12 tips and tricks to master social media marketing
January 2023
Social media can be a sticky subject for most people. You are told that you can grow your audience if you make your content more engaging. That’s great but what does that actually mean? It’s different for every brand and their target audience, but it’s really worth your time experimenting and seeing what works.
Social media can be a sticky subject for most people. You are told that you can grow your audience if you make your content more engaging. That’s great but what does that actually mean? Well, it’s different for every brand and their target audience but it’s really worth your time experimenting and seeing what works.
New data has revealed that the number of global social media users grew to 3.96 billion, which is a surge of more than 10% in the past year. This also means that more than half the world’s population now use social media. With such a wide reach, it’s crucial to be extremely strategic.
Treating social media as a free billboard to slap some ads on isn’t going to win you any friends. Approach Social Media Marketing more like a PR exercise and you’ll be on to a winner.
Why is that?
First and foremost you need to carefully shepherd an online audience. It takes a lot of effort to build a social media following and they are under no obligations to stick around. If you go big on “BUY OUR STUFF” as your main content you will see a rapid crash in follower base. If you start that way you’re unlikely to build one in the first place. After all, a social media account is the easiest sort of advertising to avoid – with a few simple clicks you are unfollowed – and once someone has left it is much harder to tempt them back. Click here for a cautionary tale on that effect.
What should I do then?
Your social media content should demonstrate you are an authority on your chosen business niche. Write insightful articles about your field, share relevant news stories, give opinions on current debates – get involved and be seen. People will come to trust your opinions and therefore be far more likely to buy from you. In effect, SMM is a way to show people why they should buy from you rather than just telling them to do so.
Here are 12 different ways to make your social media more engaging:
Ask questions
It’s not enough to simply link to a page of your website or an article. Ask your audience what they think. Do they like the product you are sharing? If it’s clothing, how would they wear it? If it’s industry news, do they agree with your opinions? Prompt them to interact with you.
Polls
This actually ties in nicely with asking questions. On Facebook, Instagram Stories and Twitter, you can set up polls or surveys. Start with simple things, how do they take their coffee in the morning? Are they excited for Christmas? You can then start using these polls to ask more serious questions about your products or services.
Use gifs
Most of the social networks now allow you to use gifs and they are super handy as part of a conversation. Instead of saying ‘good luck’ or ‘thanks’ to a customer, use the social platform’s own gif finder to express yourself. It’s not only a great way to show a bit of personality but can make your audience laugh if done in the right way!
Talk about your industry
Widen the circle of things you are happy to talk about. Don’t be that business who only talks about what you are up to. Talk about big industry news, offer your expert opinion. Come up with a few areas that you are happy to talk about, you will find that you will suddenly have lots to say and some fab new content.
Go live
Facebook has made no secret of the fact that they want more businesses to try their live video format. It’s a great, unique way to offer a little more ‘exclusive access’ for your audience. You could give them a behind the scenes look at your business. Just remember to let your audience know when you will be live streaming.
Share other people’s content
Have you ever been to a party, having a conversation with someone and they just won’t stop talking about themselves? That’s you when you don’t retweet or share other people’s content! A quick RT or share shows that you are listening and a part of the community your industry is in! Plus, its something new and viral to show your audience.
Use influencers
When sharing content from other’s, take a moment to tag them and thank them for the content. It will give them a chance to check you out or even respond. All their followers, now know you exist. You’re welcome.
Have conversations
You don’t have to know someone to try and engage them in a conversation. See local celebrity talking about something you care about? Tell them so! Don’t be scared to have conversations as it will make you more visible.
Show some personality!
Review the tone you use when talking on social media. Could you be showing your brand’s personality more with images or use of slang?
Make your posts visual
Do you have a nice mix of content on your page? Have a look, people are more likely to engage with your content If you have a picture or a video. Star reviewing how you can integrate more images of your week.
Use relevant hashtags
This is especially important on Instagram. Hashtags are one way people can find your content so try and go broad to start with. Think what is in the picture and search for those things, are lots of other people using them? In that case, use them!
Use analytics
On a monthly basis have a look at your own analytics. This will tell you which of your social updates performed the best so you can start figuring out why. You can also see when most of your audience is online, this is when you need to be posting. You can even find out what where your audience is based!
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