Even though it can be confusing at times, social media today is a business owners dream.
With 2 billion users worldwide and many people in North America checking their email and social media accounts up to 17 times a day, no matter what business you’re in, social media is an amazing way to reach your current and potential clients and customers.
Never before have business owners had so much power, and we owe it all to the internet and social media.
With the average adult spending 20 hours each week online, and for kids and teens its even higher, we’re living in the golden age of marketing, as you can now create, upload, and send highly targeted messages directly to your ideal customers.
Social media also levels the playing field, as you now have access to the exact same tools and platforms as Apple, Nike, and Starbucks. So the key to connecting with your customers is to not only use social media, but to use it well.
So here are 5 tips for marketing your business on social media.
Tip #1: Know Your Target Market
The most important tip in regards to social media is to know your target market.
This is so you don’t wind up wasting all your time, energy, and resources on a social media channel where none of your customers are active.
Just like you wouldn’t advertise a CrossFit gym at a seniors centre, you want to make sure your brand, your market, and your message align with whatever social media channels you decide to use.
If you’re not sure which social media network would be best for your business, all you need to do is search the term:
“social media network demographics”
And you’ll have more information than you could ever need.
Tip #2: Give More Than You Think You Should
Social media can absolutely increase your sales, but you need to do it carefully and strategically.
The key to building a thriving and profitable community for your business on social media is to give, give, give, and then give some more.
Providing value helps build your authority, and takes advantage of the reciprocity effect, where the more you give, the more people want to help you, which will position you perfectly when you finally go in and ask for the sale.
Tip #3: Design Matters
Design matters.
Plain and simple.
Ugly and amateur designs, bad header and profile images, and cheap graphics all work together to slowly destroy your brand and make your business look like it just doesn’t care, and above all, you want to look like you care.
Fortunately, there are some great ways to get really professional looking social media profiles made.
For one, you can hire a graphic designer to create your images for you. This is the best, but also the most expensive option, the alternative is to use a solution like Canva which allows you to create professional and really great looking graphics for your social media accounts and it’s completely free.
Tip #4: Say It With Video
Video has quickly become the number 1 content choice for consumers online.
With 78% of people watching videos online every week, it’s a great way to connect with your customers and 52% of marketers name video as the type of content with the highest return on investment.
Video is also a great way to reach CEO’s, company presidents, and other high level executives with 75% of senior executives watching work related videos at least every week, and over half of them share the videos with their colleagues.
Finally, video allows you to connect with your customers in a way that print simply can’t by allowing your personality to come through. See? I feel like we’re already more connected.
Tip #5: Use Retargeting
My final social media marketing tip today is slightly more advanced, but it unlocks a whole new world of possibilities, and that’s to use the power of retargeting.
Retargeting allows you to track and then send different messages to people who have shown interest in your business by interacting with some of your content.
This is powerful because it allows you to send different messages, images, or videos to people who already know who you are, and are interested in what you’re offering, so you can continue to build and grow the consumer relationship over time.
Setting up retargeting is as easy as installing a few lines of code on your website, and once it’s done, you can start to track and collect data immediately.
So now I have a question for you:
Are you using social media marketing in your business?
If yes, share with me what you’ve tried (both what’s working and what’s not) in the comments below.
If not, why?
