We all know that social media is no longer a ‘nice to have’ for your business, but is, at the very least, an essential way to increase awareness of your brand and a way to communicate with past, present and potential customers.
It can, of course, offer far more than this, offering businesses who use it properly brilliant opportunities to massively grow their customer base, influence, and website and or offline visitors, amongst many other benefits.
The reality for many businesses, though, is that they are spending time and effort on social media without really getting the results they hoped for.
If this is you, we know it can feel demoralising, but don’t give up. Try to work smarter and use these 4 quick fixes to start turning your social media results around.
You’ll be amazed by the difference you can make!
Quick Fix 1: Make sure that you’re focussing your efforts on the right network.
You want to make sure that you’re active on the social networks where your potential customers or clients are likely to be. But do make sure they are actually active there.
For example, if you’re targeting a younger age range then Snapchat is the place to be at the moment because that’s where younger consumers are active.
If you are targeting a more professional, B2B market then LinkedIn would be more relevant than Twitter etc.
Quick fix 2: Don’t spread yourself too thin
It can be tempting to try and have a social media presence on every single network that ‘might work’, but unless you have a dedicated resource (in terms of staff) to do this for you, this could end up costing you your sanity!
Getting results from social media takes time, thought, energy and commitment – so the best advice is to start off with just one network for your business – create great content, share and engage regularly, build your following and learn how to best generate leads – and then go and add in a second network if you have the capacity to do so.
If you find it difficult to choose which network to focus on, take a look at the Google Analytics data on your website. You should be able to see which social network is bringing the most traffic to your website. Even though your results may not be as you want them yet, the Analytics data should give you a clear indication of which networks have the potential to give you the best return.
Quick Fix 3: Make sure you stand out from the crowd
Do a mini-audit of what you’re sharing and doing on social media, compare with some of your competitors. Could you put one of their names on your profile and still have it make sense? And vice-versa? If so, you’re not making your own mark, or drawing people towards your business who are attracted to you and understand your unique selling point.
The beauty of social media is that you can use it to subtly demonstrate your uniqueness – so make the most of it by weaving it into your profile and your content.
Quick fix 4: Watch what you share
The content you share on social media has a major part to play in attracting new people to you, as well as growing relationships with those who have already connected with you and reminding customers why they love you so much.
Can you honestly say that what you share at the moment is fulfilling these roles?
If not, take time to research what content seems to get a good response for other businesses attracting a similar audience; make sure to only share promotional posts and tweets about 10% of the time and talk to your audience using the same language that they use to talk with their friends.
Remember that images and videos get the most engagement and sharing, so will probably be your best friends when you want content that is going to increase your visibility.
And don’t forget to check back regularly to respond to comments and posts by others – you can schedule tweets and posts, but you can’t schedule real conversation!
