Social media is a lot more than a tool for staying in touch with family and friends or sharing funny pictures. It is now the platform of choice for many people to disseminate information quickly. This is due to the belief that the information received is from a personal trusted source. Growing your business online may take more time depending on what type of content or strategy you employ. Having a strong online presence could lead to increased customers and more sales. With this in mind, let’s take a look at some suggestions for you to grow your business using social media.
Develop A Plan
You must put a plan in place, it should include your aim and who you want to target. You must also have a strategy to generate leads (interest in the product or service) and how to convert them to sales. You should make sure you use as many platforms as possible to see which ones are working. Some of the popular platforms are Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. It is important to create a schedule of what you want to post and when. If you are getting likes and shares but no leads, then you may need to change your approach. Some social media platforms have a built in function that allows you to schedule your content months in advance. Of course, you will need to stay current so be flexible in case something important happens that you need to share. You should make a note of what your competitors are doing and how you can compete or top them. Social media also presents you with an opportunity to show what makes your business unique. It is also a good idea to look at what successful brands are doing for inspiration. If you are unsure on how to proceed or do not have the time, then you should think about hiring a social media manager.
Build Your Community
Social media is all about gaining a large following of people who will share your content with their friends. This is your community and to keep them engaged you must make frequent, relevant posts. This will be your launching point for creating discussion with your community so you become a real person that they trust. If you do not make the time to post relevant content and talk to your community, then they may abandon you. Speed is essential as the sooner you respond to your followers the more likely you will hold their attention. This is due to a shortened attention span as there is so much going on and so many other things they could be doing. Do not constantly post advertisements for your business as this may turn people off. A good ratio would be about one in every four or five posts to advertise your business. It is a good practice to use quality pictures and videos wherever possible. Visual stimulation is more likely to gain the attention and interaction of your audience so put some effort into it. The goal is to have your community advertise for you, free of cost. This will only happen when they relate to and trust your business.
Analyze Your Progress
To take your business further, it is important to see what platform and strategy is working for you. If a campaign is not doing well, then it makes no sense to continue as planned. If you find that you do not have enough time, then the quality of your content may fall. The ability to make adjustments to your plan will also determine your success. This is due to the fact that there will be changes to the platforms that you use. This can be in the form of how you are allowed to advertise or new tools that are introduced. Change is the one thing that is guaranteed as the various platforms are competing with each other for users. This means more work for you, to keep up with these changes. This is a major reason for hiring a social media manager whose job is to stay abreast and adapt your strategy to these changes. If you are busy running your business, then this is the most logical decision to make.
Social media is here to stay, all the major players are using it to make their brands better and you cannot allow your business to be left behind in this marketplace. It may look daunting at first but as a warrior queen you have the ability to succeed. Have you used social media to help grow your business? What strategies did you use? Please share your ideas or thoughts in the comment section below.
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