Marketing is an important component of any business’ survival tools, especially in the digital age we live in where the competition for consumers' attention online is vicious. For entrepreneurs, social media has become the best place to invest their efforts to reach new consumers or opportunities.
To avoid coming off too promotional or advertising incorrectly, entrepreneurs must constantly elevate their marketing strategies on social media based on digital trends, or risk losing to other competitors. These seven social media success strategies entrepreneurs should implement right now can help leverage social media presence to optimize marketing approaches for the rest of 2021.
Choose the Right Channel to Target
There are a lot of social media channels out there, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be on all of them. If you are currently doing this, you may be stretching your efforts too thin and missing out on opportunities that actually move the needle forward.
If you want to figure out where your target audience is, there are two things you can do. Firstly, poll your current audience and ask them what social media platforms they use the most and how much time they spend on each. Secondly, check the traffic reports on the backend of your website or your Google Analytics account. This will show you where most people are coming from. Use this data to focus on the platforms that you need to be on instead of what you want to.
Remember that social media apps are constantly changing and being created, so stay up to date with what is happening in the digital space in regards to your consumers.
Interact With Your Audience on Social
Creating a relationship with your current and potential consumers is key to success. Think about it, most of the brands out there have the best relationship with their consumers because they take time to get to know them and constantly communicate with them. This can look like replying to positive comments to spotting unhappy customers early on and taking steps accordingly. Social media is the number one choice for customer care — every month, people and businesses exchange 8 billion Facebook messages.
Ensuring that consumers feel valued can help you stay ahead of your competitors in this ever-changing digital market.
Use the 20/80 Rule
Social media is a space for creating an authentic community and showcasing brands in a more personal light. It is not a space for constant advertising and promoting offerings. This is why the 20/80 rule was created, which indicates that 80 percent of social media posts should be useful to your audience -- meaning it educates, entertains, or offers a solution to their problems -- and only 20 percent should explicitly promote your business.
There has to be value in the content you are creating. After all, that is why people, and consumers, hit the follow button and keep up with your brand. If you’re wanting to promote your brand more, then think about using digital advertising but keeping your posts more personal.
Get More Online Reviews
Creating content is great, but in order to increase sales and meet goals for your business, you have to understand how to integrate your offerings into social media posts. This is where reviews come in. In fact, 93 percent of consumers consider reviews to be an essential resource when making a purchase decision.
There are different ways you can do this through social media. For example, explain the long-term benefits of one of your products or services and offer a social media discount for anyone who leaves a review, this will come off personal but adds a little promotional aspect to increase sales. Focusing on getting the message out to potential consumers about how you’ve helped past and current consumers play a significant role, as well. A big part of this is focusing on gathering online reviews through posts.
Use More Video Content
An essential element of any marketing strategy on social media or elsewhere in the digital space is video content, especially live video. Think about implementing more video-based posts and scheduling in a few Lives a month. Understand where your target audience is, whether that be Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc. and go live to show face. This will increase engagement and is compelling, so the content comes off more personalized. It will take more time but the return on investment (ROI) is proven to be well worth it with 89% of marketers saying video gives them a good ROI.
Think about bite-sized clips that can share quick information. The best video content is in the humor or informative categories. Remember that being able to connect with your audience’s emotions by being relatable is the key to success here. So, think about joining the 95% of video marketers who plan to increase spend in the coming years.
Mix Auto and Real-Time Posting
Auto-posting consists of pre-planned content and real-time posting consists of content based on what is happening in real-time (i.e. trends, news). You want to create a mix of these types of content to see the best success because real-time posting is a vital part of social media. For example, if you remember when the global pandemic started, many companies had to shift their content to be mindful of COVID. Those who didn’t, received some backlash and lost consumers.
Always have a platform to schedule content on, such as Later or Hootsuite, but be sure to regularly review to optimize your social media strategy.
Implement Hyperlocal Marketing
Using hyperlocal marketing strategies is a great way for entrepreneurs to serve specific areas. Tools like the geotagging feature on Instagram to search potential consumers who are nearby can help draw them to your business. Or searching to see who has tagged nearby businesses gives you an opportunity to engage with them and let them know you exist. This is a strategy that can be easily overlooked, but if used correctly, can bring in tons of new consumers regularly.
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