Over the last 15 years or so, social media platforms have become an integral part of modern life. Both individuals and businesses use them on an almost daily basis to connect and engage with each other.
Now that social media is ubiquitous; it's more common than ever for brands and businesses to utilize these platforms for marketing purposes. However, many smaller companies still struggle with using them effectively. Fortunately, we're here to show you five unique ways to use social media to grow your business and build a strong following. Here's everything you need to know.
Increase Brand Awareness
One of the best ways to leverage social platforms for your business is to promote your brand as much as possible. The larger your audience, the greater your outreach and the easier it is to increase brand awareness. Some easy ways to generate buzz on social media include:
Contests and Giveaways - Everyone likes free stuff, so hosting a contest or giveaway promotion is a quick way to get people talking about your brand. Just make sure the prizes are worthwhile and make it so people have to follow and share your profile to qualify to win.
High-Quality Video Content - While it's hard to make your content go viral, it's always possible to make waves with a well-executed video. Also, remember that you don't need high production values for a clip to spread quickly - it just has to strike a chord with audiences.
Influencer Partnerships - If you're a new business, you likely won't be able to connect with high-profile influencers with hundreds of thousands of followers. However, you can start with moderate influencers and move up as you build a bigger audience. Over time, influencers may reach out to you for partnerships.
Also, don't forget that your company's logo will go a long way toward building brand awareness and recognition. Your logo should be on all your posts and featured prominently in all promotions. If you need help designing a logo, you can use logo creator programs to generate ideas and refine the ones you like most.
Introduce New Products
Product launches are an essential part of running any business, and they're a reliable marketing strategy. Social media allows you to promote new products quickly and easily across different platforms. Just follow these tips when introducing new items to your followers:
Focus on the Product's Value - Show off your new item and how it can improve users' lives. Action photos and videos are far more persuasive than static images of the product itself.
Create a Story Around It - Ideally, you can share stories from real people who have used the product in their lives. Alternatively, you can weave generic story threads into your copywriting.
Highlight the Advantages Over the Competition - If other companies sell similar items, be sure to promote how yours is better and more distinctive.
Reach New Audiences
As you're probably aware, each social media platform appeals to a different demographic. For example, Facebook is more popular with middle-aged and older individuals, while TikTok and Snapchat are favorites among younger generations.
Even within social media apps are different groups and niches. Thankfully, it's super easy to find these groups and reach out with your marketing and promotional materials.
However, you must be careful when reaching out to new audiences on different social apps. Typically, users are wary of branded content and official representatives within their social media circles. So, instead of blasting everyone with ads and sales pitches, it's better to promote materials that add value to users' lives.
For example, if you're a cosmetic company, you can host a live makeup tutorial on social media. While the goal is ultimately to sell products, users can see the value of learning how to incorporate these items into their regular beauty routine. Also, you can have sales reps use these groups to conduct market research and discover what your target demographics value the most.
Drive Traffic to Your Website
Social channels are also integral to generating more traffic for your website. There are several ways to do this, including:
Blog Posts and Content Sharing - Content creation should be a central component of your marketing strategy already, so you can merge it with social media advertising. Sharing links to helpful and informative blog posts can help bring many new people back to your website.
Live Sessions - Many platforms allow you to go live, which is helpful when you're hosting an event or something like a Q&A session. During the live stream, be sure to shout out your website and provide links to specific landing pages. For example, if you're promoting a new product, you can include a link to its page so people can purchase it directly.
Paid Ads - One of the primary benefits of advertising on social media is that you can easily target specific demographics. Because these platforms cultivate so much user information, you can deliver hyper-specific ads that appeal to different audiences. Plus, using a pay-per-click model usually offers a decent return.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - Even if you have a website, your social profiles may appear in search results above your web pages. So, it makes sense to optimize these profiles with high-volume keywords whenever possible. In some cases, your website and social media pages may show up in the same batch of results.
Get New Leads
Overall, there are two primary reasons to incorporate social media apps into your marketing strategy. First, you want to build an audience of loyal customers who pay attention to the content you produce and the products you sell. Second, you should use social media to generate sales leads. Lead generation is pretty easy to do with methods like:
Lead Generation Ads - You can use paid advertising on social media for many things, including lead generation. In this case, the goal is to get a user to click a link and visit a landing page. From there, visitors can submit their contact information and join your subscriber list. Or, they can request information from the sales team and start their journey along your sales funnel.
User Testimonials - Reviews and referrals are essential for building your brand's authenticity in the minds of new leads. Fortunately, it's easy to cultivate these reviews from your social pages. You can screenshot examples of positive comments on different social posts or look at posts where users tagged your business. These testimonials will help convince more people to check out your brand and see what you have to offer.
Lead Generation Events - We've already mentioned how live sessions can boost your brand awareness or expand your outreach. However, these events can also help you capture more leads, especially if the session is super valuable for your target audience. Also, it's easy to remind viewers to click a link or visit a landing page throughout the event. As long as you're providing value, you can generate many leads from a single session.
Giveaways - Contests are an excellent form of lead generation because people are more willing to give you their contact information in exchange for a chance to win. However, for this tactic to work more effectively, you should offer prizes that are valuable to your target demographic. This way, you're more likely to close sales with those who don't win because they're already interested in what you're selling.
Overall, social media platforms are excellent opportunities for growth and prosperity. That said, managing your social profiles can be a full-time job, especially because you need to engage with your audience and stay active on these sites. However, you can use social media scheduling tools to help you with that. Keep in mind that the more resources you put into social media marketing, the better your return.
