Using Social Media For Your Business
Social Media Platforms are a fantastic tool for your business, but it can be a challenge to adjust marketing strategies to reach your target audience among the masses. It’s important to keep up with trends to be successful not only in reaching your market but standing out from other businesses. More than half the world’s population is on social media, and most users spend nearly 3 hours per day on some form of social media (on average). Make it a priority to keep up with current trends in order to best use social media to your advantage. Here are a few important things to identify and practice:
Know Your Target Audience
Users tend to have a short attention span when it comes to content, and they don’t linger on many posts. It’s important to know what attracts your audience as well as which platform(s) they are most likely to use (and how often)! Surveys and data/analytics can be helpful in determining where your audience is and what types of content attract them.
Discover your “Brand Voice”
Brand Voice is the unique way that you communicate to your audience. It is the personality and tone that come through in your content and messages. Audiences are drawn in by the personality and relatability of your content, so it is important to be authentic and consistent in your communications. Most users want to build a trust relationship and is easily recognized by your audience will help them build that relationship.
Post Consistently
As mentioned above, consistency is key. Consistent posting engages your audience and develops loyalty via a relationship between your business and the consumer. Posting at least once per day is best for most social media platforms and posting multiple times per day maybe even better. Developing a content calendar and plan is helpful to schedule regular posts. Consistent content allows you to analyze what type(s) of content works for your target audience and what posts garner the most interaction.
Social Listening
Social Listening is analyzing the interactions on social media related to your company, the type of product or service you provide, and your competitors. This helps you learn what is popular and trending and what spurs interactions from users on various social media platforms. This analysis also provides information regarding whether feedback from consumers is positive or negative.
Popular Trends
There are a few popular trends that are continuing to grow on social media and will likely become more popular throughout the year. Let’s take a look at a few of these trends:
Video – Video content is very popular with audiences and is growing consistently. Short-form video (such as those created by TikTok users) is becoming most popular with audiences.
Stories – The personal/relational nature and interactive style of stories make them popular with users. Stories are great for a quick showcase of goods and/or services or updates. This content is very popular on Instagram, but other platforms have incorporated stories as well.
Live Stream – Live streaming is currently trending and is a great way to showcase behind-the-scenes content, announcements, demonstrations, live Q&A sessions, and more. This type of content allows your personality to shine through and helps the audience feel a connection with you and/or your brand. It allows you to increase awareness and enhance the communication you have with your audience.
Social Media is obviously very popular and useful for marketing your business to connect and form a relationship with your audience. Using the information and tools above, you can use social media to your advantage to reach and connect with your consumers.
