What if we told you that you could access 3.48 billion people? While it might sound ludicrous, social media has made it possible. The online world has allowed small businesses to cost-effectively target, engage and bond with a significant chunk of their customer base.
If you have a small business, you need to conduct social media marketing to ensure the success of your product. After all, merely having a high-quality offering and using traditional media vehicles to promote it won’t cut the deal in 2019. With people spending more than two hours on social media, you need to leverage this touchpoint.
Here are six social media marketing tips that will come in handy.
Know your target audience
While the universe of social media might comprise 3 billion people, all of them are not your audience. Instead, your target audience is people who would be interested in purchasing your product or service. After all, the objective is not to create noise on the platform. It is to target the right customers with the right message.
This is why you must first begin by researching your target audience. Understand the demographics, likes, dislikes, and concerns of your customers. Then, tailor your social media content to speak to these individuals. Now, merely posting on social media doesn’t help. You need to engage your customers. And the best way to do so is by talking to them in their language, context, and tone.
Choose a platform to focus on
Social media is an umbrella term that includes platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Snapchat, Pinterest, YouTube, etc. While the concept of integrated marketing communication tells you to have a presence in all of them, you still need a core platform to focus on. However, you also need to be aware of the pros and cons of using social media for business.
Choose this based on the goal of your marketing campaign, the demographics of your audience, and the type of engagement you are aiming for. While Facebook is the most popular social media platform, those wishing to target millennials and young groups might prefer Instagram.
Bring value through your content.
Does social media marketing entail only posting promotional content? No! You can easily use your website, banner ads, and conventional media. You need to strategically use your social media presence to build your authority and establish trust.
How can you do so?
Simple! By bringing value to your customers through your content. Rather than just posting about your product, take a different approach to it all. Be a helper and adviser rather than a service provider. Research the current concerns or issues faced by customers in your industry and be a source of guidance for it all. You can post relevant tips and how-to guides on your platform.
This will help you in multiple ways. Firstly, it will improve your online ranking since Google will see you as a credible source of information. Also, since customers will feel the same, they are most likely to put their trust in your offering.
Schedule your posts
Let’s face it. Running a small business is not easy. You have to head various departments all on your own. It is easy to put your marketing function on the back burner at such times. However, this will cost your business quite a lot in the long run.
To ensure that your digital marketing efforts are not delayed, you should schedule your posts in advance. Create a calendar well ahead of time. Plan what you will post in the coming month, and then spend a day scheduling all social media posts for the month. This way, you won’t have to worry about posting content at the right time constantly. Instead, it will be automatically done for you.
Have concrete goals
How do you know whether your social media marketing efforts are working? If you use the right analytics and tools, the chances are you will get timely reports featuring various metrics. This can include engagement rates, follower counts, etc.
You must make concrete goals out of these metrics. It is not enough to have a high engagement rate. Instead, quantify it all. Having concrete goals like “I want 200k followers on my business page by the end of this month” will help you plan properly.
Hold on
Organic social media marketing takes its time to show effects. If you expect to witness high engagement rates or follower count from the moment you begin posting, you are in for a rude awakening.
Just because digital marketing takes its sweet time doesn’t mean it is not effective. Don’t lose hope. Be patient with it if you wish to reap long-term rewards.
Conclusion
Social media has transformed the world of marketing. Considering the cost-effectiveness of this method, small businesses must use their online presence to build equity. Use these six tips to establish yourself online and watch your audience become your customers.