We cover the top methods for getting more out of your social media marketing efforts

Everybody seems to have an answer when it comes to how to improve social media marketing for businesses. It seems as though the more people become accustomed to logging into various forms of social media, the more they feel confident offering tips, tricks, and advice on how to utilize these platforms.

The issue here, however, is that not all social media strategies are created equal.

What works for one particular company may not work for everyone. And even if a specific approach is working really well today, the social media playing field is constantly evolving and changing – meaning the same approach that caused a spike in your analytics could start working against you down the road.

The key to effectively using social media to market your business is to know which strategies are strongest, most proven, and most likely to provide long-lasting results.

But with all of the mixed messages out there, it is becoming more and more challenging to sift through the noise.

Yet, this hasn’t changed the fact that the majority of business owners understand that social media marketing is crucial in today’s market.

In fact, 92 percent of small business owners planned to increase their social media marketing budget in 2018.

So, what are the most dependable and credible methods business owners can use to improve their social media marketing results?

This is the question at the core of today’s blog post.

HERE ARE THE TOP 5 WAYS BUSINESS OWNERS CAN BOOST THEIR SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY:

1. DIVE INTO PLATFORM DEMOGRAPHICS

Forgetting that each social media platform has its own demographic of users is a mistake that business owners make far too often. In order for a social media strategy to yield maximum results, it has to be delivered using a platform that is most relevant to your target audience.

Some important social media platform demographics to consider are:

• 88 percent of people who use Facebook are between the ages of 18 and 29
• 92 percent of Instagram users are between the ages of 18 and 49
• 81 percent of Pinterest users are females.
• 75 percent of LinkedIn usershave incomes of over $50,000.
• 29 percent of Twitter users live in urban areas
• 60 percent of Snapchat users are under the age of 25

When deciding on which platforms to utilize as part of your overall social media strategy, it’s imperative to consider which ones are most popular amongst your target audience.

For example: If you are a business that sells skin products for women, you would want to consider using Facebook, YouTube, and Pinterest, since these platforms have the highest percentage of female users.

2. GET VISUAL

Did you know that articles and posts that contain images receive 94 percent more views than those that don’t?

It’s true. Visual content is essential when it comes to using social media to market your business.

To dramatically improve the efficacy of your strategy, this is one of the social media tips in this article that you don’t want to overlook.

One of the most impactful ways to improve your visual content is to use a free graphic design tool to create your own custom graphics.

At present, only 30 percent of marketers create their own visual content. So generating custom graphics to accompany your posts is an excellent way to get ahead of the curve and separate yourself from your competition.

For inspiration on different types of visual content you can create, read this Creately article!

And click here to access an impressive library of free stock images.

3. ALWAYS BE ON BRAND

This tip may seem a little too straightforward on the surface, but it’s actually one of the most beneficial ways to improve social media results.

In the heat of the moment, when pressure is high to keep churning out online content, businesses can sometimes stray away from their mission and vision, posting content that isn’t necessarily true to their brand.

However, according to Nielsen, branded content leads to a higher brand recall than non-branded content. So if you want your brand and company to be memorable, make sure to keep your content on brand.

In order to strengthen the impact of your content, consider re-evaluating the three components of creating an authentic brand, and then keep these components top of mind when generating content for your social media strategy.

4. MASTER THE HASHTAG

Hashtags are a simple tool that pack a huge punch. When used correctly, they can expand the reach of your social media posts, and capture the attention of more internet users each time you share content on the web.

Unfortunately, however, many business owners are still perplexed by the hashtag, often asking questions like “What does it do?”, “Why does it matter?” and “How do I know which hashtags to use?”.

Essentially, there are few crucial steps that every business should follow when using hashtags, and you can find them all here.

By implementing these three hashtag strategies, you can begin generating more traffic to your content.

In fact, social media posts with just two hashtags receive 21 percent higher engagement than those without hashtags. Pretty impressive, right?

5. USE A MANAGEMENT TOOL

For business owners who are just learning how to improve social media marketing, the implementation of a social media management tool can produce incredible results.

The ability to pre-schedule content is a lifesaver, allowing entrepreneurs to set up their content while they have the time, yet still have it go live during peak engagement times.

Additionally, social media management tools offer a wide range of other features, like the ability to cross-post content across multiple social media platforms, and the ability for business owners to see all of their content in one convenient dashboard.

For entrepreneurs, this can save a significant amount of valuable time and energy, while also keeping things more organized and streamlined.

INTERESTED IN ELEVATING YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA RESULTS? CONTACT US NOW TO SCHEDULE A STRATEGY SESSION.