be used to share your message more creatively and drive traffic to your own site.
6. Interact with the community
Your online profile should act as a space for your followers to provide feedback, share their experiences, and get together. Responding to comments is an important step to building a loyal online following, says Abhi Golhar on Inc Magazine. Starting a dialogue “humanize[s] your brand by expressing your personality”, which is important to brand authenticity. It makes your brand more relatable and creates a stronger connection to your followers.
7. Maintain brand consistency across platforms
You can tailor content to each platform, but remember to maintain brand consistency. What you can do is to follow a similar theme or motif for your posts regardless of where they will be posted. This is something that you can strategize with your social media team.
Be consistent with your logo, typography, color schemes, and tone across different websites and social channels. If you’re building a brand, you want to make sure that your channels are cohesive and tell the brand’s story.
Author Bio: Sarah Therese is a communications strategist with years of experience. She specializes in millennial marketing for small to medium sized businesses and has helped several owners launch their brands.
