How to Maximize Social Media Use

 

In today’s modern workplace, business and social media go hand in hand. It not only allows you to quickly address customer concerns, but it also allows to you gain new customers. Social sites are great platforms that can be used to reach new sales goals.

 

But, how do you go about using social media to its full potential? It really depends on your goals.  

 

 

Best Social Sites for Businesses

 

It’s important to know what each social media platform is best designed for and how they operate. Knowing where your business and social media accounts will best interact is important information when crafting effective social media campaigns and posts. The most common social media sites that are used by businesses and customers are Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram, and Pinterest. I’ll break each one of them down for you.

 

Twitter allows for instantaneous communication with your followers. Breaking news, sharing links that are relevant to your business, and speaking on a one-to-one basis are all part of using this social site. Hashtags are essential in using twitter so viewers can find your posts easily.

 

Facebook allows you to share longer, more in-depth posts, and to schedule events that you can invite your customers to. Facebook is a great tool if you want to communicate directly with your target audience and get specialized information to them quickly.

 

Linkedin is maybe best known as a tool for recruiting new employees , but it also can be used to gain a following. It’s also a valued method to earn new customers and connect with other industry professionals by sharing articles and links.

 

Instagram and Pinterest both use a visual component to gain followers. It is important to have a buyer’s persona in place to determine if you can connect with your target audience through these methods. Instagram especially is becoming increasingly popular with millennial and younger generations, so know your audience! Sharing pictures of your products, as well as links related to them, can gain you a steadily growing audience.

 

Another one to note is Google+, while it is in decline, using this site and posting on it will get your business name and address logged in Google’s search engine, which allows for it to appear in more search results. So at the very least, share links to your business websites on your G+ account so that they appear in user searches.

 

 

Create a Memorable Profile that Stands Out

 

User profiles or accounts are one way to pique people’s interests and gain followers. A cleverly worded bio that is both informative and amusing seems to work well. Be sure to link to your business’s website as a sure way to get people to click that follow or like button. 

 

Many sites have the option to add a banner or picture(s) to your profile. Choose images that give a solid representation of your brand and strive to make a human connect with the person looking at the screen.

 

 

By making your brand personable, you will create a steady stream of targeted clients and establish yourself as an industry expert. Don’t forget the basics: business is about people! Business and social media can exist in harmony when used properly. Use the size of your business to your advantage and focus on customer relations and satisfaction.

 

Buffer App recommends picking one area where your business excels and finding a way to represent it in one or two sentences that will be featured on your profile. Don’t make viewers search to find out who you are; make it obvious from the minute they see your profile or post.

 

 

Catchy Headlines, Useful Content

 

People share content they see online when it evokes deep emotions. According to HubSpot, posts that invoke positive emotions like “happiness” or “surprise” tend to have the best responses rate. Content that is relatable or interacts with human emotion is going to get the most shares, likes, or follows. You want to make your content enjoyable while still getting your message across.

 

If your text has an emotional component to it, you’re halfway to optimizing your online social presence. This is especially true when it comes to creating catchy headlines. Use emotional words and attention getting devices to pique a reader’s interest and get them to click on your links. 

 

When it comes to content, make it useful and educational. This can be anything from online courses to helpful tips and tricks. Useful content is not only important for social posts, but for business blog posts as well. Give potential customers a reason to read and stay on your site. If people find it helpful, they’re more likely to share it. As a side note, make your posts concise and too the point. Some sites, like Twitter, have a character limit already built in. People aren’t going to want to read a post that seems to never end. Give ’em what they want, so they can move on and take action quickly. 

 

 

Use Questions to Interact with and Gain More Followers

 

Questions are the key to engagement with online followers. This creates a genuine conversation with your readers which they’ll share with their friends and colleges.

 

The more posts and content that are commented on and shared, the more new followers you will gain.

