Social media marketing is no longer optional — it is required. In order to present a professional image to your target audience, you must establish a social media presence with clear, confident brand messaging.
Identify Your Unique Angle
In order to really make a splash with your social media marketing, first you need to determine what audience you are trying to reach and how your product can help them. Consider how your product is better than competing products and find a way to incorporate those strengths into your brand messaging as well.
Customers are often overwhelmed by the options available, so they appreciate a succinct explanation of how your product or service is better than the rest. Think about how you pore over Amazon reviews of similar products, looking for some details of why to choose one item over another. Consider the product that you are marketing from this perspective. Aim to answer customer questions in your marketing messaging so that the reasons to choose your product are crystal clear.
Create Valuable Content
Your social media posts should have more substance than just "look how great my product looks." Some of the most socially successful brands use social media posts as an opportunity to share valuable content with their audience that is designed to educate, inform or in some way make their lives easier. For instance, Amway uses their Instagram account to offer holiday guide ideas to followers, while Solly Baby uses Instagram Stories and Facebook Live to offer followers babywearing advice to make their product even easier for customers to use.
Give & Take
Engagement is key for building your brand's social influence. While establishing a large pool of followers is critical, it is just as important to get them to interact with your posts with likes and comments. Encourage this type of interaction by captioning posts in a way that seeks feedback.
Another way to attract more engagement is by simply following the golden rule. Like and comment on followers' posts to keep your brand relevant and top of mind to them. You don't have to follow back every follower; you can build just as much merit with your brand fans by simply engaging with their posts in a meaningful way.
Reward Your Followers
Encourage your followers to be your brand's best advertisements by offering recognition or even prizes for posts that showcase your brand's products. For instance, you could do a weekly photo collage of all of your favorite posts from the week that included your brand's hashtags. Another option is to do a random drawing of everyone who posted your hashtag in a given week or month in which the winner receives a complimentary product.
When it comes right down to it, one of the biggest keys to social media marketing is connection. It's the reason you need to painstakingly consider your brand messaging. It is why you slave over an editorial calendar to ensure you always have valuable content in the works. It's why you work to engage likes and comments and also why it is worth using your own reach and merchandise to reward your followers for putting your brand in front of their audiences. Rest assured that with your diligent work and thoughtful editorial messaging, you can serve your clients in the most effective way.