More often than not, you probably find yourself wasting hours scrolling through your social media feeds. You’re definitely not alone in this!
In fact, there are over 3.8 billion people who spend 2 hours daily doing the exact same thing. And if you draw back and think about how many brands and businesses you are exposed to while you are scrolling mindlessly, you’ll realize that you have an opportunity as a small business or brand to be getting in front of all those people doing the same thing, too!
Although that doesn’t sound like much, those 2 hours offer the perfect opportunity to build brand awareness and connect with customers.
And luckily for you, this guide will drop some neat tips on how to properly harness social media for marketing. Let’s go!
Establishing an Online Presence
At its core, marketing is all about building a potential customer’s trust in both you and your products. Without establishing a presence online, it will be difficult to invoke that kind of trust right off the bat. The best thing you can do is establishing a concrete online presence, and continually build it up.
1. Use a Variety of Platforms
With so many different social media platforms out there, why limit yourself to one? Not only will doing so hinder your ability to use many different mediums, but it can also reduce your reach.
Moreover, social media plays a key role in search engines. Often these platforms have incredibly high page ranks and thus they are invaluable for SEO. As a result, using multiple platforms will greatly increase your discoverability.
However, having noted that, it’s still important to keep your target audience in mind when choosing which platform to use. If your business focuses on B2B marketing, then a Gen Z dominated platform like Snapchat is most likely not the best option.
Instead, something like LinkedIn would be the more suitable platform for your material. After all, you don’t want to spend lots of time and money on content that your target audience won’t even see!
Creating great social content for multiple platforms is easier than you think; especially when you use Tailwind Create! In one click, you’ll have hundreds of unique designs personalized to your brand color palette, font choices and logo to choose from for all of your favorite platforms. And when you find the perfect design, you can schedule and publish it just as quickly. Take a look!
2. Ensure Your Profiles Are Properly Filled In
At this point, you should now have chosen your social media platforms. Great! But now you need to attract people to them.
Nothing attracts people more than a well-crafted profile. To make sure you’re keeping your profiles up to date and filled out in entirely, regularly audit your social media.
During every check, ensure that you’ve filled out all sections with the relevant information. Make sure that all of your links are functional and serve a clear purpose.
As small as these things may seem, doing them can be an absolute game-changer. Before people even learn about your products, they’ll want to know about you. So, make it easy for them!
For some potential customers, your profile will be the first form of contact they’ll make with you. Ultimately, making a good first impression with your profile could secure you many future sales.
Related Reading : 150 Instagram Bio Ideas + How to Write the Perfect Bio
3. Utilize Cross-Platform Promoting
Now, you’ll want to cross promote your different profiles.
Each post you make will only have a certain amount of time before it’s drowned in the stream of incoming content. In that timeframe, you want the maximum number of people to see it!
Unfortunately, any followers you have on a different platform, will likely miss it. As such, drawing your followers across platforms is imperative.
To cross promote your different platforms, include links to your other profiles in all of your bios. Wherever possible, you should also add these links to your posts or even briefly mention them in any videos you make.
For a more direct reminder, a call to action reminding your followers of your other pages can be great.
On profiles you only have one link on, like Instagram, use a link in bio tool like Smart.bio! You can add links to all your social media profiles in buttons at the top, and display the links from your Instagram feed below!
Encouraging Social Engagement
Once you’ve established a presence online, it’s time to start engaging with potential customers online. Below, we’ll show you how.
1. Implement an Editorial Calendar
It goes without saying, but you should be proud of the posts you put up. After all, they serve as an extension of your business’ brand. In your followers’ minds, the quality of your posts is a direct reflection of the quality of your services!
With that in mind, you want your content to be of the highest possible quality. For example, remember, your followers will only retweet posts on Twitter they find engaging. And these retweets can act as a recommendation to other potential customers. As such, scrambling at the last minute to create posts is a definite no-no.