 

Your business and social media accounts should be oriented toward customer satisfaction and integration. Questions are connectors. They allow you to interact with your followers and show your personal interest in them. If a person feels valued, they are more likely to remain a customer.

 

Think of them as discussion prompts that have the potential to reap multiple rewards. Questions not only establish engagement with followers, they also alert you to customer problems and allow you to provide solid solutions. A happy customer is one who returns again and again over the years. Putting your customer first is how you increase your brand awareness and loyalty.

 

 

Images are Crucial

 

Human beings are visual creatures by nature. We make first impressions daily based on images alone. This is why images can make or break a carefully curated post on your business’s social accounts. As they say, “a picture’s worth a thousand words”, so you’re definitely gonna judge that book by it’s cover!

 

According to a HubSpot posted article, articles with images “get 94% more total views than articles without images”. Including photos and images can help break up the text on a page and help the reader stay engaged. Appropriate images can also reinforce themes and points you’re trying to state in your article and can help make the information more memorable.

 

Link your business and social media images together, so your viewers can see your social’s consistency. It’s much easier to remember an image than text, for most people. If a viewer sees a familiar image, it will help them remember what the post is about.

 

 

Link to Your Site

 

It seems like a no-brainer, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to explain to clients the importance and benefits of linking to the content on their website when posting via social media. Sure, the reader could perform a search to find your website, or maybe they already know how to find your website, but do you really want to take the chance of them losing interest, or going to the wrong page?

 

It’s better to be safe than sorry. Make it as easy as possible for your followers to access the information you are promoting, which will result in valuable visits to your site. Providing a link to your site’s content will not only garner visits for your website and provide readers with a resource for additional information, but it will also create an Inbound link to your site.

 

Additionally, with this post showing up in the feeds of your followers, your link has the potential spread further as your followers share within their respective networks.

 

 

Platform Optimization

 

Each site is best for reaching different demographics. Linkedin is great for business to business and peer reaching posts. Whereas Twitter, FaceBook, and Instagtram are best for finding new customers and retaining loyal ones.

 

It’s a good idea to research them while you are considering which site to set up an account with. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses. For instance, both Instagram and Pinterest are used mainly for sharing images. You can add text to the images, but everything you submit must be an image. So if you want to gain customers with it, make sure you use infographics, as well as images with catchy phrases on them that will attract your follower’s eyes.

 

 

Utilize Scheduling Apps to Your Benefit

 

Every social sharing site has multiple free apps available that you can use to schedule posts. You write up your text, upload an image, include a link to your business website, and then select the day and time that the app will post it to your account profile.

 

Neil Patel says that the amount of content you post daily depends on the size of your business, your followers, and your specific goals. He suggests the frequency of posts to Facebook and Twitter need to be monitored, but what matters in Instagram postings is consistency. New content is always being posted on social media, if you want to be seen, you need to establish a consistent posting schedule.

 

You can repeat messages that are made for advertising purposes, but make sure you wait at least three days between them. If you share the same text too much, you will annoy your followers and they will unfollow you. The whole idea is to produce recyclable content that you can share across all media platforms. When you do re-publish your content, make sure to change it up a little. Use a different headline and make sure to include a canonical tag to differentiate your posts.

 

 

Use Communities and Groups

 

Most social sites have groups where your followers can join up and make their own submissions and comments. Spaces like these act as mini forums where you can communicate directly to address comments, questions, and concerns potential and current customers may have. This is also an easy way to see how your content is performing on different social media sites.

 

These groups are useful if you want to cloud generate ideas, get a feel for a new product you are developing, or if you just want to stay updated on current news trends. Your customers are a valuable resource to your business, so take into account what they have to say!

 

 

In Conclusion

 

By using all the strategies listed here, you will maximize your social accounts and gain more followers, fast. The intersection of business and social media in our modern economy has provided yet another amazing resource for companies to reach their viewers. Social media is an easy and effective way to extend the reach of your content to both a wide and targeted audience. Happy posting!