Within the past few years, we’ve witnessed a variety of social media trends for business emerge. And as a business owner, you might have even given a shot at several of them in hopes of seeing improvement. Unfortunately, there is a reason why one strategy will work for one business and not the other. The fact of the matter is that no one marketing strategy will work for any one business, which is exactly why you need to start thinking outside the box and utilize and combine your brand’s social media and content in a way that is best for your business’s goals.
While social media by itself can be effective to a point, without some form of content marketing in the mix, your business could be missing out on some great potential. The trick is to find the perfect balance so that you’re able to enhance your brand.
With so many marketing avenues to pursue, it can be hard to determine the best route to follow. Luckily, by following these tips, businesses can raise the bar on their social media and content marketing.
Know your Audience
Understanding who the target audience is can help a business determine how they will attract and engage their customers. Carefully profiling the ideal customer with the help of a social media marketing agency will tell them where to market, how to market, and what content will most effectively reach them.
For example, let’s say your target customer is a 20-something female college student. Chances are that posting ads in the local newspaper won’t be the best way to reach her. For this particular demographic, it is best to spend time marketing online and on social media networks. In addition, this particular business should not try to market high-end, costly products to this particular customer. Being on a college student budget, she is most likely not going to be spending a lot of money.
Information such as gender, age, location, and economic status may seem insignificant when finding the best marketing tactic, but knowing as much information as possible about their potential customers can a business determine how that customer spends their time and money.
Amplify Social Media
Tailoring the content for each social network can certainly improve how you reach the right audience for each particular network. Depending on which platform(s) you are utilizing:
1) Twitter: Best for keeping customers updated a few times each day. Posts should be short, sweet, and easy to digest. Tweeting about trending topics and relating them to your industry is a great way to draw more attention to your business.
Furthermore, with Twitter, timing means everything, so be sure to do your research and determine when the most effective time will be to tweet.
2) Google+: With Google+, posts can go a long way as far as exposure goes. By optimizing your information, such as the SEO title, page URL, and meta description, you’ll be able to build a stronger foundation for your brand’s success.
3) Facebook: Like Twitter, the time at which you post on Facebook will have an impact on the total reach. Because it’s not recommended to post as frequently as you would on Twitter, knowing when your fans are online viewing their News Feeds is crucial.
The Facebook platform offers plenty of ways to engage with fans. Allowing people to post content on your business’s Facebook page, hosting “caption this” contests with images, replying to comments, and tagging commenters are all effective ways of communicating with your audience.
Reach Out
Interacting and engaging with people who aren’t currently following your business is another way to make sure your content is reaching your targeted audience. While it is important to interact with those who are already in their inner circle, reaching out to those who aren’t familiar with your business can increase influence and expand reach.
Lastly, accepting outside contributions to your business’s blog can help magnify their content as well as social media reach. Inviting others to contribute posts to a blog adds fresh, new content, and also allows the blog to be seen by the followers of the guest writer as well.
Connecting with Customers
“Put yourself in their shoes” is a phrase that is fitting. Understanding how the customer feels and what they are looking for can help a business figure out what is best for their customer, not just what is best for the business. Going the extra mile to ensure that customers get the best product for their needs will increase the chances that the customer will become part of a loyal customer base.
Bringing social media marketing and content marketing together can help amplify a business’s marketing strategy. To get this tactic right, it is important to understand the audience, magnify social media measures, and connect with customers on an emotional level.
