More than half of people on the planet use social media. That was 420 billion people in the first quarter of 2020. If you’re not already promoting your business to potential customers online, guess what? It’s time to start.
People are more at ease with interacting and purchasing online than ever. They are increasingly tech-savvy and like to research a business before handing over their money. A brand that aligns with their values is important to them. And people will respond to promotion via social media if the content speaks to them and offers value.
Read on to discover some of the best ideas to help you harness the power of social media for business promotion.
1. Understand your Customer
If you haven’t done so already, create a customer persona to hone in on your ideal customer. When promoting your business online, speak to that person to ensure that your voice is direct and relevant. Having an ideal customer in mind doesn’t exclude people who do not fit the model. Rather, it sharpens your focus on those likely to get the most value from your product or service.
2. Choose Relevant Platforms
Understand that every platform tends to appeal primarily to a specific demographic. Younger people are leaving Facebook gradually. The platform’s biggest demographic is males between 25 and 34 globally.
Read:- The Future of Social Media Marketing
A brand targeting women would do well to consider Pinterest, used by 42% of women in the US and 8 out of 10 US mothers who access the internet. Before diving into promoting your brand on any social media platform, research who is using the platform and how.
3. Observe Proper Etiquette
Just as each platform attracts a demographic, each also has quirks and ways of doing things. Some posts may perform well on one platform, but be inappropriate on another. Since Pinterest and Instagram are image-based, these are great if you want to share posts of your designs, a lifestyle aesthetic, or your brand in action. Facebook posts, in contrast, tend to feature much more text.
4. Build your network
You don’t have to do this alone. Content promotion can be more effective if you work with others. If you can solicit an influencer to align with your brand, for example, you can benefit from the attention of potentially millions of fans when he or she begins using and commenting on your products or services.
As your social media presence becomes more established, you will likely find that people get in touch offering sponsorship, cross-promotion, or a guest blog post exchange. Such partnerships can help you extend your reach or enter new markets.
Note, however, that social media is a playground for scammers attempting to perpetrate fraud. According to Statista, 16% of Facebook profiles are fake or duplicated. Confirm people are who they claim to be before working with them. If you are unsure about anyone you interact with via social media, use Nuwber to verify their identities.
5. Create a content calendar
Promoting a business on social media requires consistent quality content and appropriate scheduling to maximize views and engagement. It’s helpful to create a content calendar to ensure you have content ready when you need it. Detail what content you will post, when, and where. This applies to blog posts and social media content.
6. Use scheduling software
Marketers use these apps to manage social media promotion across several platforms. Apps like Buffer and HootSuite can help you determine the optimum times of day to post your content. They provide analytics, including information on how frequently to post to maximize reach and engagement. Load your content into the app and set it to post at the appropriate times. Use its feedback to measure your posts’ performance and adjust as necessary.
7. Create Engagement
Modern marketers need to do more than tell people how great their brand is. Create engagement by making sure much of your social media is a dialogue. Key into current, relevant issues and start a debate. Express an unusual viewpoint and ask for thoughts and comments. Ask questions.
Social media provides a fantastic opportunity to learn more about your customers, what they want, and their challenges. All you have to do is ask, showing a genuine interest. When a customer leaves a comment on any social media platform, reply promptly with a personalized message.
8. Create value
When promoting a business on social media, it’s worth remembering that you are competing for attention with every other website, not to mention what’s going on offline. When promoting your business, always keep in mind whether you are providing value to your customers and potential clients.
9. Respond to Negative feedback Professionally
People tend to be quicker to complain than to praise. Sooner or later, one or more of your social media platforms is going to host some negative feedback about your business.
Read:- Top ways to find influencers online and reach out to them
Public negative feedback can sting, but it’s also an excellent opportunity to demonstrate your professionalism and how much you care about your customers. Acknowledge their frustrations, address their concerns directly, and demonstrate that you are taking steps to remedy them. As ever, respond promptly.
10. Promote your blog content
As a rule of thumb, spend as much time promoting your posts as you spend creating them. It’s not enough to publish an engaging, relevant post and then walk away. At the least, you need to tell your subscriber list and repost links to the content via your social media platforms. You can push the same content more than once, even over a short period, as long as you vary your approach each time.
11. Create and share video
People love to be entertained and informed via videos. More and more platforms have incorporated video as part of their offering. According to DataBox, videos drive the most ad clicks on Facebook. Compelling, immediate, lively, and authentic, they remain popular and influential.
An authentic behind-the-scenes video can help humanize a brand. They are ideal for telling customers more about what you do while also developing relationships with them. You can also consider interviews, explainer videos, and much more.
12. Explore paid Ads
According to the Social Media Examiner’s Social Media Marketing Industry report 2021, a massive 93% of marketers used Facebook. Seventy percent of marketers used Facebook ads.
Using paid advertising on Facebook, you can target relevant demographics – such as age, gender, and location – very effectively. It is also a very flexible, controllable way to promote a business. You can easily monitor how a campaign is going and adjust how much you are willing to spend.
By promoting via social media, you can reach your target demographic efficiently. It’s relatively inexpensive compared to more traditional, offline promotion methods. And your customers and networks you develop online will happily do much of the legwork for you. If you have a great product or service and your content is useful, people will happily share it and spread awareness about your brand.