Regardless of whether you are a small business owner or a corporate manager, the size of the company does not matter when it comes to growth. To achieve growth, it is essential to have a social media presence and a digital marketing strategy. In order to distinguish yourself from the competition and capture attention, it is crucial to have a solid social media marketing plan that enhances brand awareness.
To use social media effectively, it is important to go beyond posting memes and Instagram stories. Instead, focus on creating and sharing content that reflects your brand, communicates your campaign narrative, and resonates with your audience.
In order to use social networks effectively to attract your desired audience, it is necessary to invest time, establish objectives, and be dedicated to a social strategy. Nevertheless, by following the 10 steps below, you can significantly enhance your brand recognition and establish a strong presence in the world of social media.
1. Start using chatbots
You may be aware that chatbots are currently popular. It is not surprising since they are the only social media management tool capable of addressing and solving customer issues without involving a human.
In addition to what was mentioned earlier, chatbots can be integrated with the social media platforms that consumers prefer to use for communication. You can easily incorporate an AI-powered chatbot into your social media strategy by using platforms like Chattypeople.
These tools enable you to generate a chatbot that:
- Doesn’t require any coding knowledge.
- Can answer customer questions.
- Can take orders directly from Facebook Messenger and comments.
- Integrates with all the major payment systems.
2. Create a personalized experience for your customers
If you want to automate specific everyday tasks, chatbots are an excellent option. When implemented properly, chatbots can enable you to provide more personalized experiences for your customers. To achieve this, avoid linking your advertisements exclusively to your landing pages and instead, create ads that direct your audience to a Messenger window containing your chatbot.
The action of linking ads to your chatbot will:
- Break the traditional views customers have of you only trying to sell to them.
- Make your customer’s experience more personal.
- Boost your sales.
- Create a loyal fan base.
3. Create an efficient content marketing strategy
Having a step-by-step thinking approach, it is important to prioritize quality, including content. Content marketing has been widely used as a marketing strategy for a considerable period and is expected to continue being prevalent. However, numerous brands fail to connect top-notch content with an appropriate posting schedule and the right frequency of posts.
By having high-quality SEO content and implementing all the aforementioned tactics, you can attract the appropriate customers at the opportune moment. Effective content marketing not only helps in drawing a natural audience but it can also be cost-free. It is important to establish a suitable hashtag strategy in addition to creating well-optimized and comprehensive content.
4. Create a community for your audience
While social media followers and various metrics hold influence, they do not solely determine social media success. The true indicators lie in social media engagement rates. It is crucial to demonstrate to your audience that you possess authenticity, rather than appearing robotic. By infusing humor and emotions into your posts, you can establish a connection between your audience and your brand.
If your customers repeatedly see the same types of posts, they may lose interest as social media is primarily focused on being social.
1. Breaking down the text into smaller, more manageable chunks. 2. Ensuring comprehension and clarity throughout the process. 3. Encouraging open dialogue and questions. 4. Using a step-by-step approach to rephrase the content accurately. 5. Maintaining the original meaning and information provided. Please feel free to ask questions or provide feedback at any point during the process.
- Asking your audience questions.
- Gathering their opinions on some issues.
- Sharing newsworthy information rather than just information about your products or services.
- Liking and sharing some of their posts rather than just the other way around.
- Asking them to interact directly with your posts through “likes” and “shares.”
- Incorporating user-generated content
5. Jazz up your profiles with a diverse content strategy
Incorporate regular use of good imagery, fun TikTok videos, and some exciting podcasts into your social media content to engage people.
If all you post and share on your social media pages is text or infographics, your pages will probably appear dull. To grab your audience’s attention, make sure to incorporate different types of media. Adding various kinds of content can infuse your brand with a sense of personality.
6. Use brand advocates
Instead of seeking new customers, your existing ones are your most valuable promotional asset. By leveraging your current customer base, you can turn them into influential advocates for your brand. Alongside your loyal customers, your own employees can also be utilized in this strategy.
In order to utilize your employees as brand advocates, you should:
- Create social media guidelines specific to your brand.
- Tell your advocates about social media best practices.
