Social media is one of the best tools when it comes to building, monitoring, and maintaining a direct connection with your customers. Therefore, it is important to get it right and make sure that you’re utilizing your social platforms to get the best results. Whilst it can be easy to feel like posting each day gets your page seen by customers, and then you can just sit back and wait for the rest to happen, this isn’t the case.
Plenty of work goes into successful social media pages, and ultimately what areas you decide to focus on will depend on your business. But what general advice can you follow to boost your followers? We take a look.
Have a clear brand
As with all marketing, branding is key. With socials, it’s really important to set and follow your own brand guidelines, as most of your interactions are going to be public. First impressions count, so start with the basics. Make sure that your logo is the same across all your platforms, pick a color palette and a house font. As a dream result, you’re aiming for your customers to be able to recognize your company from your branding alone. You can also use a professional bio generator to quickly create a profile for yourself or your business. This will help ensure that all of your accounts have a consistent look and that your branding is recognizable.
Respond quickly
In a world obsessed with instant gratification, timing is key. Whilst it’s unrealistic for people to expect you to be online all the time, it is important to respond to customers the same working day, and in a professional manner. Just because they haven’t emailed or called you doesn’t mean that they are any less valuable to your company, and it’s crucial to demonstrate this. This is especially important if you are targeting younger generations who are more likely to use social media to communicate with companies than email.
Check your analytics
The basic idea behind using analytics is to collect data and then use this information to inform how you use your platforms going forward. For example, you might find that you get the most likes on your posts when you upload them at 6 pm, or that your Instagram Reels get more interaction than your posts.
There are actually several different types of analytics, but they are not all described as social media analytics. For example, social media intelligence refers to the technology that can monitor social media platforms and let you know of any trends. Or, social media listening refers to learning about your audience, so you can craft content that is perfect for them. Along with keeping an eye on your analytics, it pays well to study your ongoing social campaigns with the help of ads reporting tools for Facebook and other social media channels. When you analyze, you can find the gaps in strategy and work on them.
Have a strategy
Just like you wouldn’t pay for any other service without understanding what you want to get out of it, the same goes for social media. Figure out what you want to achieve – are you trying to make people laugh? Or do you want to be a voice of authority? By making sure that each post is aligned with your goals and brand before posting, you reduce the risk of making mistakes or confusing customers.
Consider paid campaigns
Whilst it can seem counterproductive to pay for advertising when social media platforms are free, ultimately, paying for ads can get your message out to a wider audience, faster. This is especially beneficial for driving sales. So, whilst the average cost of a social media professional to do this for you starts at around $400 a month, it can be worth it, especially if you’re looking to promote a specific product in a set timeframe.
