Boost Your Social Media Presence: 5 Easy Tips

Improving your presence on social media is not that hard, but it does require time, effort, and some planning. Following some simple steps can increase your audience and start engaging with the right people, without spending too much time on it. You’ve probably heard a thousand times that social media is one of the best things that could’ve ever happened to businesses. This is not an understatement, but it is really necessary to understand that social media is not a magical solution for all problems. Simply having a Facebook page or a Twitter account is not enough to build a strong customer base, you need to actively engage your audience.

1. Interact Like a Human

A big mistake that many businesses make is trying to appear like there are no humans involved in the process, they completely disregard the human aspect so they look more “professional.”. Don’t fall for that mistake. Being human is what will lead your customers to connect with you and to trust your value. There are metrics, post scheduling, automation tools, hashtags, and a myriad other tools you can use to make managing your social media easier. However, this is a social platform, which means it is all about people. Remember this: you need to seek relationships, not just followers. Being human on social media will take you very far, especially if you combine that with other technical factors that can increase your reach.

2. Set SMART Goals for your social media

SMART Goals are extremely important in social media marketing as it is in many other areas of life. This concept has been around for decades, but it is just as relevant today as it was many years ago, if not more. SMART means that it must be:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Relevant
• Time-bound

This will help you measure the results of your efforts, and avoid the frustrating mistake of posting aimlessly, which leads people to believe that social platforms are not useful. A good example of a social media SMART goal would be: “Our company will increase its Facebook response rate by 15% by the end of the year” or “ We will increase our post engagement by 45% within the next 3 months” Whatever you want it to be. As long as it is realistic, attainable, and with a timeframe in mind, this will guide your efforts and help you make better decisions that are based on meeting those objectives.

3. Content Creation for Your Audience

These are probably the most difficult parts of managing your social media; identifying your target audience and creating content. Both of these steps could be divided into separate ones, but in reality they are closely related to each other. Knowing who your audience is, is like setting your SMART goals (Remember that “everyone” can’t be your audience, by the way).  This knowledge will guide your efforts and prevent you from wasting time and resources trying to convince someone who is not interested in what you have to offer. As you get to know your audience and identify your niche market, your posting schedule, brand’s voice and type of content will be much easier to determine.

4. Learn From Your Audience

To improve your presence, you really just need to connect with your followers, and understand what they like. As a business, you want your audience to resonate with you, and all the available tools can help you achieve just that—as you create more content and provide more value to your audience, followers will come naturally.  There will be a point in which your audience’s behaviour will be clear to you, and you’ll start to notice what type of content they prefer, which days they engage more, even what questions or comments they have about your business. This will eliminate the guesswork and ultimately help you reach more people online.

5. Use the Right Technology

Tools will help you implement these strategies and reach people more efficiently. One of the most important tools is a scheduling platform where you can schedule posts days or even weeks in advance, allowing you to plan your social media strategy and then just let it run. Another tool is your arsenal, which may surprise you, should be a quality website. If you don’t have a website, you have nowhere to point your customers to from your social media. And if your website is underwhelming, unprofessional, and outdated, all the work you did on social media will be for nothing. —- S-FX.com Small Business Solutions is a boutique web design and technology consulting agency geared towards start-up businesses, small businesses and non-profit businesses.  We specialize in implementing low cost technology solutions to maximize efficiency and reduce business operating costs. Discover how to elevate your business getting the right tools and services!