There’s no denying it: social media is an integral part of our daily lives as consumers, marketers, and social beings.
As of January 2024, there were 5.35 billion internet users worldwide, representing 66.2 percent of the global population. Of these, 5.04 billion, or 62.3 percent, were active social media users. It would be a missed opportunity not to leverage these online platforms to grow your brand.
Social Media is a great way to digitally connect and interact with your target market 24/7, which gives you the opportunity to create a loyal community for your brand. What started out as an entertainment source has evolved to be one of the most powerful marketing channels for businesses.
Why is it so important to leverage social media for your business?
By leveraging social media, you get more word-of-mouth recommendations and more traffic to your website. It can drive your profits too. However, the results will depend on how effective your social media marketing strategy is.
The good news is that leveraging social media for business is really not rocket science. You just need to know a few basic tricks. To help you with it, we’ve listed a few tips that will ensure you are moving in the right direction. Be patient and follow these pointers consistently. The results will soon follow.
- Figure Out Your Audiences Preferences:
Be it LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, your business needs to have a presence on one or more social media channels. However, before you create your business accounts, think about where you are most likely to find your target audience.
If you are a B2B brand, you definitely need to be active on LinkedIn because its your best chance of engaging with decision-makers. On the other hand, if your products are more visually-stimulating, Instagram is definitely a great option. In general, platforms like Instagram or Snapchat are frequented by younger audiences. And Facebook is preferred by older ones.
So get to know your audience. Google Analytics can help you with this. You can get insights into age groups, locations, and other demographic data about your audiences using it.
Once you know your target market well, choose a suitable social media platform. It is better to opt for the one which your target market uses the most.
Once you start posting, analyze which groups in your target audiences are responding well. Also, analyze which social media platforms are giving you the most engagement. Keep a tab on the kind of content you are getting the most engagement from.
You can use Facebook and Instagram Insights, Twitter Analytics, and other such tools for this analysis. You will be able to see your users genders, locations, ages, interests, and a lot more. It’s a goldmine of information that you can use to your advantage.
- Develop a strategy:
Building a popular social media profile takes work. It also takes planning. To achieve any goal, you need to create a rock-solid plan. Develop your strategy on how you plan to get from Point A to Point B. Will you use ads? Influencers? Power users? What type of content will you post? How often will you post it? And so on.
- Create real value:
Social media is all about creating value. What type of value do your posts bring? Are they inspirational or educational in some manner? Do they help to motivate others out there to attain a certain lifestyle?
- Follow high-profile accounts:
Most Instagram Influencers started out by following other high-profile accounts. This created their first bits of visibility for them. It also helped them to gauge what was working for those who were already at the top of their game.
- Leverage the power of other influencers:
Influencers and power users can unlock a pathway to mass attention. If your profile aligns with the interests of an influencer’s follower base, you could attract valuable followers yourself. Many businesses and newcomers utilize this strategy to expand their reach early on. If your budget allows, consider collaborating with influencers, but be sure to have compelling content on your profile to make the most of this opportunity.
- Don’t always be promoting:
It’s not just about constant promotion. If you want to leverage social media to grow your business, you need to focus on delivering value. This can come in the form of inspiration, motivation, or entertainment. If you always try to sell something at every opportunity, you risk pushing people away.
- Make it easy for people to buy:
To dominate social media, focus on mobile. Include a link in your profile, and ensure your site has a responsive design that makes purchasing easy. Streamline the buying process for mobile users so they can easily make a purchase. The easier you make it for them to buy, the more likely you are to close the sale.
