Improve your social media marketing

Social media marketing is not about only having a business page and presence on social media anymore. Social media for businesses and brands is about connecting with people, sharing, and communicating. Social media marketing strategies must be focused on real engagement because real customers are looking to connect with brands and promotions on social media now more than ever.

7 in 10 Gen Xers will likely purchase something from a brand they follow.

30% of millennials engage with a brand on social media at least once a month.

60% of baby boomers are looking for promotions on social media.

71% of people are likely to buy a product after a good experience on social media.

1 in 10 messages actually get a response from a brand

(Source: The Social Generation)

Whether you are just getting started with your social media marketing, or looking to revamp your current social media, a social media strategy can directly boost your bottom line. Here are the key steps towards a successful social media strategy and what opportunities the different platforms will offer your business.

Know your goal: What is the goal of my business social media strategy?

A simple and clear focus on your social media approach will give you specific direction, save you time, and increase your sales.

Example: Connect with your audience so you can get your message in front of as many people as possible and prompt sales which will directly increase your bottom line.

Keep your goal in mind with everything you do. This will help to drive you forward. Your social media marketing scope is to create shareable content with a style which fits your business image. Stay connected with loyal customers with photos and updates about your business.

Know your stats: Who is my audience and how are they interested in connecting with my business?

Check out our blog post about 2018 trends in social media marketing for restauranteurs here. 

Facebook is the top place to have a business page. More people trust businesses and brands who they connect with on Facebook. Try posting interesting local updates, inspiring quotes, fun pictures, and your latest promotions. This way people stay connected with your brand with attention grabbing posts. Promotions keep people coming back to you to make purchases, so schedule your other digital marketing around your Facebook promotions.

The greatest overlooked Facebook marketing strategy for businesses is communication. Have a plan for follow ups to ensure responses within 30 minutes of postings. This includes thank you messages for reviews, comments, and direct messages.

Instagram for businesses is increasingly important. This platform centers around photos. Every time you see a great photo or take a photo which applies to your brand image name it with a description of what is actually in the photo and your company name. This will give you a quick reference to search your company name when you are looking for your daily post. Think out side of the box and save up fun inspiring photos people will want to engage!

Yelp is an important one to claim your business listing on because it feeds into other important platforms like Apple’s mapping app. Yelp also offers great engagement tools for your customers. Again, communication follow up is important so make sure to follow up with all customer inquiries within 30 minutes of their postings. Have a standard response ready to go so all you have to do is send the appropriate response as soon as you get a notification.

YouTube is a difficult one for businesses, but with the right digital marketing strategy can be powerful! Customer reviews are made uber powerful with video. Be sure to use clear descriptions and tags with your content. The tile should describe your video and use good supporting keywords. To set up a YouTube account for your business start with a gmail account for your business and enter in your business information, name, etc so your data displays correctly. Then click the grid icon in the top right and select the option for YouTube.

I love the creative influencer marketing campaigns on YouTube. Especially if you have a really great influencer who gives honest and helpful feedback on your brand. Tutorial videos are great content for your YouTube feed. Get creative and do a few videos at a time. This way you have some stored up you can post every month. Use your YouTube videos for cross-promotions on your other social media channels to maximize your efforts!

Interested in influencer marketing for your social media strategy? Check out our guide to influencer marketing here.

Google Plus for business and creating an account for your business on Pinterest are great opportunities to share your content. Be sure to include keywords and links to get the best exposure. Keep in mind search engines look all over the internet for your business information. Using your full business/brand name, keywords, and supporting keywords will help boost your brand! Be creative and inspiring with posts about the feel of your image not just typical promotions.

Take a measured approach: How do I know if my social media strategy is working?

Analytics are key when measuring the success of your social media marketing strategy. A lot of platforms have in-depth reporting. Take time before you start planning your next round of social media content/posts and look over what people have engaged and what days/time where the most successful.

Specific phrases which have been most shared and received the most impressions should be focused on in your next round of posts. Be sure to post when the time is right. I recommend using a platform which allows you to schedule your communications. You can check out our cross-channel marketing platform here. Look into hiring a professional digital marketing company to provide you with analytics to your campaigns and targeted messaging. This will help you get the most for your time and money.

These steps are important to focusing your social media marketing strategy. Take some time to answer the above questions applying them to your business and brand. Get clear on your brand image, how to connect with your audience, what tone and style you want to incorporate in your image, and start building relatable content with your daily routine.

Be sure to include your staff and involve your team in the process. When they see someone taking a group photo encourage them to share it on your page. Get your team to help with communication by appointing a social media liaison. Encourage your team to share community news ideas for postings and inspiring stories about what they encounter throughout the day.

Social media marketing strategies are about encouraging engagement, building fun content to reinforce your brand image, and fostering communication between your team and your customers.

Read more about building your brand's culture with the use of color theory:

Build a culture around your brand: Choosing colors for your logo, website, & marketing design.