It can be overwhelming for a new or small business to understand and take advantage of digital marketing. Not all organizations have the ability to hire an in-house marketing team, and many owners are not in touch with what social media can do for a business. You might not want to handle your social media accounts on a day to day basis, so it can be helpful to hire an intern or virtual assistant to help out with these tedious tasks. That being said, every owner and manager should still be aware of what is necessary to create a strong social media profile.
First, let’s understand how businesses become successful via digital marketing. Nowadays, companies can become famous overnight from one viral video. Then, they enhance that momentum by continuing to post and creating creative content. Going viral takes a lot of hard work, even though it may seem like an easy task. Therefore, it is best to follow effective social media guidelines to develop gradual and strong growth on social media platforms. By following the below tips, you may be able to significantly increase engagement and continue creating this growth.
Find Your Customers: Who is your target market? Where do they research and shop? Where do they find advertisements? For every demographic, there are correlating social media platforms where they typically spend their time. This includes age, interests, industries, race, sexuality, gender, ect. For small businesses, it can be easiest to ask local customers that fit the relevant target market. Ask informally, create a survey, or send an email campaign to ask customers which social media platforms they spend the most time on. This should be accompanied with online research, as there are plenty of studies that explore which markets have social media, and where.
Customer Service is Key: Once you find your target market and develop the appropriate platforms, focus on customer service. People primarily choose small businesses because of their impressive customer service. So, be the personable face of your business and continuously answer messages and respond to comments. Also, remember to engage with other local businesses by leaving compliments on their posts! Another tip is to engage with influencers that can potentially be interested in your product. Social media influencers are the new wave of marketing, and it is time to hop on. Find influencers with a diverse amount of followers, and then follow, like, and comment daily on their posts!
Tell, Don’t Sell: When online marketing, be sure to tell your story and how your products or services help people. Businesses that continuously try to pitch their products, rather than explaining their usefulness and the story behind them, are less likely to become successful on social media. Your audience will feel bombarded by what feels like high pressure ads, and unfollow your account. To increase your chances of going viral, focus on telling your story through the latest trends. Trends change weekly, but Instagram and Tiktok do a great job at offering the “top sounds” and “top trends” that a business can recreate.
Posting Schedule: You can have the most graphically impressive post, but if you’re not posting often enough, then it may go unnoticed. Create a posting schedule that engages with customers every day, and stick to it. Check your comments and messages daily, and engage with other businesses and influencers a few times a week at least. This seems intimidating, but you don’t have to develop new content every day to stay relevant. Instead, you can simply post on your story (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Snapchat all offer this feature). Share an old post, create a survey, or repost another account’s content.
Understand Algorithms: Researching and understanding each platform’s algorithm can be a tedious task, especially since social media’s algorithm used to be simple. But it is a vital component to social media, because it reveals what you should be posting and when. It also will tell you how to decide on marketing campaigns, photo vs video content, and the relevance of hashtags. To get a grasp of Instagram’s algorithm, check out our previous blog posts.
Follow the above tips to improve (or begin) your social media marketing game. Increasing engagement is not a simple task, and will often not happen overnight. Maintain your feed, engage with customers, and understand that strong growth may happen slowly. As long as you maintain true to your brand and understand your target audience, you have the ability to develop an impressive digital marketing plan that will propel your business.
Daniel James Consulting is a Full-Service Business Consulting Firm based in New York that designs solutions tailored specifically to the needs of your business in order to ensure you achieve continued success by designing, developing and implementing plans, metrics and platforms, be it a one-man operation, non-profit, startup or large organization. Our packaged solutions or a la carte selections include Website Design, Marketing & Advertising, Search Engine Positioning, and Graphic Design. Business Management Solutions are also available for companies of all sizes. For more information please visit:www.danieljamesconsulting.com.
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