With nearly 2 billion people in the world connected to social media, it’s no wonder that more and more businesses are utilizing these free platforms to promote their products and services. If you’re ready to take your social media marketing efforts to the next level, check out this list of the best social media marketing tactics for business growth. No matter what industry you’re in, these effective tactics can help you build awareness and attract new customers with little to no financial investment from your business. Follow these tips and see the results for yourself!
Tag Influencers
Influencers are in every niche, and it’s your job as a marketer to find them. There are a number of tools that can help you connect with influencers, but it always helps to begin by seeing who already has an audience that might be interested in your product or service. This can be done through social media searches on sites like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. After finding potential influencers, you should reach out and engage with them.
Seek out the relevant hashtag
Social media marketing platforms offer users a way to search for specific topics or hashtags. If you’re trying to reach a certain demographic, and know your market frequents one of these platforms, it can be useful (and fun!) to check out relevant hashtags. Of course, make sure they are relevant and that you have something valuable to add! Make sure your hashtag is trending—don’t add fuel to an already burning fire! And don’t forget about image-based platforms like Instagram; use relevant hashtags in your captions to expand visibility.
Post at peak hours
Many people don’t realize that when they post to social media, they’re missing out on a ton of engagement. It turns out that certain times of day—when your audience is most active—will get you more interaction than others. If you have time during your day, consider setting up different shifts for yourself and updating your profiles at peak hours. For example, while you might be a morning person, many of your followers may not be online until after work.
Engage your community
If you aren’t getting enough traffic, or aren’t seeing any engagement on your social media posts, you may want to rethink how you engage your community. It takes time and patience, but there are some tried-and-true tactics that work. The first thing you should do is figure out where people are engaging with your brand online—it might be Instagram, Facebook or Twitter. What they like is different for everyone; start by focusing on one channel at a time.
Share a behind-the-scenes look
We live in a world where people are hungry for information on how things get made—including companies, products, and marketing tactics. People love hearing about what you’re doing behind the scenes and how you’ve grown your company from an idea into a full-blown business. Share your story with them! Let potential customers feel like they’re getting a peek at a secret they aren’t usually privy to.
Use videos to engage your followers
One of your main goals as a social media marketer should be to attract followers. Video is a great way for you to get your message across, and it’s much more engaging than text and images. If you want people to watch your video, you’ll have more luck if it focuses on something that they care about. Don’t just throw up videos willy-nilly, either; with so many other videos competing for people’s attention, you need a strategy.
Track metrics daily
Invest in social media analytics tools and develop a data-driven approach to your marketing. Daily, weekly and monthly reporting should give you all of the insights you need about what’s working, what’s not and what you can do next. And be sure to adjust your strategy based on that data – rather than relying on hunches or gut feel. If it works for business, why wouldn’t it work for your personal brand?
Focus on engagement, not just the number of followers
One of the biggest mistakes people make when using social media is focusing on how many followers they have, or how many likes or retweets they’ve gotten. If you want your social media marketing strategy to succeed, focus instead on engagement metrics. If a tweet or post isn’t getting engagement—shares, comments, retweets—it may be time for it to go.
Don't be afraid to share branded content
Just because a piece of content has your logo on it doesn’t mean it can’t be shared. Even when pieces of branded content are used for promotional purposes, giving them away can drive traffic and increase brand awareness. In fact, research suggests that those who share branded content may actually be more likely to purchase products or services than those who don't share branded information.
Find your influencers and get them involved
Most social media influencers—people who have established a large following on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram—are looking for people and companies they can help. And they’re hoping that their communities of hundreds of thousands or millions will follow suit. So if you find one with your target audience, reach out via email (use tools like BuzzSumo or Followerwonk to find them) and ask if they’d be interested in being involved.
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