How To Use Social Media For Your Business Success.
There are many businesses today that really excel at social media marketing. When used correctly social media works great for brand awareness, customer loyalty, and increased revenue for your business.
Take a look at companies like Red Bull…
With a Facebook Page of more than 47 Million Likes, and awesome videos that engage their audience, Red bull is a social media marketing powerhouse.
But what about all of the companies that aren’t so great at social media?
Does it just mean that your business is not right for social media marketing? I mean not everything works for all businesses… Right?
Wrong! Social Media Can Work Great For Your Business, But You’re Probably Making Some Huge Mistakes.
In this article I will explain some of the major mistakes you are making in your social media marketing strategy, and how to fix them. Also, I will go over some beneficial ways to use social media, and give you examples of how to use social media to your advantage.
So, Without Further Ado… Let’s Get This Party Started!
Choose The Proper Social Media Channel For Your Business. Using The Wrong Platform Could Be Wasting Your Time, & Money.
The first major thing you want to think about when starting your social media marketing plan is what platforms to be on. Today, there are many different social media platforms, and each one has benefits over the others…
So How Do You Pick The Perfect Platform?
To know which social media platform will work best you’re going to have to take a step into your customers shoes. Ask yourself these questions…
- Who Is My Customer, and What Interests Them?
- What Content Would My Customer Enjoy Sharing?
- How Does My Product Relate To My Audience?
- Where Would My Customer Spend Most Of Their Time When Browsing The Internet?
Once you have answered these questions, you are on your way to understand which social media platform your customers are on. DO NOT underestimate this step. Understanding your customer is extremely important when deciding which social media platform to focus on.
For instance…
If you’re a photographer that takes amazing pictures all over the United States Instagram is a great platform to use.
Instagram will allow you to put your awesome images online for everyone to see. IG also allows you to put filters on your images, and even hash tag your pictures so people can find them.
Also, since Instagram started as a photo sharing social network, people on IG are focused on images. So it’s your perfect demographic.
Here are some great ways to start building your Instagram following:
- Follow other users that are interested in the pictures you post. Search the hashtags you use on your photos, and follow the other users posting in that Hashtag.
- Comment on other users photos, be genuine about your comments! Don’t just write spam comments, actually comment on what is in the photo, and your true thoughts about the picture. People can sense when you’re spamming, and when you actually take interest.
- Post picture quotes, everyone loves quotes! Take some time out of your day to put some of your favorite quotes onto great images. Make sure that the images you choose correspond with the quote you use. Once posting add your hashtags into the comment section so that people can find your image quote.
- It also may benefit you to add your IG username onto the image quotes you make. When people share your picture quote, you will be credited, and followers can start rolling in.
- Post great images, DO NOT only post selfies, be creative! A selfie once in a while is a great thing to post, because it makes things personal. But make sure you are not posting the “same picture” every time. Take great pictures of beautiful flowers, the amazing sunset, or even delicious looking food. Just make sure you mix up your IG feed. 100% selfie pictures is a no go.
Are you a business that sells products? Try using a combination of Facebook, and YouTube to showcase your products.
If your business is not one that would focus on images, but rather products than I would recommend using Facebook, and YouTube.
Using a Facebook business page will enable you to do a lot of things for your business. You will be able to add products to your shop, so that you can sell online directly on Facebook.
When people do not have to leave Facebook to buy your products it will increase your conversion rates. The fact is people are lazy, so the least amount of steps they have to take in order to buy an item, the better!
Your business will also be able to use Facebook to…
- Promote Business Events You Have Coming Up
- Post Product & Branding Videos
- Chat Directly To Your Customer Using Facebook Messenger
- Reach New Customers Using Facebook ADs
- and So Much More…
Read This Blog About Why Your Business Should Have A Facebook Business Page.
After opening your Facebook Business Page another great avenue for all businesses is YouTube.
First let me say that I think every business should be on YouTube. The fact of the matter is that YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine in the world (next to Google of course), and it is only growing.
Society is changing to have very little attention spans, and with these attention span changes your static ads are no longer going to work.
According to Business Insider, 1 out of every 3 internet user ages 16–24 have blocked ads for at-least 30 days.
But, it’s not only millennials that are starting to get annoyed with ADs!
Nearly 1/4 of internet users ages 35–44, and over 1/5 of the internet users ages 45–54 have also claimed to block ADs for at-least 30 days.
YouTube allows your business to focus on the customer experience, rather than bombarding them with ADs!
YT is a great place to start giving your customers value, instead of just advertising to them all of the time.
Use YouTube to give your customers videos on how to use your product.
Make creative videos about your business, and show people why you’re different than everyone else.
Create a story for your brand that people can relate to, and spark a connection.
The power of a viral video in today’s market is priceless, and back in 2012 The Dollar Shave Club proved this to be true after going viral over night using a hilarious YT video.
The video ended up crashing the server, and 48 hours later The Dollar Shave Club had 12,000 orders to fill… Not bad for posting something on YouTube! Read The New York Times Article Here.
