You took the leap and jumped into social media for your business… now what? Utilizing social media is beyond posting a picture and pitching your brand—it’s planning and executing a strategic approach to present the lifestyle your audience wants and in turn identifying you as the expert in that specific space so that the end user is motivated to purchase your product or service. Here are five steps to maximize your return on investment on social media channels:
- Identify & Set Your Goals
Decide the reason behind your social push: Are you trying to gain additional revenue, book qualifying appointments, create brand awareness and visibility, or collect data like email addresses? Hopefully, the answer is “D” for “all the above.” Once your goals are identified, share them with your team to ensure everyone is on the same page.
- Add Your Website
On every single post on Facebook, add your website address. This action will make it easy for your audience to click on to learn more about your business or make a purchase. While Instagram currently doesn’t have a clickable feature to add a website link to an image caption, you certainly can add it to your profile and to your Instagram Stories. Note: Only business profiles have the story link option.
- Create a Content Calendar
As the saying goes, “Plan your work and work your plan.” Take the number of daily posts you are completing (I highly recommend at least two—one in the morning and one in the evening) and schedule them with the following suggested categories and rotation:
- Brand image (product or service shot)
- Lifestyle (does not incorporate branding)
- Brand video
- Contest or giveaway
- Inspiration (image, quote, or meme related to your business)
- Featured customer
Feel free to create your own categories and line-up. The goal is to mix it up and keep your audience interested in your content. Posting a product shot every time will disinterest and reduce your follower base, and we know the more organic followers you have, the greater the odds for a purchase or action on their end.
- Engage
The most important part of social media: engagement. Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter all encourage socializing. Here’s how to create more profile views on your pages:
- When you receive a comment, respond back. It’s a conversation starter and can lead to a follow and then action from the follower! If the conversation continues to go back and forth, let them know you will Direct Message (DM) or Private Message (PM) them to chat more.
- Identify your playground hashtags! Where is your audience hanging out? If you’re in the beauty industry, it might be #salon #hairstylist #haircolor. Stay active in those specific hashtags by liking and commenting authentically. Note: Algorithms can identify if you copy and paste comments, so make each comment original and relevant to the image and its caption.
- Once you’ve established a rapport, DM or PM for a call to action. For example: “My team will be in your area on Tuesday, March 13th and we would love to meet in person and give you an overview of our company! Would 10:00 am work for you?” Or if you notice that someone is active on your account, give him or her an offer: “Hi, Mary! Thank you for being a loyal follower. Just wanted to extend a coupon code THANKYOU to redeem anything on our website for 20% off.” Not only will they be grateful, but they are highly likely to take you up on your offer.
- Split Test Ads
Create two to three separate paid ads and test the audience’s response before raising your spending budget. Does your end user prefer video, close-up images, lifestyle shots, or perhaps the CEO speaking about the brand? Target two separate markets and keywords when building your ad profile. Analyze the data against your sales, money spent, and outcome. Once you can identify what works to drive sales, your formula has been completed and now you can socially advertise with confidence and ultimately success.
Just remember: while social media marketing may be a new animal to some, it’s an important and imperative part of our current state and the future. By identifying and setting your goals, incorporating your website whenever you can, developing a content calendar, engaging with your end user, and trying social ads, you’re sure to make a new channel of revenue. Go ahead – make the leap!