Social media is a wonderful, yet sometimes complex space to be in. There are many platforms, each with their own pros and cons. At the start of this new year, you might be unsure what path to take to step up your social media game. If that’s you, don’t worry. A lot of people are in the same boat.
If you’re not happy with the results you’ve been seeing so far, keep reading for some ideas that are sure to help you boost your social media presence in the new year.
In 2019, videos are projected to make up about 80 percent of internet traffic. That means a crazy amount of video content is being produced and uploaded onto the internet every day. If you’re not already implementing video into your social media strategy, or not a lot of it, 2019 is your time to ramp up its use.
There’s not just one way to introduce video to your pages, there’s quite a few actually. Some of the new and more popular ways people are using it are with live videos and stories. Live videos allow you to talk directly with your audience. You can even receive and answer questions directly from your followers, which is a great advancement for customer service. Stories are similar, except they’re not live. Posting a story allows you to share extra content, or content you normally wouldn’t share on your main feed. This could be behind the scenes looks, quick messages, or even other content not directly relevant to your usual messaging. Both live video and story features can be found on multiple social media platforms, so adding them to your tactics shouldn’t be difficult to do.
Social media is a great place to promote your business, but not everyone is taking advantage of it. You’ve likely come across many “sponsored” posts while scrolling through your Facebook or Instagram feed. If you think this feature is only accessible to larger businesses, think again. This is an extremely common way for small businesses to reach their target audience. Instead of spending frivolous amounts of money on traditional advertising mediums, you could just advertise where people are spending most of their free time anyways. About 47% of millennials are influenced to make purchases based off what they see on social media. The potential gains a business can see from this method of advertising are enormous.
For a more in-depth look, check out our past blog with social media advertising tips here.
If you think you know exactly who your audience is, you may want to think again. An audience can shift at any moment without notice. This means that regular research is necessary to make sure your social media efforts are geared towards the right people. Your posts aren’t going to get much traction if they don’t interest the people that are seeing them. A great audience research tool even lies right within social media itself: polls. Posting a poll to your feed and asking for your follower’s opinions is a direct way to learn how most of your audience thinks.
A low cost and easy way to advertise your business while gaining new followers is to run a contest. The most popular way to tackle this is to hold a giveaway. Simply choose a product or service you’d like to give away, then create a post with steps a person must follow to enter the contest. We recommend that you require each applicant to follow your page, like and share your post, then tag a set number of friends in the comments so you can maximize your exposure. The goal is to get as many people to share your post in hopes that you receive lots of new followers.
Here’s a tip: make sure the giveaway features one of your products, or something relevant to your business. Yes, giving away a Visa gift card might receive more entries; however, choosing a product tailored to your business should result in followers that are interested in you and not just free stuff.
Social media is a space you should be delegating more resources to in 2019. The potential it brings to businesses of all sizes is huge. If you’re not sure how to increase your social media presence, creating videos, placing advertisements, performing audience research and running contests are solid ways to take a step in the right direction.
