According to Buffer’s State of Social 2016 report, there are five main reasons that businesses are on social media. They are, in order of the biggest reason to the smallest reason: brand awareness (85% of businesses), community engagement (71%), content distribution (61%), lead generation (54%), and customer support (21%).
Since each of these are the same goals that we see businesses reaching for everyday, we wanted to give you some tips on achieving each of these social media goals.
1. Brand Awareness
Simply put, you want people to be aware that you’re out there. Having a presence on social media and putting yourself in front of your potential customers is a great way to do that.
A few tactics to really focus on brand awareness this year are:
- Follow 50 new people each day on the platform best suited for your business.
- Share company announcements and information with your followers.
- Be present on the platform. Share often and with purpose.
- Interact with your followers and those you follow.
2. Community Engagement
This is one of the most important parts of social media marketing. Simply sharing your products and talking at the people who read your page isn’t a strong strategy. Instead, you need to talk with them.
Here are a few ways to engage with your community:
- Share engaging content that invites your followers to interact.
- Start conversations with current and potential customers.
- Monitor your brand mentions to make sure you’re engaging with everyone talking about your business.
- Respond to all mentions, messages, and comments.
3. Content Distribution
Content distribution means that you’re creating content to share on social media with the intention of driving customers back to your website or inciting customers to make a purchase. This can range from blog posts to custom graphics to product or service links.
Use these tips to focus on your content distribution efforts:
- Create quality blog content that teaches your audience something.
- Update your blog at least 2-4 times every month.
- Turn your product photos into custom graphics.
- Set up a photoshoot to get professional photos of your product.
- Keep your goals in mind with every social media post you share, and write your captions accordingly.
4. Lead Generation
This is what it’s all about, right? Getting new leads that could potentially turn into customers? This is how you find and quantify your ROI when it comes to digital marketing.
To increase lead generation this year, try these strategies:
- Include an email signup form in your blog posts/sidebar.
- Implement social media advertising strategies to gain leads.
- Put together a sales funnel that will easily move people from lead to customer.
- Create an opt-in incentive for your email list.
- Host contests or giveaways where the entry is an email signup.
5. Customer Support
Surprisingly, the least likely reason that businesses say they maintain a social media presence for is customer support. However, this is one of the strongest points of social media marketing. The fact that customers can immediately get in contact with you on social media is remarkable, and it makes the user’s buying experience with your business so much better.
Here are a few ways to focus on your social media customer support:
- Turn on Twitter support and accept DMs from everyone.
- Let your customers know that they can tweet your business to solve problems.
- Respond to all support issues within 2-5 hours.
- Monitor all brand mentions to ensure you respond to support questions that didn’t directly mention your business.
Make 2017 the year that you achieve your social media goals. If you’re not sure where to start, or want to hand your digital marketing over to the professionals, we’re here to help! Call us at (800) 759-7996 or fill out our online consultation form.
