Source: https://shhoonya.com/confused-social-media-posting/
It might sound and look satisfying that you have social media account set up for your business because why not; that’s what every other business are doing today anyway. However, how do you actually make sure that you gain maximum benefits using these social media platforms?
First and foremost, if you haven’t already seen the step-by-step guide to setting up your social media strategy and what social media platform is best for your business then make sure you have a look before you continue.
Now, here are 5 effective guidelines that will help you maximise the traffic for your social media platforms:
- Know Your Audience
To use your social media account effectively, you must first know who your audiences are. Depending on your business this would help you narrow down your content will be directed towards – gender, age, ethnicity, income, etc. Recent studies show that an average teenager consumes around 9 hours of the day online accessing various social media platforms (Anderson, 2018). If, for instance, as a marketer, this is your target audience, this information is very important to consider.
Note: To help you identify your audience for your chosen social media platforms, click on this video.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=30&v=s8Cyr2gMohY
- Build Relationships
Once your audience(s) have been identified, your content should be tailor-fitted to their interest. What’s special about using social media platforms is that this is a two-way communication tool compared to traditional marketing tools. This is new marketing tool is special because the response rate from your audience can be very quick allowing your business to identify opportunities but also threats if your content or the overall feedback from your business is negative (Valos et al, 2015).
Nevertheless, the use of social media allows you and your audience to build relationships and encourages to become interactive which is often leading to positive outcomes (Shin et al, 2015). Additionally, today, social media has been seen as a more trustworthy source of information through others with similar interest (Foux, 2006).
- Quality Over Quantity
Ensuring that your business post content very frequently is an effective strategy however, be careful that this may not be as efficient as you may think! It is vital that your business focuses on quality over quantity primarily due to the fact that creating as posting quality content gives your business the opportunity to really connect with your audience and this is important to part of building relationships with your potential consumers (Shin et al, 2015).
Furthermore, it is also important that you focus on one or two social media platforms. Although it may seem like a good idea to create content for every single channel, let’s be honest, you can’t do it all and it could be very overwhelming (Bruhn & Schenebelen, 2015). Therefore, it would be wise to start off with one or two platforms first and when you have controlled creating content for these channels then you can start to consider expanding!
- Monitoring
This often involves observing the conversations that occur online about your business. The process of social listening allows you to respond to your audience where appropriate. In doing so, this highlights the importance of responding to your audience who posts comments or questions to your business’ social media page.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e63moYZYG8
Note: This video highlights why monitoring your social media platforms for your business is important.
- Always Room for Improvement!
As you begin this journey with your business to the social media world, remember that not everything will work first-time. Therefore, it is important to keep track and make a list of what works for your business and in doing so, this enables you to make improvements using this social media strategy.
THE RISKS OF SETTING UP A SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNT FOR YOUR BUSINESS?
This is not going be easy no matter how much you like to think you are expert on social media just because you spend a large number of hours liking and sharing posts!
- To gain maximum benefits from social media marketing, it requires daily monitoring to ensure that the business is actively listening to your audience and tailor-fitting your content to their needs (Business.GOV.AU, 2018). This can be very overwhelming and can lead to a loss of control over time (Bruhn & Schnebelen, 2015).
- Unsuccessful use of social media marketing can lead to damage to the business’ reputation! Be aware of the content you are posting and be respectful of your audience (Millennium Agency, 2014).
Whether you are a small or an established business, the implementation of social media strategies to the business’ marketing strategy is can be very useful. The use of these channels will allow you to connect better with your audience, attract new customers, increase traffic, increase brand awareness and ultimately generate sales; all a massive contributor to the success of your business (Jucaityte & Mascinskiene, 2014). GOOD LUCK!
References
Anderson, J. (2018), ‘Even teens are worried they spend too much time on their phones’. Quartz. [online]
https://qz.com/1367506/pew-research-teens-worried-they-spend-too-much-time-on-phones/[accessed 25 March 2019]
Bruhn, M. & Schnebelen, S. (2015) ‘Integrated marketing communication – form an instrumental to a customer-centric perspective’, European Journal of Marketing. Vol. 51 No. 3
Business.GOV.AU, (2018), ’Pros and cons of using social media for business’. Business.GOV.AU[online]
https://www.business.gov.au/marketing/social-media/pros-and-cons-of-social-media[accessed 25 March 2019]
Fox, G. & Longart, P. (2016) ‘Electronic word-of-mouth: successful communication strategies for restaurants’, Tourism and Hospitality Management. Vol. 2 No. 2
Jucaityte, I. & Mascinskiene, J. (2014) ‘Peculiarities of social media integration into marketing communication’, Procedia – Social and Behavioural Sciences. Vol. 156
Millennium Agency, (2014), ‘4 Risks for Your Business to Consider When Using Social Media’. Millennium Agency. [online]
https://mill.agency/4-risks-business-consider-using-social-media/[accessed 26 March 2019]
Shin, W., Pang, A., Kim, H.J. (2015) ‘Building Relationships Through Integrated Online Media: Global Organizations’ Use of Brand Web Sites, Facebook, and Twitter’, Journal of Business and Technical Communication. Vol. 29. No. 2
Valos, M.J., Habibi, F.H., Casidy, R., Driesener, C.B, Maplestone, V.L. (2015) ‘Exploring the integration of social media within integrated marketing communication frameworks’, Marketing Intelligence & Planning. Vol. 34 No. 1
