Social media is now a dog-eat-dog environment with so many companies fighting for customers. This means it’s imperative to ensure that you are remembered by the audience and create that deep impact. Anything you publish online will eventually define your brand and influence how people feel about your company. An effective social media strategy can bring in and retain followers who eventually turn into loyal customers. But to help you build that foundational presence in social media, what do you do and not do?
Read on for important dos and don’ts to chart your route.
Don’t: Focus Solely on Selling
The biggest mistake of the business players on social networking sites is using them `solely for direct sales pitches. Constantly bombarding your followers with sales pitches may repel them. Think about it no one in the world wants to go shopping and then have some stuff jammed down their throats by a pushy salesperson. The same feeling is applied online.
Instead, embrace the 80/20 rule of content marketing: 80% should be providing value to your audience while only 20% are driving sales of your products or services. For instance, if you have a business blog, contribute posts that provide value to your target audience in helping them understand things or attain solutions to certain problems they may have. You might write informative content, fun facts, industry news, or user-generated content. This will make your social media page more welcoming and put your brand in the potential client’s mind as authoritative and factual.
Your audience wants to use social media as a way to unwind, connect, and consume content that interests them as a source of constant encouragement to make a purchase. Value-driven content builds rapport with your audience, and they are going to be more receptive to it now and then when you can run those promotions. As the clock ticks, people will begin to trust your brand, and they’re going to come to you when it’s time to make a purchase.
Do: Lead with Value-Driven Content
So, what are “valuable” contents? Anything that speaks to your audience’s interests; anything that solves them, entertains them, or offers them utility. Start with what your target audience likes, loves, wants, or needs, and what “hurts them.” What are they passionate about? What information would make life easier?
For example, for a fitness brand, your audience may respond positively to workout tips, healthy eating plans, motivational quotes, or success stories from actual customers. You are very likely to retain your audience of followers for your page because they believe they are garnering something of value or enjoyment from your content.
Pro tip: Ensure that your content is relatable and human. Authenticity is appreciated by the people of social media, so share behind-the-scenes moments, personal stories, or even customer testimonials to achieve that connection with your followers.
Don’t: Neglect your followers.
Customer service on social media is on par with customer service on the sales floor or over the phone. Many potential customers are swayed by the experiences and opinions of others through those social channels. Indeed, 97% of consumers have reported that other’s comments or interactions online influence their opinions of your brand.
Failure to respond to questions, comments, or complaints can indicate a negative impact on your brand. Currently, 88% of customers are not going to buy from any company that doesn’t answer customer inquiries on social media. Furthermore, 83% have deserted purchases due to poor online customer service.
Ignore your followers and might damage your reputation, besides losing potential sales. Engaging with your audience shows you care about their experience and are willing to offer the best customer service. Replying to comments and messages immediately creates a community, so building trust to convert followers into loyal customers.
Don’t: Be Defensive About Your Negative Feedback
Negative comments or reviews are discouraging; however, reacting rashly escalates the situation. You may feel you need to defend your brand, but you have to reply graciously and professionally to your critics.
Publicly responding to poor feedback may well suffice if you understand it and the problems, as this shows that your brand is accountable and committed to customer satisfaction. Remember that your response may reach all, and in some measure, the better you are at handling criticism, the more you will help others see your brand in a positive light. Complaints handled well can turn an enemy into a friend and prove to onlookers that you have the will to go the extra mile in addressing the concerns.
Respond to offending comments by listening to the complaint, apologizing if appropriate, and explaining your resolution. Regardless of whether the complaint was valid or not, being polite and courteous will always be a good business in itself.
Do: Engage Your Audience
Social media is a two-way street. You have to engage with your followers as much as you expect them to engage with your content. It may be as easy as taking the time to comment, share user-generated content, or like posts because actively engaging with your audience helps to create a better connection and shows them that you appreciate their interaction.
Engagement is not just with something that directly asks or sends you a message; feel free to acknowledge likes, shares, and comments. This two-way interaction is extremely important because it can help you better get to know your followers so you can curate future content based on their preferences and feedback.
Engaging with your followers doesn’t only keep them interested in your brand but also increases the chances that they will recommend it to other people. The more you engage the more loyal your audience will be.
Don’t: Try to be on every single social media platform.
So, there is a temptation to have a presence everywhere, and therefore, many platforms. Instead of trying to maintain several profiles, which risks dispersing resources over too wide an area and perhaps diluting the quality of content, it is much better to concentrate on the platforms where your audience is active.
Start by figuring out where your target audience spends its time. If you are in the B2B space, LinkedIn and Twitter likely need to be at the top of your list. If you are in the fashion or beauty space, then Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok will be much the way to go. Take some research time to learn where your audience is most active, or observe where your competition is killing it.
This also helps not be everywhere with equal amounts of attention but also focuses on the platforms that will yield the best result with your time and resources. Hence, you can maintain the quality of your content, which in turn can avoid inconsistent engagement from your audience.
Do: Plan and Schedule Content in Advance
A content calendar will save you from getting scattered and posting random things. A good content calendar ensures that the promotional posts are well-balanced with value-driven content to avoid boring feeds or repetition of the same thing. It is also a way of posting regularly without scrambling for something on the day of posting.
Tools can also help you schedule posts in advance such that your content will reach the target audience at the appropriate time. Timed and synchronized posts make your brand relevant. This also enhances its credibility with your audience and gets the engagement rolling on your campaigns under your brand name.
A content calendar also helps track your performance and tailor your strategy. As time lapses, results will sometimes tell you what works best for your audience and help you fine-tune your approach to that.
Do: Track Your Results and Tweak Your Strategy
Keep track and adapt so that you get the most out of your social media efforts. Learn from your analytics: track which post types generate your most engaged conversations, conversions, and/or traffic to your website. For example, Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, and Instagram provide meaningful metrics to help you understand how your audience interacts with your content.
By following these measurements, you will know when some patterns and trends can help drive your upcoming posts. Maybe you’d find out that videos receive higher engagement than photos or that posts with a theme do better than others. Use the information to revise and make content that would have resonated better among your followers.
It requires strategy and consistency along with organic engagement to create a successful business social media presence. The following dos and don’ts will guide you through the process of establishing your profile as both an attraction for followers and a facilitator of meaningful connections toward driving conversions.
Of course, lots of people forget that success on social media channels does not happen overnight. It takes time, as well as effort, continuous learning, and focused action. At that point, whether you are providing value to your audience, engaging with them, or tracking your strategy based on performance, your business will thrive in this sphere of social media marketing.
Partner with a trusted Social Media Marketing Agency
Social media has become one of the most significant tools that involve the capabilities of a business with customers, generating leads, and increasing brand recognition like never before. It is complicated to navigate through the different varieties of platforms and strategies Let’s Be Brand is there to explain everything.
As a top social media marketing agency, we ensure that our integrated campaigns help your content strategy be extracted and put to use across each of the most important social platforms. We want to unlock the full power of social media for your business lead generation and relationship-building powerhouse.
Our concern in campaigns would not just attract leads but instead, keep your audience engaged long after they have followed or liked you. We strive to provide constant value to your followers. Hence working towards the retention of your customers, along with retaining brand loyalty.
Don’t miss this chance to make the most out of social media. Connect now and see how your presence online can greatly change from real, measurable results.
Looking for expert guidance on social media? Contact us now!
