Building a strong social media presence can take time, but done effectively can assist in creating brand exposure, acquiring new customers and even establishing your company as an industry leader. Because people spend so much time online – on average two hours a day,  it’s necessary to not only set up social media pages for your business but to use those pages to generate leads.

Most people will visit businesses’ social media channels before making any decisions. Do you only have one image on Instagram? Was your Facebook page last updated weeks ago? The lack of constant interaction can lead new customers to believe that you are not active, or even worse – they may assume you’re not credible. Here are a few ways to help you build a strong social media presence.

SMART GOALS

Attaining specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound (SMART) goals should always be your key focus on social media platforms. An example of a SMART goal would be to aim your campaign at a specific platform and making use of analytics to measure response rates. The goal must also be realistic and easily achievable. This simply means that you cannot expect to grow an organic following of 1000 new followers every day, but 10 organic followers a day are a realistic expectation. 

The last part of your SMART goal should ensure that the content you share is relevant to your target market and has a deadline in place for when you want to see results. Businesses should avoid posting irrelevant and aimless content, as it interferes with the SMART plan.

ANALYSE YOUR AUDIENCE  AND BUILD RELATIONSHIPS

Who is your product aimed at? Where are they most active online? Breaking down your audience will help you target them more effectively. Find out your audience’s demographics and platforms like Facebook and Instagram can become your best friend for generating leads. You want to build loyal relationships with your customers. You can rather have 100 dedicated followers who like every post and engage with your brand, than 10 000  followers of who only 20 engage with your online content. Sprout Social suggests the following:

-Small businesses should engage with local followers and grow a greater community presence.

-Startups must build awareness for a new product online and generate leads for it.

-A large enterprise-type company should provide a timely customer service channel to boost customer loyalty online.

BE CONSISTENT

Make use of applications like Hootsuite to help you post regularly and at the right time. These types of apps give you the chance to create posts that target the right audience. Take special note of your analytics and see how it measures response rates. This is also where you may want to incorporate other forms of automation into your social media strategy. Something as simple as setting an automatic reply to emails so people don’t wait days for your reply can make a good impact on potential new customers.

GOOD REVIEWS

Allowing people the opportunity to review or rate your business is actually a  good thing. Make sure this option is enabled on your social media platforms. If you treat your customers right, they will let other people know. We operate business in an age where customers want to hear other people’s opinions and reviews before spending a cent.

GET CREATIVE WITH CONTENT 

Social Media Optimisation is a much easier task than Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). Taking advantage of that fact and engaging regularly can build your brand quite significantly. For example, take the time to post only the best images that represent your brand. Get creative with moving imagery like short videos and even more popular, make use of custom-made gifs that represent your brand online. 

Building a strong presence online is necessary for any business owner. Let HOMEMAKERS assist you by listing your business on our online advertising channel.

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by Marion Nowak