There is no question that the power of social media marketing is one of the most important single areas which every entrepreneur should be focusing on, in terms of reaching an intended audience. The sheer numbers of users involved should point that out clearly, but when you consider the potential for sharing among all those users, reachability can grow exponentially. Here are 10 recommendations for making good use of social media marketing to reach your target audience and grow your business.
Focus on your business objectives first
Your strategy with regard to the social media should be careful to avoid putting the cart (social media) before the horse (your business). Instead, consider what your top three business objectives are, and use the social media to drive those objectives, rather than the other way around. Don’t just try to achieve a presence on social media – use the specific platform frequented by your target audience to help you acquire 25% more leads this year, for instance.
Be authentic
People relate to other people more so than to a faceless business entity. That means you need to give your business a ‘face’, a personality. Emphasize the human aspect of your business by telling your story, and the story of your employees. By showing that your company personnel are involved in the community, or perhaps that you support a local worthy cause, you will connect much better with consumers you’re trying to reach.
Think Visual
It’s worth remembering that people’s attention spans tend to be very limited on the Internet, so if you don’t capture their interest immediately, they’ll probably move on to the next website. More than 50% of all people who visit Facebook watch at least one video every day, and that’s just one social media platform. Live Facebook videos are exploding in popularity because they’re such a great way to launch new products, provide background on your company, demonstrate ‘how-to’ use products, and make important announcements.
Content Is King
While blogs are valuable, your content shouldn’t stop there. You want to create content that’s tailored to the three stages of the funnel – awareness, evaluation, and conversion. Blogs and social media posts are great for awareness. However, you’ll want to craft effective content that work best for evaluation and conversion. This includes content such as case studies, customer/client testimonials, a coupon, webinar, software download, and more.
Visual content is super powerful, as well. If you can create an Infographic that has genuine value and appeal to your target audience, there’s no telling how much it might be shared around the globe. It’s imperative to determine your target audience and what type of content will be valuable to them.
Build Your LinkedIn
Almost all business owners would benefit by increasing their LinkedIn marketing. By promoting greater engagement of LinkedIn users with your company, you will undoubtedly see a boost in conversion rates and sales. Become an authority in your field, and reach out to potential customers with messages tailored to their specific needs. You can use Sales Navigator to build your target audience list, and then reach out to decision-makers with personalized messages.
Dominate the most appropriate platforms
It’s alright to have a presence on many of the social media platforms, but you really need to focus your attention on the one or two platforms where most of your target audience spends time, and where your business can fit right in. Twitter for instance, caters to an audience interested in breaking news and technology announcements, so if that fits your company, that’s where you should try to dominate.
Match your content type to the social media channel
When you’re crafting social media content, make sure it’s of the type which is well-suited to the platform you’re using, even if you have to create separate kinds of content for each platform. Tools like Stencil and Canva can help you produce content ideally suited to the platform.
Be Social
Starting a conversation in social media can be a terrific way to get people engaged and interacting with you. You should also be sharing content, re-tweeting posts that are interesting, and ask questions of your own which elicit responses from other users. You should also jump into conversations around your expertise, as well as nurture conversations you have started. By showing that you’re actively engaged yourself, your business can be seen as an involved, caring entity.
Have a Clear Goal When Advertising on Facebook
If Facebook is your platform of choice, or at least one of them, you’ll need to create some ads which fit well with it. The tremendous ability of Facebook to target a specific audience can lead you to the success you crave, but only if you’ve pre-determined what you’re trying to achieve, and have crafted your ads accordingly.
Don’t try to do it yourself
As an entrepreneur or small business owner, your focus is on launching and scaling your business. If you don’t have the in-house personnel to execute your social media marketing strategies, hire a San Diego marketing firm to ensure that your objectives are achieved. Social media marketing is often more effective when left up to the experts who work in that arena on a daily basis. Contact us to learn more about how we can help grow your small business.
