Tips for improving your social media marketing strategy
Locally owned businesses are an important part of the community. They offer jobs, provide products and services that people need, and give back to their communities.
However, these small businesses often don’t have the resources to compete with big chain stores when it comes to advertising online. If you’re a local business owner who needs help getting found on the web, this article will show you how!
Social Media Defined
Social media is a term for the various online platforms that allow people to connect with each other. This can include forums, blogs, social networks, and more. Social media has revolutionized how people can communicate with each other, and it’s no different for your business.
Your social media marketing strategy is the way that you interact on social media websites, with a specific focus on promoting your business.
One of the most important aspects of any good social media marketing strategy is promotion-you need to promote your business! This can be done by sharing your website, asking people to share information about you, or even promoting deals.
Your “social media strategy” is also highly dependent on the platform(s) that you are using for social media. Some platforms, like Facebook and Twitter, serve as more of a promotional tool than others, like Snapchat and Instagram.
Another major aspect of your social media marketing strategy is consistency. You need to be consistent with your approach because that’s the only way that people will get used to visiting your profile(s). This can include posting at certain times (for example, lunchtime might not be ideal for some businesses), or having a standard approach (for example, you could always ask people to share their email). You also need to be consistent with your content. This means that you should post the same types of information (for example, both text and pictures if you post both), and post roughly the same amount of times at roughly the same intervals.
Why should you use social media?
There are many reasons why you should use social media for your business. The first, and most important reason is that social media is a great way to connect with your customers. You can use social media to provide customer service, post updates about your company, and more.
Another reason to use social media is that it’s a great way to promote your business. You can share your website, ask people to share information about you, or even promote deals. Social media is also a great way to connect with other businesses.
Finally, social media is a great way to stay connected with your customers. You can use social media to provide customer service, post updates about your company, and more.
What are some of the most popular sites for marketing?
There are many social media sites that you can use for marketing, but some of the most popular ones are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
Facebook is a great site for businesses because it has so many users. In fact, as of January 2017, Facebook had 1.86 billion active users. That’s a lot of people that you can reach! Facebook is also great because it allows you to post updates about your business, share pictures and videos, and more.
Twitter is also a great site for businesses. As of January 2017, Twitter had 317 million active users. This means that you have the potential to reach a lot of people on Twitter. Twitter is great for promoting your business because you can share short updates, pictures and videos, and more with your customers.
LinkedIn is a great site for businesses because it’s a professional network. This means that LinkedIn users are usually people with who you might want to do business. LinkedIn allows users to create company pages where they can post updates about their business, share pictures and videos, and more.
Instagram is also a great site for businesses because it has so many users. As of January 2017, Instagram had 800 million active users. This means that you have the potential to reach a lot of people on Instagram, especially if your customers are millennials. One thing that makes Instagram stand out from other social media sites like Facebook and Twitter is the fact that Instagram is more photo and video-focused. This means that you can use Instagram to post pictures and videos, but it’s also a great way to share links and short updates.
How to get started with social media marketing
Getting started with social media marketing can be intimidating, but it’s not as difficult as you might think. Here are a few tips to help you get started:
- Choose the right social media site. Not all social media sites are created equal, so choose the one that is best suited for your business. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram are all great sites for businesses, but you should choose the one that is most relevant to your industry.
- Create an account. This may seem like a no-brainer, but make sure to create an account for your business on every social media site that you decide to use.
- Establish a voice and tone. Before you start posting content, you should decide on a voice and tone for your business. This means that you need to choose the way that you will address customers, whether you want to be casual or professional, etc.
- Think about what stories you’re telling. Now that you have established a voice and tone for your business, consider what kind of stories you would like to tell with social media. This is important because it will help you to determine what kind of posts you want to make, the tone of those posts, etc.
- Prioritize content. You can’t post on every social media site at the same time, so it’s important to prioritize your content. Decide which site has the most potential to provide the most return on investment, then focus on that site first. Then work your way down from there.
Tips for improving your social media strategy
The number of users on social media sites is ever-growing, with nearly 2 billion people using social media worldwide. Even if your target audience isn’t on Facebook or Instagram, there are still plenty of other platforms for you to utilize.
While the most important part about utilizing social media is sticking to what works best for you and your target audience, here are some tips you can use to improve your social media strategies:
1. Give credit where credit is due
Plagiarism sucks, so make sure you always give credit to original sources. If it’s an image you found somewhere, try adding the photographer’s name if possible (and they’re okay with this). This is one way that you can avoid being penalized by Google for duplicate content.
2. Keep it organized
Using tabs or folders within your social media management platform is a great way to stay organized, especially if you’re managing multiple accounts from the same company. It makes it easier to have all your personal messages together, and separate public messages from other content. This allows you to be more detailed in your messaging, while still making it easy to see where the message is coming from.
3. Stay on track
One string of off-topic messages can really affect your engagement rates and therefore reflect poorly on your business’s social media efforts. Have a goal for each post and try not to stray too far from it. This becomes more of an issue if you’re managing multiple accounts, so be sure to figure out what works best for your business’s social media strategy.
4. Schedule time
This is especially useful if you have an assistant or intern helping with your social media management, but it can also just save you some time in the long run. While it’s always good to be present and connected on social media, you can free up some time by scheduling posts ahead of time.
5. Don’t forget the basics
This mainly refers to hashtags and tagging other users, but these are still worth mentioning because they’re so easy to forget about if you’ve been doing them for a while. Most social media management platforms have some sort of helpful reminder feature to ensure you don’t forget these important things.
6. Check your privacy settings
Are you sharing information publicly on social media, or are you only sharing them with people who follow your business? Are your followers able to tag themselves in pictures that they appear in when you’re hosting an event? Ensuring your privacy settings are set up properly can help avoid unwanted attention and/or embarrassment.
7. Monitor engagement
Another great way to keep track of how you’re doing is by monitoring the comments coming in on each social media post. This can be done through a third-party tool, or just at the source (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
8. Don’t be afraid to delete things
It’s always good pr for your brand to be transparent with incorrect information that you’ve shared publicly or privately on social media. Deleting things that you wish you hadn’t posted is just as important as posting the right thing at the right time.
Best practices for using each site effectively
Each social media site has its own set of best practices that you should follow in order to be effective. Here’s a quick overview:
-Facebook: Make sure your posts are shareable, and that you’re using images and videos. Also, be sure to use relevant hashtags to help increase your reach.
-Twitter: Keep your tweets short and sweet, and use images and videos when possible. Tweets with images have been shown to be twice as likely to be retweeted.
-Instagram: Post high-quality photos (no more than 1/2 inch borders) and videos, and use appropriate hashtags to increase your exposure.
-LinkedIn: Keep your posts professional, and make use of LinkedIn Pulse to share your new blog posts with all of your followers at once.
-Pinterest: Use boards to keep track of different categories, and be sure to post user-generated content.
Conclusion
Social media can be a great way to get your business out there and seen by people who might not have found you otherwise. The rise of social networks has made it easier than ever before for us to connect with friends, family members, or even strangers! With any luck, this article will help you figure out which sites are best for your marketing needs and how to effectively use them. We hope that the information in this blog post has been helpful; if so please share it on Facebook alongside our content title & description. Comment below with anything else we could do better here at Ventin. Be sure to check back each month as we continue adding new posts like these every single week!
