Social media is one of the best ways for any business to connect with its customers. But social media is not just about using it as another advertising platform; it’s also about listening and responding to your customers, engaging with them on a personal level, and building relationships that will ultimately lead to sales. However, this strategy doesn’t come without its challenges. The following 7-point checklist will help you build a better social media presence.
Identify Your Audience
The first step in building a better social media presence is knowing exactly who your audience is. This means not just creating profiles for multiple platforms but also pinpointing the demographic that will be most interested in what you have to say or sell. Remember, it’s all about “know thy customer.”
When you identify your audience, you can also identify the specific social media platforms they are most likely to use. For example, an older demographic is more on Facebook than Instagram or Snapchat.
Customize Your Presence
In addition to identifying your audience, you also need to have a customized presence. This means creating a profile and bio that accurately represents your brand and what you have to offer. For instance, you can customize your tiktok URL with your website address or create a custom username easy for your audience to remember. This will make it easier for your audience to note your other presence online.
In the bio area, make sure you include keywords and phrases related to what you do and identify how people can contact you. This includes links to social media profiles and specific messages on each platform where it’s appropriate.
Set Smart Goals
What are your goals in social media? Are they to generate sales? To increase brand awareness, do you want to create a community of people interested in what your company has to offer? Whatever the goals may be, set smart ones that reflect the needs and wants of your audience as well as those associated with your business.
Once you know what they need to achieve, define the specific tasks that need to be completed to become a reality. These can range from building an email list, increasing page likes, or even generating sales leads.
Be As Human as Possible
People don’t like to follow brands; they want to connect with people. It’s important to be as human as possible when engaging on social media platforms. This means sharing your business goals and the behind-the-scenes of what goes into running it and how you came up with your innovative ideas.
By being more personable, you’ll be able to engage with your audience more easily. They will become less likely to ignore or unfollow you and begin building a rapport that could lead to sales further down the line.
Seek Relationships and Not Followers
The goal is not to amass as many followers as possible; it’s about creating real relationships on social media. When you increase your following, make sure that 90% percent of those accounts are relevant, and engaging with them organically will help you improve your brand’s image online.
Don’t just blindly follow people because they have a lot of followers. Instead, go for those who have a similar demographic as your target audience and follow them first to begin building the relationships you need on social media.
Have An Editorial Calendar
An editorial calendar will help streamline how often you post, what type of posts are coming up, and how long in advance each piece needs to be created. This can include creating a series of posts about one particular topic or event or scheduling how often you post on social media.
Having an editorial calendar in place will make it easier to reach your goals and avoid spamming people with repetitive content. It will take some time to plan out the perfect schedule for each platform, but once this is done, you will be able to spend less time on social media and more time engaging with people.
Focus in Helping, Rather Than Selling
When you’re on social media, your goal isn’t to sell. It’s about providing value and building a relationship with those who follow you online. If someone feels like they know or understand what your company is all about, they will be more likely to do business with you when the time comes that they need something from it.
Don’t just stick to one type of content. Instead, try various styles to engage with your audience and keep them interested so they become loyal followers who will actively seek you out when looking for new products or services that you can provide.
In conclusion, social media is a great tool for marketing, but you need to know how to make it work best for your company. By following the simple steps above and staying active on social networks, you’ll be able to build a better online presence that will help increase brand awareness and engagement with those who are most interested in what your business has to offer.
