Hundreds of millions of people use social media daily. Having a strong presence on social media allows you to connect with a wide audience of potential customers and clients. With so many platforms available – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and others – how can you make sure that you pick the right one for your business? And how can you engage your audience appropriately on these platforms? There are a few important points to keep in mind.
Analyze Your Current Level of Engagement
If you want your social media presence and engagement to grow, you have to analyze your current position. Knowing where you are right now will help you improve your strategy in the future. Therefore, take a look at a few key metrics, such as:
- The number of profiles you currently have on the major platforms
- The number of followers you have on those platforms
- The number of shares you get from an average post
- The number of likes and comments you get on each post
Every business is different, but there is a good chance that these numbers will be important to you. Tracking them over time will help you understand where you are succeeding and where you need to make improvements.
Think About Your Goals
Before you can implement a new strategy, you need to consider your goals. What do you want to get out of your social media strategy? Of course, you want it to help you grow your business, but you also need to figure out how you will get there. Some of the goals you might have for your social media strategy include:
- You want to redefine your brand identity and change how people look at your company.
- You desire to gain new leads for your business by using social media to drive more traffic to your website.
- You want to collect feedback from your customers and clients about the products and services you have to offer.
- You want to educate your audience about various topics that could be important to them.
Depending on the goals you have, the strategy you use on social media will change.
Consider Your Target Market
Furthermore, you need to think about your target market. You probably will not talk to people who are interested in buying a new phone in the same way you might talk to someone who wants to go camping once per month. Who are you trying to target with your social media campaign? Thinking about your target market is important because it will dictate several important elements of your strategy, such as:
- The social media platform you will use to reach your target market
- The type of content you share, such as articles versus images and videos
- How often do you publish, such as once per day, once per week, or even once per month
- The voice you try to strike with your brand
Who are you trying to reach? How old are they? What are their interests? What are some of the problems that you are trying to fix? Make sure you think about this before you roll out a new strategy.
How To Create & Share Content To Maximize Engagement
Now that you have a solid idea of how to define your target market and your goals, it is time to think about how to reach your target market. First, you need to think about why someone might be interested in the products and services you have to offer. You need to address their wants and needs instead of focusing all of the attention on your business and brand. If you think of yourself as having a conversation with your target market, you will immediately have more success. Social media is not meant to be used as a broadcast service. Sure, it is helpful to roll out a few infographics and articles from time to time to highlight certain aspects of your business but to truly boost your engagement, you need to think outside the box. A few ideas that you might find helpful include:
- Host a contest from time to time for a gift card or a discount on a purchase.
- Pose questions to your followers to see what they think of certain ideas, products, and services.
- Test your audience’s knowledge base by holding a quiz.
- Share images and videos of your business and prompt your followers to share them.
- Have a customer spotlight where you can highlight how much your customers love your products and services.
Remember that people have shorter attention spans today than they ever had in the past. You need to find a way to hook them as quickly as possible. Then, be sure to keep their interest by posting on social media regularly. If you go a long time between posts, you might lose some followers who would otherwise be interested in your brand. If you put this strategy to use, you should see your engagement rates go up.
Contact a Professional Social Media Marketing Agency in Your Area for Help
Crafting a strong social media marketing strategy can be a challenge. You might want to reach out to a social media marketing agency in Philadelphia that can help you. At SEO Locale, it would be our pleasure to help you with all of your digital marketing needs. We can provide you with access to a local SEO expert that can help you by customizing your strategy to meet your needs, so call us today to speak to a member of our team!