One easy way to avoid this is by implementing a content marketing plan, that you can organize into an editorial calendar. An editorial calendar will give you room to plan and evaluate your post ideas. As a result, you can be sure you’re only putting out the best.
Editorial calendars can also help you post just the right amount. Should you post too little, people will quickly lose interest in your brand. Conversely, posting too often can be perceived as spam by your followers. With the calendar, you’ll be sure to hit the sweet spot each time using the analytics and insights from your social media platforms.
2. Make Use of Hashtags
Hashtags are another social engagement wonder. On social media, hashtags are your best friends.
By plugging you right into the internet’s hive mind, they can be an invaluable tool for both visibility and follower engagement.
For example, event hashtags can be a great way to drum up excitement about new product releases or promotions.
This excitement can translate into user interactions which will drum up even more excitement.
Yay! The perfect hashtag should be unique but easily remembered.
Most importantly, try to get others involved if possible. When creating trending tags, every little bit helps.
3. Allow Other People to Do the Talking
Having great content is important, but not all of it needs to come from you. Sometimes, it’s best to let others do the talking for you!
Resharing others’ posts can be a great way to build a rapport with your followers. When you reshare useful posts from brands you respect or even your own community with your followers, you become a trusted source of information.
This can lend itself well to building a relationship with potential customers.
Before you repost something, carefully consider whether it will interest and enrich your audience. If not, it probably doesn’t need to be reposted.
Another thing to bear in mind is that many people use social media on mobile. Due to the size of the average mobile screen, users will likely only be able to see your most recent 2 or 3 posts.
You don’t want these all to be reposts as your followers should also see that YOU can provide useful content. Try to interspace reposts with original content.
Driving Sales and Promoting Products
Okay, you’ve gotten all that social engagement. Now. what? At the end of the day, what you really want to do is convert all those likes and shares into sales and brand recognition. In this section, we’ll tell you just how to do that.
1. Share Socials-Only Promotional Codes
Even though creating content is great for engagement, you need something that will convert those page views into sales. This is where promotional codes come in. Promotional codes provide a call to action that can catalyze potential customers into becoming actual ones.
Beyond that, promotional codes can also provide you with access to a wider range of social networks. Every time your followers share your promotional posts, your brand will pop up in front of all their contacts. In this way, you can stimulate new business with minimal effort.
Spend some time creating an online coupon strategy. As you do, try to make sure that your offers are compelling and create a sense of urgency. Some level of customization will also go a long way in promoting brand loyalty.
Who doesn’t love a birthday discount? At the same time, though, try not to offer too many deals. You don’t want consumers waiting until the next promotion to make a purchase.
Related Reading : How to Market Your Black Friday Deals on Social Media (Like a Boss!)
2. Highlight New Products
Unless consumers know that you have something they want, they’re unlikely to purchase from you.
Even discount codes won’t make people purchase what they don’t know exists!
Showcasing your new products on your social media pages will give your consumers a better understanding of what you have to offer.
Remember, the more information your followers can ascertain about something, the more confident they will feel about buying it.
Aside from that, new products are also quite exciting. If your followers know that you’re continuously changing your catalog, they’ll check up on your pages often.
For many people, there is a sense of novelty regarding new products.
3. Use Targeted Ads
Highlighting your products can be helpful, but if they aren’t landing in front of people who want them, your sales won’t improve.
When you use targeted ads, you are increasing the likelihood that your products will meet someone who is interested in them. Plus, they can also be a great way to extend your reach.
Properly targeting your ads can save you money and increase your clicks. So, take time to carefully match demographics and interests with your products.
Launch Your Business to Success!
Congrats! You’ve made it to the end of this guide. Hopefully, you’ve been equipped with all the tools you need to properly begin marketing your small business on social media.
Even better, Tailwind can give you a headstart with all this. From creating beautiful designs for all of your social media platforms to scheduling and publishing in just a few clicks, Tailwind is your Smart Marketing Assistant that frees you up to do more in less time. Take a look!
