Topics: Social Media
The best way to get real results is by creating your own social media strategy before posting anything. Construct a concrete plan with this in mind...
Which social networking sites will work best for you?
What types of updates should you post, and how often?
Who will be managing your social pages?
Establish profiles on several different social networks to reach as large an audience as possible. Experiment with which social profiles work best for you and return the best results. Work out which social media networks your Buyer Personas are using so you can target them.
Unsure which social media platforms are best for you? Try creating profiles on multiple accounts and use analytics to compare the results. This will help you distinguish where you should focus your resources and time.
Above all, stay true to your brand. Set clear guidelines about your tone of voice and the types of updates you should post.
Focus on quality over quantity. A vast number of followers may look good but it won’t create much post engagement if they are not interested in your brand/products/services. You may not have as many followers as Cristiano Ronaldo, but those you do have will be active on your platforms and be interested in what you do.
Follow people that you feel are a good fit for you because they are more likely to follow you in return if they feel it’s in their interest.
Engage, engage, engage! Don't just retweet and share posts—actively participate and start conversations with your fellow users.
Join and start groups on LinkedIn that relate to your area of expertise; people love to share and hear opinions with each other. You can also look at posting your news blogs to maximise your reach.
Social media is the perfect way to distribute your own Inbound Marketing content, from blogs to eBooks. Twitter is ideal since users are always on the lookout for new, impressive content. Unlike Facebook there are no pesky algorithms keeping them from seeing your tweets, so you can repost links several times.
Setting up ads on social media is simple and can bring in great results. If your goal is to increase engagement, acquire more followers, gain more traffic etc., social advertising will help you achieve it faster.
But first, understand your goal and who you want to reach, so you know what type of ad will benefit your business. Social networks have excellent targeting capabilities so you can narrow it down to gender, job function, interests etc. etc.
At the beginning of your Twitter journey start by joining relevant Twitter chats— conversations based around a unique hashtag; this in itself improves results. Join niche chats and be as active as possible. As your profile grows and attracts more followers, instigate your own regular Twitter chats. This will also increase your influence, traffic and followers.
To compete in this virtual marketplace, it pays to take note of what's working for your rivals and make it work for you...
Which social networks are they using and what sort of results are they getting from each of them?
What types of content/updates are they posting?
Which types are getting the least/most engagement?
What types of blog posts are getting the most interaction?
Better still, call on Breckenridge's social media expertise. Our capability frees up your skills to focus on core business. Meanwhile, to help you build an effective social media strategy, here's a FREE download to get you started...
