What is it that every marketer loves yet dreads at the same time? Social media of course. It is true that most companies would be dead without the subtle nudge of social media marketing. They are right in fearing the power of social media as well.
Once you go public with your website or blog, there is no going back. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn have the power to make or break your brand. You need to not only find the relevant audience for your company out there. You also need to monitor their conversations involving your products. Social media is unparalleled when it comes to boosting visibility and traffic. You should harness the power of social media in the right way to get the most out of your marketing strategies.
It might seem very simple for the individual social media enthusiast. Posting one photo on Instagram and a quote on Facebook is indeed easy if you have no vested interest. When you are representing a company, you need to keep the interest of the business and the product in mind while posting on social media platforms. You have to reach out to the target audience and at the same time, maintain the right brand image.
If you want to reach out to a big audience without any age restrictions, Facebook is your perfect option. If you want to reach out to the hip millennials, Instagram is the best way to do it. If you want to connect with fellow professionals, LinkedIn is a smarter choice. Twitter is kind of the bridge that links all platforms together. If you are planning on creating multiple posts on the same theme on several platforms, do not forget to include a common link to your content (website).
- Optimize!
We cannot stress enough how important it is to optimize your content for a target audience. If you want buyers and readers from a target area to reach you, you need to optimize your content for this field. For example – if you are hosting a sale in Calgary & Victoria, optimize your content using Calgary & Victoria SEO.
This is local SEO, and it plays a crucial role in increasing CTR and conversion rates for a website. Keywords are NOT an afterthought in the case of local SEO. You need to include geographical locations, the correct NAP and geo-based offers for your target audience.
- Create shareable content
Do not create click-bait content. Create real, quality content with outbound and inbound links. People should want to share your content on their profiles. You need to stick to high quality and originality.
Use simple, straightforward content style to invoke interest. If you are looking forward to posting promotional content, stick to the 80/20 rule. 80% of your content should be general but interesting. Only 20% of your content should be promotional.
Almost all social media platforms now include a “Schedule” option. You can choose to share your content several times in pre-determined intervals. You can share the same content on several promotional platforms during different hours of the day. This is particularly the case for events and promotions. Sharing content, several times on social media will boost your visibility.
- Encourage
You should encourage your followers to join an ongoing conversation, debate or poll involving your brand name. User generated content is the best kind of content for boosting SEO. You can ask your followers and target audience to participate in ongoing contests. Do not shy away from including simple yet lucrative prizes. This will boost your social media mention and overall visibility.
Although Google says, social media does not directly affect SEO. You should know better. We have already seen multiple brands rank on Google SRL for their social media profiles as well. So keeping your accounts on social media activity is a good way to keep your search engine optimization sorted for tomorrow.
- Test your titles
This is not a new concept. However, this is one that always works. You can conduct A/B tests using old posts that got high engagement. We have seen “how to” titles work out perfect for almost all marketing sites.
Interesting titles that promise solutions to niche problems that your target audience face should increase user engagement. You can judge the effectiveness of your titles by using several (free) online tools.
The platform should dictate the length of your title. For example – Twitter encourages shorter titles. Do not forget to include your targeted keywords in your title while you are at it!
If you want to perform better than your competitor does, you should capitalize your content strategy. That is one cost-effective way of boosting your existing social media marketing strategy. At the same time, give yourself some creative freedom. Create new ways to engage your readers and followers on social media by posting new contests, comment threads and starting new polls.
