Should I use social media?
Last month, I posed the question of whether or not you should be using social media. That’s a no-brainer. The answer is “f—k ya”. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and a whole host of others are at your disposal. Many other niche platforms that cater to specific interests and/or demographics are on the rise. You should be using social media to promote and grow your brand.
So how do we use social media to help build brand awareness? It’s simple. By sharing interesting, relevant and memorable content, you can attract followers, build trust, and create a community around your brand. Okay, maybe not so simple. That’s why so many social media companies, influencers, platforms, and channels exist. You should establish an online presence to engage with your current and potential customers.
Regardless of what social media platform to use, you should establish a sound marketing strategy, know your target audience and lay out a realistic budget. From there, you must create engaging content (or hire professionals). At the end of the day, content trumps all. You can have a plan in place, but without engaging and emotional content, you’re gambling with your dollars.
Here are some social media no-brainers to get you started:
1) Define what you want social media to do for you/your business. Build relationships, make the cash register sing, grow an audience, etc? Define a clear goal.
2) Know who you want to engage with. Define your target audience. You wouldn’t speak to me like you would a 16-year-old to buy sneakers (one wants to look cool, the other, pure comfort)? Focus on who you want to reach and speak their language.
3) Determine where your audience hangs out and select the right platform. Does your audience watch videos, listen to podcasts, read news posts, follow influencers, etc? No two platforms are the same so do your research. You don’t have to be on all of them.
4) Create engaging content. I repeat, create engaging content.
5) Remember to treat your social media content as a one-on-one opportunity to have a conversation. Reply and engage with those who reach out to you. Build relationships and connections. It’s networking.
6) Paid advertising for social media is another option to help grow your audience by getting your message out to a larger target. I’m no media expert (I’ll have to speak to my colleagues for their expertise).
7) Finally, have a professional analyze your data. You can do it yourself with various analytic tools but it’s a science on its own to understand bounce rates, views, your , etc. The data will help you to shape further engagement tactics, redefine your creative content, etc to help improve your goals.
This is a broad overview as to the power of social media and its effects on brands. If you haven’t fully engaged, it’s better late than never.
Until next month,
follow me on YT, FB, IG, TW and LI.
Cheers, mark
