Having high-quality social media channels for your business is vital in 2019. More people than ever before are on social media and businesses that aren’t keeping up and missing out on all of the passing traffic. Facebook currently has more than two billion active users, followed by YouTube’s 1 billion, Instagram’s 800 million, and Twitter’s 317 million users. These are huge markets for you to explore, and throughout this blog, we’ll offer advice on capturing new customers and expanding your following.
Post Relevant Content Regularly
Content is king, no matter the marketing that you’re doing. Online, via print, or face-to-face, you need to have high-quality content for your customers. This doesn’t just refer to what you write, it also covers the photos and videos that you upload. Everything needs to be constructed professionally and curated in an effective way.
This content also needs to be updated regularly, and a consistent publishing schedule is vital when reaching out to customers. Much like a blog, customers will grow accustomed to seeing posts at a certain time, especially if you post recurring hashtags, such as #ThrowbackThursday.
Having a steady stream of content also shows customers that you’re active, as there’s nothing worse than a Facebook page that looks dated. It puts people off and cast doubt on whether you’re even operating.
Utilise Everything Social Media Offers
While you may have been using Facebook since it was launched in 2004, there’s always something new to learn! It’s developing all of the time, and you’ll find that Twitter and Instagram are exactly the same. What you’ve learned previously is great, but really getting into the latest updates gives you so much more influence on the platform. Let’s look at some of the things you could use:
- Facebook and Instagram Live
- Facebook and Instagram Stories
- Text, Photo, and Video Features
- Community Groups
We know that Facebook Live and Instagram Live is most effective in certain types of business, but this doesn’t mean that they’re useless for others. From letting people know who you are to giving them a behind-the-scenes look at what you do, the Live feature is one that is gaining popularity with artists, creative businesses, and product-based creators.
The Stories feature on these networks is very much the same, but with a much greater degree of flexibility. Where Instagram Live relies heavily on video content, Stories does not. You can add text, photos, videos, or all three, and tell your customers what you’ve been doing in a 24-hour period. Again, this helps customers to see behind the scenes, and this has been found to be one of the things that they enjoy the most.
Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram all have the capacity for you to upload a mixture of photo-, video-, and text-based content. Customers like all three, and this is why you should mix it up when it comes to posting. If all of your content is text-based, it becomes a bit boring, but if it’s all in video form, then you may find certain demographics clicking to somewhere else. The best thing you can do is to have a good mix of all three so that you can advertise to everyone.
Creating a community space online is something that lots of businesses have started to do. By creating a private group on Facebook, you can create an informal think tank where customers talk about everything you do. They may not realise it, but they’re giving you all of the customer information you need, and this is why it’s such an invaluable resource.
Have a Better Understanding of Insights
Unsurprisingly, given the name, Insights and Analytics give you an insight and analysis on your campaigns. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram all have these tools built in, and this gives you a place to review everything you’re doing.
The different review tools that are available to you are:
- Facebook Insights
- Instagram Insights
- Twitter Analytics
By checking these regularly (most give weekly reports), you’re able to see what’s working and what isn’t. This is ideal if you’re trailing new content types or specific promotions, but it’s just as effective if you want to know who’s viewing your site, where they’re from, and how old they are. These are the details that get with Insights, so start exploring today!
Use Employees as Brand Ambassadors
One of the huge advantages of social media is that posts are instantly shareable. Whether it’s a tweet that captures your attention, a video that backs up your beliefs, or an Instagram post that shows off the most majestic Staffordshire Bull Terrier you’ve ever seen, you can share this with your friends in seconds.
You should be leveraging this by making every one of your employees a brand ambassador. It’s not a lot of effort from them, and it’s an excellent, organic way to have your social media pages seen by a large audience. It also looks better for potenital clients, as it’s not a pushy sales approach, it’s people that they know sharing something genuine.
Keep Entertainment Platforms Entertaining
In general, people don’t use social media to be sold things. They go on there to relax after a long day, to be entertained by the latest LadBible article, or to catch up with friends and family. With this in mind, you need to keep this entertainment going with your posts.
If you just sell, sell, sell, people will switch off when you post. However, if you embrace this entertainment factor, you’re much more likely to catch customers. People love cute pictures of pets, motivational quotes, and funny videos, and these can all be used to your advantage. You can also jump onto current meme trends, for example, when Denny’s used the “zoom in” trend to advertise their waffles. It makes for great entertainment, and also informs customers about what’s happening.
Be Interactive
Once you’ve got an established social media following, you need to ensure that you’re keeping hold of it. As well as pleasing the customers that you’re already dealing with, you can also encourage them to share the page with their friends and family. To do this, you need to engage with them. You may be doing this already, and if you are, that’s great!
Some of the ways that you can effectively engage with customers include:
- Reply to Comments and Messages
- Comment on Other Pages and Scream Authority
By replying to comments and messages in a timely manner, you show that you care about any customer concerns or queries. Even if it’s a message to thank you for something you’ve done, it’s best to reply. This completes the conversation and ensures that the customer goes away happy.
Using social media, you should frame your company as an expert in your field. To show this off to potential followers, you can comment on relevant posts or articles. It means that customers see your business name and what you’re saying about a subject. If they agree or are intrigued enough, they’ll get in touch with you!
Always Look for New Ways to Reach Customers
As we’ve mentioned throughout this blog, social media is an ever-changing beast. The way that Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram were is far from what they are now. With brand new features, advanced apps, and expert-built algorithms, these social media gargantuans have developed to be much more intelligent. This is why you need to be working with social media to target new customers in new ways.
By embracing new technology, you can market to audiences that were previously out of reach for your business. Whether it’s Instagram Stories or Facebook Live, you have more opportunities than ever before to market yourself on social media.
Embrace Social Media Now!
According to Hacker Noon, people check their social media feeds every 12 minutes. This is roughly 75 times per day! These stats alone show how much passing traffic you can miss if your social media marketing isn’t professionally managed. While many people think that it’s “just Facebook”, this network is now so important that companies are investing huge amounts of money to ensure that they’re working effectively.
Even if you don’t want to spend lots of money, you can still hit your target demographic by playing smart. This blog has been full of effective advice, and this all comes from the tried-and-tested techniques that we use for customers. Try some of these today and see how your social media following starts to grow.