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To tweet or not to tweet – that is just one of the questions that business are being forced to address, with social media becoming one of the most widely used platforms in business promotion. Some would even argue that not utilizing social media platforms to connect with your audience can actually hurt your business. Who is your audience, though, and what do they want from you? Which platforms are best for your business? These are just a few key elements of your social media strategy. Let’s dive in to the social media world and resurface with a better understanding of how to utilize social media for your business, which is becoming the golden treasure of online marketing.
Understand Your Audience
One of the most important elements of implementing social media into your marketing strategy is understanding your audience and how to connect with them efficiently. Once you figure out who you are marketing towards, you can analyze other factors such as –
What type of content does your audience find interesting?
When does your audience spend the majority of their time online?
How can you evoke social media interaction from your audience?
Get Personal
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One of the beautiful things about utilizing social media for your business is having the means to allow your audience to get to know who you are and what your business represents on a more personal level. People respond well to having their emotions evoked and they like to see that there are relatable human beings behind a business. Social media platforms are just the ticket to showing your business’s human side.
Follow the One-in-Seven Rule
All of your posts on social media do not have to be direct promotions of your business. The one-in-seven rule states that only one of seven posts should overtly promote your business. Other posts can include relatable content that will interest your audience or light-hearted material that connects with your audience on a personal level. It is important to find the right balance, as it will surely vary from business to business.
Consider New, Up-and-Coming Platforms
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While Facebook and Twitter are the most widely used social media platforms for business, there are other platforms out there that can add a unique quality to your marketing strategy. Platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat have a high growth rate right now and present a unique opportunity to incorporate storytelling into your business. Not familiar with Snapchat? Get the low-down and find out how you can incorporate it into your strategy.
Incorporate Social Media Participation from Your Audience
Another great thing that social media can offer your business is the ability to interact live with your audience. One of the goals of utilizing social media for your business is to invite interaction from your audience, but you have to stay on top of it. It is important to respond in a timely manner to inquiries and feedback from your audience – failing to do so can leave a potential client/buyer with a negative impression.
Provide Content with Value and Avoid Content Overload
thesocial-lights.com
When it comes to providing your audience with relevant content, the best policy is quality over quantity. In fact, too much content can be a bad thing, even if it’s quality content. When it comes to social media, some people tend to shy away from people or businesses that over-post. Some social media platforms, however, such as Twitter, are more accepting of a higher volume of posts. You have to tweak your strategy to cater to each individual social media platform.
Find Your Voice
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No matter your audience, your social media posts shouldn’t read like random content being spewed from a pre-programmed robot – you want your content to be heard rather than merely read, and to accomplish that you have to establish a voice that will be the root of your social media platforms, and keep it consistent. This will make you more desirable and approachable to your audience and it will invite more interaction from your readers, which will lead to better business connections.
Don’t Underestimate the Hashtag
Some may consider the hashtag to be something that only the teens and twenty-somethings are into that doesn’t have a place in the grown-up, business world. Kids these days, right? Wrong. The hashtag goes way beyond #MCM (Man Crush Monday) and #TBT (Throwback Thursday) – it can help your business connect on an entirely new level. Read more about how and why you should incorporate hashtags into your social media strategy.
So, let me guess - all of this sounds really great and you know that your business needs be on board the social media bus, but you aren't even sure how to get to the bus station. Am I right? You aren't alone. Reach out to us at The Storyteller Agency. Call us at 850.267.0931 or shoot us an email to info@storytelleragency.com. We would love to help your business get on the right track and find the right social media balance. Ready to stop marketing and start storytelling?