Social media is one of the most popular uses of the internet. It’s a great way to connect with people from around the world — including customers.
A majority of marketers are using social media for business these days; because accounts are free, it’s an extremely cost-effective tool, and it helps you reach a broad audience with billions of active users worldwide.
So, should you be marketing on social media? Of course! Social media can help increase brand awareness by driving up engagement, including comments, likes, shares, reposts, and saves. How can you do it right? We’ll dig into this and more below.
The Importance of Social Media
So, why bother with social media? The answer lies in its reach potential.
Over four billion people worldwide use social media, and that number is only going up. That’s a lot of potential customers that you could be reaching with your marketing efforts. However, it’s not just about the sheer number of people that you can reach on these platforms. It’s also about how social media can help you connect with your target audience.
People share their interests, thoughts, and opinions on social media. This gives you a unique opportunity to get insight into what your customers think and feel. Actively engaging with the community on social media channels by responding to comments, liking and sharing posts, running live streams, posting polls, and reposting others' content is crucial. You can use this information to create content that resonates with them so you can build relationships with them and encourage brand loyalty.
Social media is also a great way to connect with influencers in your industry. Influencers are becoming a more and more popular way for marketing teams to spread the word about their brands; in fact, 68% of marketers plan to increase their spending on influencer marketing.
Finally, social media is a powerful tool for building brand awareness. 77% of marketers say that social media is effective for their company. This is because, when people see their companies’ names and logos on social media, they’ll be more likely to remember it when looking for a product or service the companies offer.
How to Use Social Media Wisely for Your Business
So, social media is worth your marketing budget. Now, how do you use it wisely? We’ll cover nine tips to help you get started:
Creating a social media marketing plan is essential to put structure around your efforts, measure success, and ensure wise resource allocation.
Determine Your Target Audience’s Favorite Sites
The first step is determining which social media networks your target audience frequents the most.
For example, if you’re targeting millennials, you’ll want to be active on Twitter and Instagram. Facebook is probably your best bet if you’re targeting Baby Boomers, and TikTok is a great way to target Gen Z if your marketing team can keep up with the fast-paced nature of its trends. Once you know where your target audience hangs out online, you can start creating content for those specific sites.
Create Business Profiles on Those Platforms
The next step is to create business profiles on all the social media platforms your target audience uses. Each social media platform, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and YouTube, offers unique features, targets different demographics, and provides various marketing opportunities.
Make sure you include all of the relevant information about your business, such as your website, address, and phone number.
Maintain a Consistent Brand Identity
Your social media presence must be consistent with the rest of your branding. That means using the same logo, colors, and overall look and feel across your platforms.
You want your target audience to be able to quickly identify your business, no matter which social media site they’re on.
Engage With Your Followers and Other Businesses
Once you set up your social media accounts, it’s time to start engaging with your followers and other businesses. Post interesting and relevant content regularly, and respond to any comments or questions you receive. Use hashtags within your social media posts to increase visibility for your brand and help users find topics of interest.
Encourage Your Employees to Create Content
Another great way to use social media for your business is to encourage your employees to create or share company-created content. Your employees are likely already using social media in their personal lives, so they can help you promote your business to their networks of friends and followers. Understanding buyer personas and audiences is crucial to creating engaging content that targets their needs and interests appropriately.
Stay Updated on Trends and Algorithm Changes
The world of social media is constantly changing, so it’s crucial to stay up-to-date on the latest trends and algorithm changes. This way, you can adjust your strategy as needed to ensure that you always get the most out of your social media efforts. Reviewing and adjusting your social media strategy is essential to ensure progress toward your goals and objectives as part of your social media marketing efforts.
Focus on Quality Over Quantity
When it comes to social media, quality is more important than quantity. It’s better to have fewer engaged followers than many disengaged ones, so focus on creating exciting and relevant content that will resonate with your target audience.
Maximize Different Forms of Media to Increase Brand Awareness
To stand out on social media, you need to diversify the forms of media that you use. That means posting photos, videos, infographics, and other types of content. Videos are critical, as they get more engagement than any other type of content.
Evaluate Your Social Media Content Strategy Regularly
Last, it’s essential to evaluate your social media content strategy regularly. See what’s working and what’s not so you can make changes as needed. Tracking data and analytics is crucial to measuring the success of social media marketing campaigns across different platforms. It’s also a good idea to set some goals for your social media presence so you can track your progress toward them over time.
Conclusion
Digital marketing is constantly changing, making it hard to keep up with the latest trends. Nonetheless, by keeping your ear to the ground, putting out high-quality content, and engaging with your audience, you can expand your brand’s reach exponentially with social media.
Need help getting started? Leveraging various social media marketing platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, and TikTok is essential for developing a social media strategy and targeting specific audiences. Connection Model is a team of digital marketing experts specializing in social media marketing for businesses of all sizes. Contact us today to learn more about our services. Or read this article on how to choose a social media marketing agency.
Written By: David Carpenter
