Having a good, or great, social media presence can help your business grow like wildflowers. But, this will only happen after you develop a large following and learn how to give them what they really want.
Here are some great ways any business owner or marketer can increase their social media presence and help their business grow.
Set SMART goals
The concept of SMART goals has been around for decades, but they are so important to your social media presence today.
In short, brands should set goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.
- Specific – (simple, sensible, significant).
- Measurable – (meaningful, motivating).
- Achievable – (agreed, attainable).
- Relevant – (reasonable, realistic and resourced, results-based).
- Time bound – (time-based, time limited, time/cost limited, timely, time-sensitive).
Assigning your social media efforts a concrete purpose helps you avoid the trap of posting aimlessly.
Be human
One of the biggest mistakes to make on social media is coming across as the faceless corporation with zero personality. In the modern age of transparency, people want to get to know your company on a more personal level.
Many brands today crack jokes and aren’t afraid to talk to their followers like they would their friends. Whereas brands were once lambasted for coming off like robots, a human social media presence has become an expectation among many followers.
Showing off the human side of your brand means showing off the faces behind your social feeds. Whether it’s office photos or snapshots of your team out and about, getting personal with your followers can help you form a much-needed connection.
Understand your audiences needs
Understanding what your audience needs will help you be able to interact with them on a more intimate level. Knowing what they want to read about and what they believe in will help you understand what you need to give to them.
Once you understand this, you can give them everything they want – which means bringing them to your website to see what your business is all about.
Create an integrated social media strategy
You want to make sure each social media network you are involved in serves a purpose. You can ensure this by starting a marketing calendar.
Make sure to add all of your upcoming events, blog posts, and everything else you decide to do with your business into this calendar.
This will help you stay organised and understand how each of your social media accounts will bring in more untapped sectors for your business.
Stay active
Inactive social feeds are a bad look for brands, plain and simple. Rather than let your Facebook or Instagram gather cobwebs, you need to show up day after day with fresh content.
Some quick tips to help you stay active include:
- Incorporating social scheduling and automation to save time and energy.
- Picking and prioritising your social networks based on your audience location.
- Finding ways to repurpose content so you’re not always trying to reinvent the wheel.
Staying active on social doesn’t have to be a total time-suck. Through scheduling or simply blocking out 10-15 minute chunks throughout, you can post content and respond to customer concerns without wasting time. Also, you can try to base your activity around best times to post on social media to maximise engagement.
See our social media marketing course