Social Media and its Power to Boost Your Business

Marketing on social media can be quite daunting with all the options and techniques out there. We’ve put together a conclusive guide of techniques to help you with your social media marketing and gain the traction you want!  

Prepare Your Marketing Plan

Before beginning with any platform, be sure to plan accordingly. You need to have a specific and intentional plan for each platform you use. Each platform has nuances and its own best practices for generating engagement. You do not need to have a presence on every platform you use, but in order to gain traction and attention, your posts have to be targeted to the audience you want to reach.

In order to effectively target your posts, you need to have a strategy that is specific to the platform you’re using. Analyze your buyer persona and decide which platforms are best for engaging your target market. We suggest asking yourself the following questions with each platform that you are using or plan to use: 

• Why am I using this platform?
• Who will I reach on this platform?
• What post types work best on this platform?
• Are my posts unique to this platform? Can I stand out here?

Answering these questions will help you determine whether the platform is suitable for your marketing and ​​will also help you develop your strategy for that platform. Just like any other marketing plan, research your target market and understand who your audience is – this way you can cater your content towards them and have a better chance of reaching them.

Prepare and Optimize Your Content Based on Your Platform

Once you have decided on your platforms, you will be able to optimize your content correspondingly and get much more engagement. Having a solid understanding of the platform you are using is the first step in a successful social media marketing strategy. 

 Instagram

Oberlo states that Instagram helps 80% of Instagram users decide to buy a product or service. If you’re focusing on Instagram, focus your resources on making quality images, since that’s what gets the most traction on the platform. Instagram is perfect for highly visual content – static images and short videos work incredibly well.

Metrics you should keep your eye on with every post are: likes, comments and mentions. With Instagram stories, keep track of your views and reposts/reshares.

Facebook

According to Forbes, there are more than 50 million small businesses using Facebook Pages to connect with customers. Facebook is the perfect place to get started with social media marketing, as it is one of the most populated platforms. This platform is particularly good for news/entertainment related content, however it is also a very helpful marketing tool. Facebook is useful for updates through text and photo/video posts. You can use Facebook Insights to learn more about your customers and use Facebook Pages to post special offers and job listings. 

The metrics you should look out for on this platform are: reach and engagement.

Twitter

Oberlo mentions that 40% of Twitter users carried out a purchase after seeing it on Twitter. On Twitter, making informative threads will likely see more engagement and get the word out about your brand more. Use keyword targeting in your Twitter ads and make use of Twitter polls for additional engagement. Be sure to retweet any mentions or responses – you should retweet anything relevant to your business and find a way to insert your own promotion that way.

The metrics you should pay attention to are: favourites, retweets and replies. 

 LinkedIn

A statistic from HootSuite says ad exposure on LinkedIn can increase purchase intent by 33%. LinkedIn is a great professional network that is perfect for B2B (Business-to-Business) audiences. Posts on this platform tend to be text heavy, so you can use this chance to list out all your strengths and write as much as you’d like. Still be sure to include photos in your posts to be appealing and stand out. Additionally, while using LinkedIn for your marketing, be sure to make use of LinkedIn’s Campaign Manager – Sponsored Content, Message Ads, Dynamic Ads, or Text Ads. 

On LinkedIn, the metrics to be aware of are: clicks, impressions and interactions. 

Be Consistent

Creating a content calendar is a great way to stay on schedule and do consistent weekly posts. On platforms such as Twitter and Instagram Stories, being active frequently is essentially the requirement in order to get the maximum potential from your audience. These platforms should be used daily, although it is important to note that posting too frequently will be overwhelming and may not work in your favour. Know your audience and learn what they like/don’t like.

As for other post types, like Instagram posts and Facebook updates, they don’t have as much urgency and can be posted less frequently. When determining your post strategy, look at factors such as how the algorithm works for each platform and whether content posts chronologically or is curated based on other factors.

While following the post schedule you’ve created, be sure to go back and track meaningful metrics. Focus on things like engagement, click-through, and conversion rates. Take note of which posts attracted the most engagement and which did not get much attraction. Remember, marketing is always ongoing! Evaluate and adjust your strategy every month and look at your performance metrics. Re-evaluate your content and marketing strategy, make improvements accordingly, and do it all again. No marketing plan is ever complete or set in stone, it will always need revisiting. 

Engage and Interact 

Social media users crave authentic interaction with the brands they follow. With managing your social media, remember to be engaging and interact with your followers. This is a way to gain new customers or maintain loyal ones. So on top of posting high-quality and relevant content, make sure you’re keeping an eye on each platform you use and engaging with your audience. Answer questions that come up on your posts, handles or hashtags.

Stay Relevant

The best way to stay relevant on your social media account is to pay attention not only to your own feed, but also the news, your competitors’ feeds and current trends going on. To engage with your audience, you can ask them a question at the end of your caption. On platforms such as Instagram stories, Twitter, and Facebook, you can make a poll for your audience to grasp more quantitative information. 

Be sure to reply to any comments or posts addressed to you, especially when you are first starting out. This will show your dedication and commitment to your audience and social platform. Follow up with the news and listen to what your customers’ needs or wants. Be sure to always stay updated and show your presence online. 

Conclusion

There are many resources, methods and tactics available to you when it comes to social media marketing. Be sure to do your research in order to effectively take advantage of all these tools and resources and alter them based on your goals. We hope that our guide will help you learn and grow to boost your sales using social media.