Is your business getting maximum positive exposure from your social media efforts? Few are. These social media strategies are tools for determining what will stimulate growth for your company, the purpose of all growth hacks.
Social Media Growth Hacks that Get Results
Most companies do social media wrong, which, according to branding strategist Pia Silva, “not only makes it a waste of time, but can actually hurt your brand and your business.” That’s a wakeup call. Here’s how to be one of the few doing it right and getting results.
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Stick to What You Do
Post pics of a sizzling grilled filet, sumptuous cheesecake, or an aromatherapy candle on your personal accounts, not company accounts, unless you’re a butcher, baker or candlestick maker. On your business platforms, stick to what makes you an authority and why you’re unique. As Silva said in Forbes, use social media to “showcase your value.”
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Fact Check with Two Sets of Eyes
This tip will ensure your social media content doesn’t “hurt your brand and your business.”
Advice and product review site Total Beauty tweeted a lovely picture of Whoopi Goldberg at the 2016 Oscars that showed her nicely inked shoulder. So far, so good, given the site’s core focus on beauty and appearance. The fail was in the wording of the tweet: “We had no idea @Oprah was #tatted, and we love it.” Whoopsie, it was Whoopi! A second person reviewing the tweet would likely have caught the error, which could have been fixed and saved the company a lot of bad press and humiliation.
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Turn “We Say” into “They Say”
This strategy is known as influencer marketing. The audience you’re addressing through emails and social media will get bored and possibly turned off if your content is self-centered. However, if the information about your company is coming from a third-party source they trust, you will see results. This strategy takes time to produce growth but has the potential for huge ROI. It starts with you sharing a steady stream of content that is from individuals and groups that have an influence on your target market. The influencers will notice you noticing them, and if they like what they see, perhaps they’ll mention you in their blogs and social networks, which might reach a wider audience than your own.
The gold standard for influencer marketing for several years has been Andrew Davis’ Social Media 4-1-1 approach:
- 4 posts from influencers relevant to the audience you want to reach
- 1 informational/educational post about what your company offers
- 1 sales-related post containing a special offer, discount, product introduction or other value
An option that brings faster results is to pay those influencers to promote you in a natural and authentic way. If the budget is tight, agree to mutually promote one another for free.
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Time your Emails & Content Posts
Big Data makes it possible to track everything digital, and there’s been plenty of research into the best time to send emails and to post to social networks. The data points to 8am-9am and 3pm-4pm as the time slots your emails are most likely to be opened, as this fact-packed infographic from LockedOn shows. Best timing for social media content depends on the platform, but there’s no doubt as to when the worst times are – after 8pm, especially on weekends.
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Combine Platforms
When composing marketing emails and blog posts, embed other content, a tweet, for example. Publish the post or send the email. If a post, share it on social media. This strategy makes it easy for readers to click, like, share, join the conversation and follow.
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Ensure Great Reviews and Share Them
The key to getting great reviews from customers is to be fabulous. Solid social media strategies can’t make your company something it isn’t; they can only show you off to the world, and when customers do that for you, growth will occur. Start with delivering quality products, service and customer service. Easy, right? But where are you without those things? Then, encourage your customers to review you, because research shows that a high percentage of consumers are influenced by online reviews. Post positive reviews, such as good Yelp reviews or those left on your site, on social media.
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Include Images and Video in your Posts
Early in 2016, Facebook VP Nicola Mendelsohn made waves saying Facebook would be “all video” within five years. “If I was having a bet, it’d be video, video, video,” she said. That’s all that needs to be said!
Visuals are valuable when focused on your company’s core strengths and of excellent quality.
Get Better Today
Rory Vaden, author, speaker and founder of Southwestern Consulting reminds us that, “Success isn’t owned; it’s leased. And rent is due every day.” Are you willing to pay the rent today regarding social media?
Will you take 15-30 minutes today to review this post and follow the links to learn more and discover tools that will help you succeed?
Will you spend 30-45 minutes brainstorming, with your team, if applicable, about these principles and how to incorporate them?
Will you take 30-60 minutes today to craft two to four emails or posts that meet these criteria?
Will you pay the rent demanded by social media success today?
Another good move? Booking a 2019 Motivational Speaker for your next conference today!
