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Even if your business is not primarily based online, there is a pretty good chance that you do a lot of your work there. This is just the way the world is these days. We have all gotten used to being part of the digital marketplace and one of the most important elements of that is the use of social media.
There will always be concerns about some of the content found on social media but businesses know that the platforms are invaluable for getting their name out there and selling goods and services. We practically spend our lives in the digital realm now. We order food there, we are able to bet online, and any business that doesn’t get up to speed will soon be left behind.
You will probably already have your own personal social media accounts. But it is very important that these are kept separate from business accounts. Here are some other tips to help boost your business through social media.
Choose the Right Platforms
Using social media to help your business grow is not just a case of picking up your phone and posting something “funny”. You should do a lot of research before you even sign up for an account and make sure that you know which platforms your potential customers are using. Because they are the ones you need to be on.
Which platforms you prefer to use will also depend on what kind of business you are in. Most platforms include selling features these days but what works on Instagram may not work on Pinterest. Find the best fit for your customers and your product and concentrate on those platforms.
Plan Your Posts
Creating a content calendar for your social media posts is vitally important. We have already mentioned that spontaneous, reaction posts are to be avoided as they suggest a level of unprofessionalism that you do not want to be associated with. Having a plan for your daily, weekly, and monthly output is the best way to go.
This isn’t just a case of deciding how many posts a day you think you will manage either. A content calendar will take into consideration busier and quieter times of the year for you, and should also be for planning the hashtags, links, and other content well in advance. This means that you can also get well ahead with your social media output.
Engage with Customers
Although the ultimate aim may well be to sell as much of your product as possible, using social media for business should not be a one-way street. The clue is in the “social” part of social media. This is an excellent – and cheap – way of finding out about your customers and engaging with them.
Forget about trying to get as many followers and likes as possible, it is much more beneficial to build a community around your business. You want a lot of people to see what you are doing on social media, of course. But developing brand loyalty will be far more successful in the long run.
Use Video Content
As well as knowing the best social media platforms to use for your business, it is also very important what kind of content you are posting. Whatever your industry, sharing videos is key. All the research shows that people are more likely to stop scrolling for videos, rather than text-only posts.
You can make your videos as abstract as you want, of course. But including some kind of narrative is a great way to get your information out there. Make sure that your videos are well presented though – this is an excellent way to showcase your personality and brand values.
Work with Influencers
You may not be convinced of the need for influencers but many of your potential customers will be. Recommendations from respected influencers can really impact your sales, as people who tend to spend a lot of time online – and make more purchases – will listen to what is being said.
Just think of influencers as modern-day advertisers. You would have been quite happy in the pre-internet days to spend money on ads in the local newspapers. This way your marketing is being much better targeted and reaching people that will actually want to buy your product. Although the most famous influencers get the most attention, there is a lot of value in spending money on micro-influencers – accounts with fewer than 100,000 followers.
Analyze Your Output
If you have followed all of our steps so far you will have been able to target which social media platforms to use, created a calendar for your content, and worked with professionals to post the most attention-grabbing information. But that doesn’t mean that you should now just sit back and feel like your job is done.
There are a lot of tools that can help you analyse your social media output and see where your strategy might need to be altered. Finding out what kind of people engaged with certain posts will allow you to refine posts in the future and discover what works best for your business.
Don’t Post TOO Much
Hopefully, by following our advice you will boost your business’ performance and gain more customers. But don’t get too carried away with the power of your social media accounts. There is nothing more annoying than seeing the same names popping up on our feed throughout the day, so make sure you are not overdoing it.
Creating that content calendar we spoke about before will certainly help avoid posting too often. But just try to think of how you react to accounts that post constantly and make sure that you are not being scrolled past because you have started to get on people’s nerves.
