Social Media has been a hot topic for a while now, from the rise of people like Demi Bagby and Joanna Gaines to celebrities, athletes, and politicians using mediums such as Instagram and Twitter every day. Social media plays an important role in how we communicate with our peers and customers. It gives us the opportunity to share content about what is happening in our lives or our businesses and show a friendly, relatable side of ourselves to the rest of the world. For business owners, social media has become a necessity, not an option. Many business owners are using it to their advantage to engage with their audience about their products or services, as well as sharing a glimpse of their life.
The power of social media is not to be underestimated. If used properly, it can be an invaluable tool in the quest to bring attention to your business. At a quick glance, there are over 1 billion users on Facebook and over 900 million on Twitter. To say that your audience could be using these channels is good enough alone… after all, a lot more than a billion people are out there! However, social media can seem overwhelming at times. Where do you even begin? How do you use Twitter for business? What about Facebook? Instagram or Pinterest?
Business owners who are just getting started with social media may find it difficult knowing where to start and how to go about it. Whether you are unsure where to start, or you feel it is difficult to create a strategy that will work for you, we have a few practices that can help you. For others that have 'been there, done that' but want a refresher on the best practices, this article is for you too!
1. Establish and understand your target audience.
As you know, your audience makes up the backbone of your blog or business. It is essential to use appropriate content formats and topics to appeal to them. Your audience is the most important part of your content marketing strategy, and they are what makes your content marketing efforts different from just creating good content. They are also the people that have a particular interest in your products or services and would love to follow your company. Once you are clear on your target audience, you can start to craft content that is engaging and appealing to a specific group of people.
2. Create a professional social media profile that positively reflects you.
You may be one of the best in your industry, but if you do not represent that properly, no one will take you seriously. As a business owner, your social media profile serves as the gateway to you, your services, and/or products. You want to be sure you are on top of the factors that contribute to the image that your customers have of you and your business first before connecting with them. It is not the place to sell or convince people why they need your product or service. It is the place where you lay out your credibility and add value to others. You will also want to insert your email address to make it easier for people to contact you.
3. Post quality content related to your products.
Just like a garden, you need to water your social media pages if you want it to grow. Being active is a critical part of building a community for your business, and if you want your community to keep coming back to you, then make sure that you provide quality content that is useful to them on social networks. The quality of your content determines the success of your business. Any product or service is always sold by its content rather than its form. If you post high-quality content it will attract the eyes of current and potential customers and convince them to make a purchase.
4. Answer questions from customers.
Social media is a fast way to engage with your customers and is an excellent channel for customer service. Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and other social networks are places to reply instantly to a customer's needs. This means your customers can easily get the help they need without needing to email or call you directly. Using social networking works well for Q&A sessions because they give you the opportunity to handle customer inquiries in real-time as well as spread the word about your business. However, sometimes you might not have the time or energy to respond to every query. Thankfully, there are numerous tools available that you can use to answer questions from your customers in the blink of an eye.
5. You can build relationships with your customers.
Nowadays, social media is an extremely important part of any online marketing strategy. So how can you use it in the best way? With the right approach to using social media, you can create strong relationships that will lead to sales. Social media is not only a great marketing channel but also an opportunity to build a relationship with your customers that will be beneficial for years to come. This makes it very easy for you to keep customers informed about any and all of your promotions and special offers. Not only can social media be used to grab the attention of current and potential customers, but it guarantees that you will never lose touch with your clients.