Whether you are starting a business from scratch or have been in the game for a few years, it’s important that you are always able to drive your business forward and expand. Thankfully, there are various ways to achieve this goal, from growing your team of employees to working on your branding. Your social media presence can also go a long way in determining your success – particularly in a society that has become dependent on these platforms.
Why is social media good for my business?
Social media is an essential tool for businesses within any industry due to the fact that it can help put your brand on the map. In short, they are a way to generate exposure for your business, helping you connect with customers. They can also go a long way towards establishing trust and credibility between yourself and your customers, especially when you consider that 54% of customers use social media to research products and brands before they buy anything.
How to run a successful social media account.
Choose the right platform for your brands.
When setting up social media accounts for your company, there are plenty of different platforms to choose from, with the most established being Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. While it’s usually beneficial to build up a presence across all platforms, certain pages may be more beneficial to you than others, depending on your target audience. For example, users ages 25–34 years are the largest demographic on Facebook – so if you’re aiming for this age group, Facebook marketing may be the best tool at your disposal. You can also create Facebook ad to reach your targeted audience.
Take quality photographs.
Social media is a highly-visual platform, but that doesn’t mean that viewers are always paying attention. For example, how many hours have you spent mindlessly scrolling social media, unable to recall what you’ve been looking at? As a result, you must create content for your social media page that will stand out and capture your customers’ attention. One way in which you can achieve this goal is by focusing on taking high-quality photographs – whether you’re showcasing your products or showing off some behind the scenes footage. Don’t simply snap one photograph and upload it – host a small photoshoot each time. Remember, it’s better to snap plenty of pics and delete duplicate photos later, as this gives you a variety of photographs to choose from. You should then edit images so that you’re able to create an aesthetically pleasing social media grid.
Post consistently.
The most successful brand pages post consistently without overwhelming their followers. For example, followers are likely to hit that unfollow button if you post multiple times a day and clog up their feed. However, they’ll also lose interest if you don’t post consistently. As a result, it’s best to put together some kind of posting schedule for your brand, which helps you stay on track and remain engaged with your customer base. Ideally, you should aim to post around five times a week. If you don’t have the time to get online every day, there are plenty of websites that you can use to schedule content ahead of time, such as ContentCal.
Vary your content.
As mentioned previously, it’s all too easy for customers/followers to lose interest in the content you post on social media. As a result, you need to ensure that you vary your content as much as possible. For example, while you can post the occasional advert for your products, this should not be the only thing you post. Other options include:
- Photographs of your staff (i.e. Meet the Team)
- Relevant quotes.
- Product spotlights.
- Lifestyle tips and tricks that are relevant to your brand.
- Reviews/testimonials.
- Videos.
Caption your videos.
If you are going to be posting videos on your social media platforms, you must add captions to them. Not only is this important in terms of accessibility, but studies suggest that viewers are more likely to skip over videos that do not contain captions. This is because we often scroll through social media with the volume turned down. If you don’t have the time to go through and add captions manually, plenty of apps do it for you. You should also keep the videos short and sweet for the same reasoning as above.
Choose a ‘business’ account.
When setting up your social media accounts, you’ll be given the option to choose a ‘business’ or ‘personal’ page. Choosing the business option will make your life much easier, as it will provide you with easy access to analytics and data regarding how well your pages are performing. For example, you’ll be able to see whether or not your latest Instagram post directed people towards your blog or website or whether they simply liked it and moved on. By studying this data, you’ll be able to adapt your marketing plan accordingly and put out content that is not only interesting but effective. For example, the right content will help you increase your sales.
Research popular trends.
Social media trends change rapidly since they are influenced by so many different factors. However, being aware of these trends can help you to gain more exposure and grow your following accordingly. For example, adding songs that are currently ‘trending’ or topping the charts to your Instagram stories or TikTok videos will increase your visibility. Luckily, figuring out social media trends is not necessarily difficult – as you simply need to spend time on social media and figure out what kind of content is performing well. You should also follow other brands that operate within your industry so that you’re able to emulate their tactics (though you should not copy posts directly).
Host a competition.
If you’re looking to grow your social media following, then an online competition is a great way to go. For example, you could give away a collection of your products to a follower after they have liked, shared or commented on your posts. This will boost your engagement and increase your sales as customers begin to check out your website and see what else you have on offer.