Customers are more aware than ever when seeking out the services for the top business to serve their needs. So simply signing up, adding a profile picture and your phone number to a social profile is definitely not going to cut it these days. According to a study by Hootsuite, Facebook users spend an average of 19.6 hours per month on the platform, so there’s a great opportunity to bring awareness to new potential customers.
Below we’ve packaged 5 areas of focus to up your social media game for a stronger online presence.
1. Sharpen Your Online Profile
Any social media profile attached to your business is a digital calling card that can make or break first impressions with your target audience. The payoff is huge when you spend some time to complete a compelling profile so that it turns into a public facing marketing tool that you can use over and over again.
- Complete the basics
- A clear description of what you do, complete contact information and a link back to your website are musts. Also including a great profile and cover picture will set you apart and leave a great first impression.
- Keep your profile current
- Is your information current and complete? Maybe it’s stale and time for a revamp? At any rate, keeping your profile pictures, cover images and profile details sharp helps you feel fresh and relevant.
- Pin an introduction post
- Creating a short but thoughtful post and pinning it to the top of your feed is like a warm greeting and handshake. This welcomes new customers and allows you to set the tone, plus you can link to anything important or relevant that will add immediate value.
2. Create More Valuable Content, Consistently
The most successful businesses generously give valuable advice, tips and insight into their industry. If you want to gain more followers, customers and brand ambassadors it’s worth the investment to produce regular content that provides your reader with actionable information. It’s also a great way to build authority in your space without pushing for a hard sale.
- Get inspired and brainstorm some topic ideas
- Take a peak and what your competitors are doing, watch some YouTube videos in your niche and take in a podcast or two. These are great jump starters to get into a creative zone. Chances are you’ll be able to expand deeper on a popular topic or branch off into something totally fresh.
- Write a blog post and syndicate it out
- A blog post with helpful information can be repurposed into a YouTube video, pieced into 5 YouTube shorts, audio recorded down into a podcast and posted across all social media platforms. This is a phenomenal way to get a wide reach on your target audience while building up authority.
- Record video reviews and case studies
- Every customer wants to see someone like them talk about being in a better position because of your business. Capturing video reviews, testimonials and case studies from satisfied customers is an excellent form of content that can be shared across all your social media profiles and website.
3. Engage and Comment
Responding to all comments is a strong way to build digital rapport and also gives you a chance to show some personality. Keep comments light and to the point, but don’t be afraid to take a funny twist or angle within your response.
- Be personable and professional
- Proper punctuation and grammar silently speak volumes about how much you care. Be sure to proofread your comments before hitting send.
- Respond fast
- Comments to your posts are a chance to connect. Be sure to stay on top of your audience with diligent replies to anything they comment on.
- Ask questions
- If someone leaves a comment, see if you can expand further by asking them an engaging question that would be relevant and most likely matter to them.
4. Better Customer Service
More and more customers are preferring to communicate through social platforms to conduct business. Just over half of users on Facebook alone are more likely to do business with you through Messenger. If you attract customers to your profile by way of great content and connect your profile to a platform that can handle your incoming messages you’ve got a recipe for success.
- Encourage customers to connect with you
- Respond quickly to any messages, especially the negative ones.
- Keep using their preferred platform
- If the conversation started on your social media profile, keep it there. This can be cumbersome without the right tools, but if this is how they originally connected, try to keep it there.
- Automate some common questions
- This can be a great way to answer questions immediately without having to watch your messages around the clock.
5. Develop a Content Calendar
Planning out 2-4 weeks of content on a specific day of the month is an actionable task that lays a strong foundation for getting your knowledge out there. Most experts agree that posting to your blog 2-4 times a week is an ideal way to get traction from your efforts.
And remember: each blog post can be repurposed into multiple pieces of content and cross posted to your social media profiles. So 8 blog posts a month can become 24+ pieces of content (or more).
- Google calendar
- This can fill the gap for taking a birdseye view of the upcoming month and planning out what topics you’re going to double down on. It’s free, easily shareable and will work.
- Hootsuite
- This is a social media dashboard that will allow you to schedule posts and lay the groundwork for a great content and social media posting strategy. It comes with some other tools as well, but does start to get pricey at $49 per month.
- Solos
- Our built in Social Media Planner enables you to connect your Facebook, Instagram and Google My Business profiles (with more in development) to a single content calendar. In a few clicks you can post immediately or plan out your month. Best of all, any warm customers that message you through these platforms have their conversation automatically show up inside your account.
At the end of the day, what is your business currently doing to promote a healthy social media strategy?
