Given the speed with which information travels in today’s world, the ability of social media to help organisations quickly reach customers makes it an invaluable and efficient tool. Here we look at how you can use social media to its fullest.
How to Market Your Business
For many different organisations across a wide variety of sectors, social media has emerged as a component of daily operations. In addition to maintaining and strengthening connections with existing customers, clients and partners, social media pages can also help organisations reach new parties and expand their network.
Using Social Media for Marketing
Utilising social media can lead to many different advantages, but organisations should not just jump in and start posting.
It is important to understand how to use social media optimally. Consider the following:
Select a platform
While there are many different types of social media platforms, not every outlet is suitable for all organisations. Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn may be good starting points, but organisations should assess which other social media services may also provide benefits. Assessing your organisation’s audience and customer base can help this process. For example, if you plan to share a lot of visual elements for marketing purposes, an Instagram page may also be a good idea.
Utilise video
Many social media platforms are set up to automatically play videos as users scroll through their various content. This helps video content grab users’ attention. Videos are engaging and can be used to quickly provide important information to viewers. In addition, videos are generally compatible with most social media platforms. As such, the same piece of content can be shared with multiple audiences.
Organise efforts
Planning your social media posts in advance can be a key element of finding success online. It is important to remember that many users will have their own content feeds flooded with posts from a variety of sources that are all competing for attention. With that in mind, organisations should have a formal plan for how to utilise social media pages. A content calendar can be particularly helpful, as it will help all employees involved in social media efforts stay on the same page about various upcoming posts.
Engage
An organisation’s social media presence cannot be a one-way relationship. If users react or comment on your posts, you should take the time to respond appropriately. Engagement can also be increased by posing direct questions to your audience or even sharing their own content on your page.
Pay attention
One method for getting your social media pages in front of more eyes is to take advantage of what is currently trending. For example, when using Twitter, be mindful of trending hashtags and consider adjusting your content to include them. By doing this, an audience that may have never even known your organisation existed could end up seeing your post.
Avoid spamming
While your organisation may be tempted to get its name out there, excessive posts can hinder your efforts. This is particularly true for posts that specifically promote an organisation as opposed to those that include interesting information. If users become annoyed with your organisation’s social media efforts, they may even go as far as to unfollow or block your page. As such, they may never see any of your future content.
In Conclusion
While social media can be a great addition to an organisation’s brand and marketing efforts, it is important to remember that using these platforms improperly can also result in significant consequences. For example, an insensitive or inappropriate post can severely damage an organisation’s reputation.
