More than 7 in 10 Americans use social media every day. As a business owner, are you taking full advantage of the opportunity to connect with billions of potential customers? If social media marketing isn’t part of your growth strategy yet, it should be.
Using social media platforms can help you build brand awareness, drive traffic to your website, and boost your revenue. It’s normal to feel intimidated at first, but with a few social media marketing tips, you’ll be ready to get started.
Keep reading for 7 social media marketing strategies to know before you find your first follower. You’ll be posting with confidence in no time.
1. Strategize Before You Go Live
Even if you’re full of social media marketing ideas, it’s important to have a plan before you release your first post. Using social media can be fun, but it’s also time-consuming. Winging it could waste your company’s valuable resources.
Think about how you’ll maintain brand consistency, how often you’ll post, and what your content will look like. What do you hope to accomplish with your social media presence and how will you do it?
It’s also helpful to set smaller goals. Maybe you want to reach 1,000 Instagram followers in the first month or share an image or video on Facebook every day You can use a platform to assist you with video content, like Visme video maker, to create original and engaging videos. Your strategy is up to you, but make sure you have one!
2. Know Where Your Audience Hangs Out Online
There are so many social media platforms to choose from. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok, and LinkedIn are all potential places to share your story with the world.
To avoid feeling overwhelmed, it’s best to choose one or two platforms to start with. Think quality over quantity.
Figure out where your customers spend their time online and meet them there. Pay attention to where the influencers in your business category have the most followers. It’s also a good idea to poll your existing clients about which platforms they use most often.
3. Make Yourself Easy to Find
Making your business easy to find and follow will help you grow your social media accounts faster. Use the same logo and branding across all platforms so your clients can recognize you easily.
Linking your various accounts to your website (and vice-versa) should be part of your social media marketing plan. Always link to your website in your social media profiles, and display large social media buttons at the top of your homepage.
You can also connect certain accounts to streamline the posting process. For example, it is possible to send your Instagram posts directly to your business page on Facebook with a few simple clicks.
4. Build Your Following Patiently
As tempting as it can be, don’t pay for followers. Building your audience organically will lead to better engagements and higher quality online interactions.
When you launch a new social media account, follow influencers in your category, then interact with them in the comments. This will help the platform’s algorithm understand your brand and connect you with highly interested individuals.
Contests can also be a great way to attract attention to your company. A small giveaway that requires followers to like and share your posts will help you reach more people while keeping costs low.
When you gain new followers, give them a follow in return, or interact with their recent posts. Just try to maintain a balance between the number of followers you have and how many people you follow. Following thousands of random accounts is a sure way to have your account flagged as spam.
5. Create Quality Content
Content rules the social media world, and creating great content is the best way to succeed at social media marketing.
Interesting, original posts are key. Images and videos should be creative and professional. If you have the budget, hiring a photographer can be worth the investment.
An Instagram video download tool can help you double the return – move your social media videos over to your website to make your web pages more eye-catching.
Stories and quotes make great captions. If it feels true to your brand, feel free to show off your sense of humor.
Pay attention to your grammar and spelling, and don’t be too pushy. Aim to build brand awareness and interest. Too much direct selling can be a turn off for your followers.
6. Embrace Hashtags
Some social media marketing concepts can be hard to grasp. Take hashtags, for example. They’re designed to make your content easily searchable, but there are so many to choose from!
Instead of adding dozens to each post, experts suggest using 5 or 10 of the most relevant tags. Consider creating a tag that is unique to your brand, so your followers will know exactly where to find content related to your business.
7. Interact With Your Online Community
It’s called social media for a reason, so don’t just scream and shout in one direction. Be social and listen to what your followers are saying. It’s a great way to gain insight and spark new ideas.
Read the comments on your posts and respond. Check out what your followers are sharing and engage with their content.
You can even invite them to tag you in their posts or ask them to contribute images to your account. Be sure to give them credit if you use their photos.
Follow These Social Media Marketing Tips for Success
Now that you know how to master social media marketing, you can approach any platform with confidence. It’s the fastest, most affordable way to put your product or service in front of an endless audience.
Keep these social media marketing tips in mind and remember to be patient. Growing your social media following is a process, and it won’t happen overnight.
Be genuine, show off your winning personality, and keep fine-tuning your strategy. You’ll have a blue checkmark next to your name before you know it!
If you found this article about social media marketing helpful, please check out some of the other great content on our site.