- Add a leader to each section of your social media advocacy plan.
- Track the correct data to pinpoint areas for improvement and those doing well.
7. Opt for stories that serve the purpose of promotion.
To adopt an educational approach, it involves emphasizing teaching over selling. Using storytelling as a method is quite similar and frequently serves as a means for education.
The power of storytelling is not always about imparting new knowledge, but rather about breathing life into relatable characters and situations, which can evoke emotional responses.
Given that a significant portion of our decision-making process relies on emotions, narratives that elicit emotional reactions are more effective at inducing action than continuous self-promotion.
8. Generate a variety of content formats.
Although it is possible to solely upload images on Instagram or brief tweets on Twitter, it is essential to note that various other types of content can be shared on popular social media platforms. These include blog posts, infographics, threads, and videos. The question arises: what is the reason behind diversifying the types of content one shares?
There are a couple of reasons why you should avoid producing the same type of content repeatedly. Firstly, it can result in your audience getting bored. Secondly, different segments of your target audience may not exhibit the same level of enthusiasm towards one type of content compared to another.
To combat the monotony, diversify your social media content and share different types. This way, you will gain insights into your audience’s preferences and maintain their long-term engagement.
Consider implementing micro-influencer marketing strategy.
Teaming up with reputable and influential individuals is a smart decision for multiple reasons. Besides enhancing credibility, it has the potential to greatly increase your marketing reach.
Why is teaming up with micro-influencers a better option in many cases, even though many businesses set out to partner with influencers who have hundreds of thousands or even millions of followers, thinking it would be a quick way to get their business in front of a lot of eyes?
Despite having smaller followings, ranging from 1K to 100K, micro-influencers have highly engaged and committed audiences. Consequently, the individuals you reach through collaborations with micro-influencers are more likely to be your preferred customers and more inclined to actively interact with you. Additionally, micro-influencers are often more accessible and persuadable compared to social media celebrities.
Take advantage of customer loyalty.
By taking just one step, loyal customers can become brand advocates, also known as individuals who extensively promote your company. Apart from enhancing awareness of your business, they offer significant social proof, assisting in establishing trust with potential customers more quickly than would be possible without them.
Social media could be a powerful instrument when used by enthusiastic supporters of a brand. However, the responsibility to motivate lies in your hands. You may consider:
- Asking for reviews on social networks such as Facebook.
- Encouraging people to share user-generated content based on their positive experience with your business, which you can then use in your social media campaigns.
- Interviewing satisfied customers and sharing their stories on social media.
- Holding contests, doing giveaways, and offering incentives, which would motivate people to spread the word about your business on social networks of your choice.
In essence, it is your most devoted customers who will be responsible for generating impactful content and handling your social media marketing on your behalf.
11. Employ the utilization of virtual and augmented reality.
Due to an increasing appeal among consumers, immersive experiences are being explored as marketing tools on Instagram, TikTok, and other platforms, leading to a growing exploration of both virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR).
Several brands are increasing audience engagement either by creating complete immersive experiences that shut out the physical world (VR) or by adding digital elements to a live view (AR). L’Oréal, for instance, allowed users to “try on” its different lipstick shades.
By utilizing mobile cameras in this manner, it becomes possible for your potential customers to gain a realistic understanding of your products, services, and customer experience. Consequently, this ability has the potential to directly influence their purchasing choices, offering clear advantages to your business.
If you haven’t already done so, it is now the time for you to seriously contemplate on how to include augmented or virtual reality in your social media marketing plan.
12. Embrace the utilization of video and live streaming technology.
It must be acknowledged that video marketing and live streaming have been around for quite some time. Numerous studies conducted in recent years have demonstrated their effectiveness and attractiveness. Furthermore, their popularity has noticeably increased.
The inclusion of video in your social media marketing strategy holds greater significance in the present time. Why? This is because, among the individuals whose viewing habits were influenced by the pandemic, 96% of them asserted that they presently consume a higher volume of videos.
With the availability of live streaming, it would be a waste to not utilize this knowledge, as it has the ability to greatly increase engagement and obtain immediate feedback from your audience, among other benefits.
