Insane Social Media Tips to Your Audience’s Heart!

Social media offers today’s businesses never-before-seen-opportunities to engage their audience. But cashing on this huge potential can be a daunting task.

Fresh, high quality, relevant and relatable content is the key to social media marketing success. And that is why running an SMM campaign is the biggest challenge for today’s businesses. You will have to keep thinking up new ideas, always be on your toes about responding to comments and queries, and also continue to offer value to your audience. Your content offerings have to be representative of your uniqueness and be compelling to the core.

Rise Above All The Noise, Statistics and Misinformation!

Social media is new and therefore scary, and the abundance of SMM gurus out there makes it feel like you will need specialized help to make it through your SMM experience unscathed. We beg to differ. Just like all your organization’s other functions, you will be better off by getting to know your SMM more thoroughly.

Here we bring you some good, old-fashioned advice and tactics that rise above the wild claims and statistics, offering you evergreen guidance on acing social media. We’ll start with the very basics and then cover some advanced pointers to ensure a more holistic social media experience for your audience.

Tried-And-Tested Best Practices for Building and Retaining an Audience on Social Media

1. Know Your Audience
   Profiling your target market makes it easier to agree on a tone of voice and the type of content your audience will appreciate. Also invest some time and money in learning their social media proclivities and content consumption habits. Now you know exactly who you are trying to attract, and not just posting for a faceless mass, hoping and shooting in the dark.
2. Be Human
   Social media is all about the ‘social’. So try your best to keep your posts, tweets and shares as interactive as possible. When your audience looks your brand up, they aren’t exactly expecting to see tons of research and content. What they are really searching for is a clue to your brand’s personality online. So be a little selective of your messages and let your brand boast customer service and satisfaction.
3. Be Trustworthy
   People trust, and respect content that comes along with the right references. For example, if you are mentioning health-related facts, you will do good to back it up with authentic references. Information from qualified doctors will always take precedence over that from drug or insurance companies or even other patients. Social media gives you the power to command trust, so use it wisely.
4. Pick Your Social Platform Wisely
   Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and many others. If you are a small business, it is a good idea to stick to only two of those, at least for the first few months. Start by creating a strong presence on platforms that your audience most associates with. Find out which social media sites your competitors are most active on. Observe them and fire up your own account once you’re ready.
5. Social Is Not a Hard Sell
   We can’t stress this point enough. Social channels are not the place for you to force your brand message. It is where you inform, educate and interact, so leave the overly promotional copy for your website and product landing pages. We know how remarkable your product/service is, but saying it out loud every time you share something is a surefire way of losing followers. Make it a philosophy to share more and sell less… a lot less.
6. Sharing Goes Beyond 9-5
   Success on social media is a 24/7 pursuit. The better your profiling, the surer you’ll be of when your audience comes online. Social media management tools like HootSuite can let you schedule posts in advance and update your pages according to your SMM plan. Be active different times in a day just so you can cast a wider net, and catch as much attention as possible.
7. Be Ready To Pay and Play
   While posting on social media is pretty much free, generic posts by themselves only reach about 16% followers. And if that figure is unacceptable for you, then you can pay to promote your page and certifiably expand the reach of your posts.

You may also choose to invest in social media marketing software, like the one mentioned earlier i.e. HootSuite. These smart little programs can help share your content across social media, as and when you want them to.

Are You Ready To Put Social Media To Work For You?

Give some thought to your goals and the value they bring your followers. Adapt an approach that’s completely in sync with what your audience values. Then keep an eye on it and tweak your SMM strategy as and when needed to ensure that it yields the results you need. Social media can help increase your reach and grow your prospective clientele easily and swiftly.