Almost any business online today makes use of social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and more. But remarkably few of these have a set strategy in use, missing out on many potential likes, followers and website hits in the process. By reading through this list and considering following a few of the points outlined, there could potentially be hundreds or thousands of new likes and re-tweets waiting around the corner.
Originally written to focus solely on Facebook, most of the below tips are equally applicable to other sites, and by using common sense and logic together with these 5 points, your business is guaranteed a boost.
1. Personality
Even if you are a business, having a personal touch on all content is important, and lends credibility and in some cases authority to your brand as a whole. Not hiding behind 3rd person narratives, and using everyday language instead of technical jargon, you are likely to see an increase in click on your social pages. Because, after all, all of these social sites (LinkedIn excluded) are based on personal relationships, social entertainment and real people. By treating your viewers and readers like people, and establishing yourself as one, you are bound to speak to a larger and wider audience, than if you take the tone of a standard press release.
2. Add social links on your website
If you or your business does not already link to the associated social profiles from the official website or blog, consider doing so immediately. By adding these links, your social profiles will not only gain an SEO boost, but also make it easier for your website visitors to find more information about your company. Furthermore, the ones already on your website are people that are clearly interested in what that site has to offer, and therefore if someone on your website clicks on a social profile, chances are much higher that they will like your business page or follow your twitter profile, than someone coming from the social platforms directly. Another benefit is that these icons signal a certain credibility/authority.
3. Leverage existing newsletter subscribers
If you’ve already established a mailing list, use that to add social links to all future newsletters and other correspondence. Just like the visitors on your website, the people who have subscribed to the newsletter, are people interested in what your business has to say, and are therefore very likely to also share a Facebook post, or re-tweet your latest blog post. Add to that, that not everyone likes visiting webpages during work hours, but most people these days have a Facebook group for Work, and therefore use that platform already.
4. Consider advertising on Facebook
Most of us hate advertisements, in fact we’ve even developed an automatic screening filter that makes us ignore the ads to some extent, while focusing on relevant information. But ads still work, and if you aren’t already advertising on Facebook or Twitter, you are missing out. The cost of advertising on these networks are often significantly lower than Google AdWords for instance, and often results in similar CTR’s and lead generations. Furthermore, by structuring ads to focus on Facebook Likes or Twitter Followers, you can gain thousands of impressions for next to no money. A recent study performed by the author showed that in American markets, one like via Facebook ads cost on average $0.19 USD, leading not just to many likes for a small amount of money, but also website hits, back links and other great benefits.
5. Think outside the box
Consider hosting a contest or competition where users simply have to follow you on Twitter, or like your Facebook page in order for them to enter. These types of promotions often result in close to 50% more interactions than ordinary content on Facebook, and almost 30% on Twitter, meaning that you will reach people otherwise not interested. While not all businesses might have something of a relatively low cost to give away, it can even be worth creating a new service, or a whitepaper that people can access at the cost of a social like.
Conclusion
When all is said and done, there are no right way to use the Social Media in today’s market, but there are plenty of opportunities waiting for businesses willing to try out new things, and spending just a little effort up front can result in gains for years.
Author bio:
Mark Pedersen is a freelance writer currently living in London. He writes for Nodes, an app development agency, as well as contributing to a number of blogs and magazines online. He loves to play chess and follow the latest gadgets and gizmos.