Using Social Media To Grow Your Business

In an internet-savvy world, social media is an extremely valuable tool in growing a business. Marketing through social media is inexpensive, and it has proven to be an effective and convenient way to gain exposure for a brand or product, make connections with influencers, attract new customers, and strengthen relationships with existing clients. If you’re not using social media to grow your business, you’re missing out on a great opportunity and risk being behind the curve.

Social media is easy to learn but sometimes tricky to master – and it is well worth taking time to think about the type of content you wish to post, which platforms you wish to use and when and how often to post. All these factors will have an impact on how successful you are.

The power of social media

Using social media to expand your business requires you to listen to your audience and get to know customers intimately. Remember, a person’s social media accounts are personal profiles and they won’t want to interact with something that jars with their tastes.
Without great content, your social media marketing efforts will fail. Make sure you come up with a sound content marketing strategy based on market research. What appeals to your audience? If you create content that you target market will find interesting, amusing, or intriguing, you will be able to engage people in a conversation and they will, in turn, share your content – helping to spread the word among potential customers.

The importance of your social media strategy

There are numerous social networks you can use to your advantage. [Tweet “Take the time to study and understand how each platform works – and don’t get drawn into thinking that they are all the same.”]

Make sure each network you are involved in serves a purpose, and has content tailor-made to those using those platforms – don’t forget the power of photos either, a good image will help you to stand out from the crowd. Create a marketing calendar where you can plot your blog posts and activities for each platform.

Consider what information your customers are looking for and adjust your content to meet their needs using keywords and phrases that back up your key business messages. Remember that the more you provide people with what they need, the more they will trust you, share your content with friends and keep coming back for more.

Your social media strategy should focus on sharing information and having conversations—after all, it’s about being social and not simply broadcasting. If you’re just starting out you will probably find Martin Lindstrom Brand Workshops very useful. With so many social media platforms out there, it’s easy to become overwhelmed but take some guidance and find a ‘voice’ that is natural and fits your audience. People like the human touch.

Take time to study the different social media platforms as well as your consumers’ online behavior. Depending on your target audience, you may only need to focus on the most commonly-used social media networks – such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter – or your audience might be found somewhere else such as Pinterest. Dedicate time each day to post, respond, and read through any feedback you have. Think carefully about what time of day your customers are on each platform and time up the right content to reach them at the right moment for maximum effectiveness.

Social media should, in time, help you to understand your customers better and increase your brand awareness in a fun and cost effective way.