Judah Swagerty — January 29, 2017 Follow @nexlevelconnectEngaging with your target audience and improving your online brand presence with social media marketing is vital to any business.
- 77% of Twitter users feel more positive about a brand when their Tweet has been replied to.
- 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute.
- Instagram has grown to over 600 million Instagrammers. Not to mention users have shared over 40 billion photos and like 4.2 billion posts per day… holy-cow!
Driving more targeted audiences and page views to your website can be difficult. Getting started without any knowledge and experience about social media marketing can also be time-consuming.
I have come up with 5 really good social media marketing tips that will help you improve your online social media presence.
1.) Absorb and Listen
Killer content marketing and social media victories demand more listening than talking (there’s too much yapping of the mouth online).
The first thing that comes to mind with social media marketing is putting your content or “marketing message” out there. You want to create a consistent social media presence, but this is only half the battle!
You need to learn to listen and absorb.
A great way to do this would be to read the comment section of your blog posts. Also, read the blog posts of your competition to see what their followers are saying. Listen to what people are talking about and determine how you can provide solutions to their problems. Knowing your audience pain points will give you the insight you need to contribute and establish your credibility.
Think about it… Would you openly engage with people if they didn’t listen to your needs?
2.) Put Out Quality Content
This is perhaps the most important rule of all. Social media marketing is not just about promotion. Don’t spend your time and money trying to reach your target audience while disregarding the quality of your brand. Do this and your audience will stop participating. Your prospects must be able to get something of value from what you’re offering.
For example…
… you can offer your audience a free report in exchange for their name and email address. Surveys work great too! Give your targeted prospects a discount off your top selling product or service for filling out an online survey.
Add as much value to your online conversations as possible. Write authentic brand storytelling blog posts, reports, and guides. You can also answer potential customer’s questions on your social media accounts. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn are great platforms to engage your target audience in this manner. Doing so will position you as an expert in your perspective field. Try to make it easy for your audience to do business with you, not harder.
3.) Become More Accessible
This rule is simple: Always be there for your prospects! Don’t build an audience, only to lose them within days or weeks because they cannot access old or new content. Nowadays, people online have the tendency to be “wishy-washy” with all the options out there readily available to them. Gaining loyal followers through consistent updates is a must, therefore, establishing your online presence as an authority leader.
A great way to do this would be to update your privacy policy and terms of service when needed. Be sure to let your audience know of the updates. Also, be consistent with your blog posting. Create an editorial calendar and post valuable content on certain days every week. Make a commitment to answer all incoming questions or concerns in a timely manner.
Sending out updates to your email subscribers is another great way to stay accessible.
4.) Participate, Engage, and Share
Don’t expect your audience to talk about you and share your content if you’re not willing to do the same. Social media works in a harmonious give-and-take process. Do not make the mistake of focusing solely on your content, consequently, you fail in the end.
You must also acknowledge that other people are trying to grow their business or followers just like you! Having the willingness to help others will benefit you more than you could ever imagine, so spread the love.
It’s just as simple as tweeting or sharing an article you enjoyed reading!
5.) Be Patient
Modern day technology is moving fast, and businesses looking to build a loyal audience need to invest in lead nurturing. Some achieve great results overnight (companies with large marketing budgets), as a result, most lose out because they fail to follow-up.
It would be better to take things slow and nurture your leads over time. Your “nurtured” leads will then turn into loyal customers and raving fans. You can do this consistently by adding valuable and authentic content to all your social media campaigns and email follow-ups.
Dedicating yourself long term will achieve more optimal results during your social media marketing efforts.
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