Another great way to use YouTube is by providing videos that will give your customers value. Make a video that helps your customer out, and does not push your product directly.
With one of our clients Avalon RV center, we have found that customers love looking at walk through videos for each RV because it helps them shop before they come in.
But…
Our most popular video is actually a video that has nothing to do with our products. This video we made showing people what to look for when buying a Used RV was a hit on our YouTube channel. This video is more than 10 minutes long, and it has over 120,000 views!
Customers respond great to videos like this because you are not selling your RVs at all, but showing the customer what to look out for when they shop, and that provides amazing value.
Another great thing about this video is it has 122 comments, and a lot of customer feedback. Some of the comments even thank us because they were able notice red flags in used RVs they were looking to buy.
Before this video they may have purchased a bad used RV, therefore we saved them time, money, and embarrassment! Providing videos like this to your customer will make them remember your name in a positive manner, and when they are ready to buy you will come to mind.
YouTube/Facebook Were Not The Perfect Fit (But Pinterest Could’ve Been).
For the business owners that have tried the usual Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube marketing but with little results. Is it time to give up?
The Answer Is No!
Ladies, and Gentlemen — Say Hello To Pinterest!
Pinterest is growing as one of the best social media platforms to market on. This article on Kiss Metrics explains that Pinterest Pins are actually 100 times more spreadable than a tweet, and the half life of a Pin is 6000x longer than a Facebook Post. Read The Full Article Here.
Along with those staggering stats, there has been an increase of 27% in Pinterest accounts of Fortune 500 companies. Meaning that the big companies are starting to use Pinterest to market their company…
Should Your Business Follow Fortune 500 Companies?
Yes, you should join these companies by marketing on Pinterest. Pinterest is pretty much a visual search engine (the best one), and people are becoming much more visual.
Read This Great Article About Psychology of Visual Content.
In Fact…
- Content with images increases a view rate by 94% — Quicksprout.com
- Colored visuals increase people’s desire to read content by 80% — Xerox.com
- Post with images produce 180% more engagement — Problogger.net
This visual mindset change is helping Pinterest grow rapidly in popularity, and with millennials only getting more visual, it’s my opinion that Pinterest will continue to climb the social media ranks (Could Be Bigger Than Facebook).
Here’s A Graph For The Popularity of Categories On Pinterest.
Myth Buster: Pinterest has been known as a women’s platform, but this is quickly changing with the male user base doubling. (Making men the fastest growing demographic on Pinterest).
4 Tips On How To Use Pinterest For Your Business (Tip #4 Is Pure Gold)
1. Use Great Images
As Pinterest is such a visual platform, it’s pretty obvious that awesome looking images go further on Pinterest. Be creative, and don’t overlook the importance of your photo. When you choose the right image you will see much better results!
- High Res, Professional Looking Photos Are Most Appealing.
- Lighter Images Get Repinned 20x More Than Dark Images
- Images Without Faces Get 23% More Repins.
2. Instructographs Work Wonders
Instructographs are pretty much DIY info-graphics that are on Pinterest. These popular images are usually used to instruct someone one how to do something.
With the DIY nature of Pinterest, providing instructographs to your audience is a great way to market on Pinterest.
As you can see Shop Like A Gentlemen created an amazing info-graphic to show others how to tie an Eldredge Tie Not.
This instructograph saw amazing results on Pinterest with over 900 Pins, and 171 Likes.
This Is Great Marketing.
3. Connect Your Social Media Platforms
Make sure to connect your social media networks to your Pinterest business account. Connecting your already existing accounts will allow you to grow your Pinterest following with the people you already know.
Another advantage of connecting your social media accounts is that it will allow people to connect with you from your Pinterest profile page.
Note: Only Personal Facebook Pages Can Be Connected To Pinterest.
4. Pin Frequently, Aiming For 5–30 New Pins Each Day.
To gain more followers on Pinterest it is a great idea to post often, and in fact KissMetrics.com recommends that you share 5–30 new pins each day. Making sure that you stay consistent on your pins will ensure maximum followers, and create engagement.
When you’re choosing which content to Pin it’s best to have a mixed strategy. DO NOT only share pins from your own website, people hate only being promoted to. Sharing other awesome content from around the web, along with your own is the best practice.
Personally, I like to stay at a 80% Social, and 20% Marketing mindset. Meaning that if I post 10 different times, 8 of them will be relevant content my customer may share. This content will not be marketing any products at all, and a lot of the times it will just be an awesome picture, quote, or video.
For instance if you sell Cat Food some great ideas to pin are
- Funny Cat Videos
- Cute Cat Videos
- Training Tips
- Animal Videos
Once you post a good amount of social content, it is OK to post your Cat Food for sale. If you only post your Cat Food for people to buy, you are no longer social, but an online advertisement, and people hate advertisements.
Social Media Is Your Friend, Use it!
In conclusion, Social Media marketing is any businesses friend, as long as you use it! Study your demographic, learn your customer, and start plugging away at your social media marketing strategy.
Make sure that you engage your customers, be friendly, and have fun! When you start using Social Media you will see great results for your business.
Thanks For Reading!
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