Benefits of Social Media Marketing for Your Business

The days of advertising methods such as putting ads in the newspaper or on television are close to over. Social media marketing has replaced such methods as the most popular and effective marketing tool today. Best of all? Social media marketing is simple and reaches a wider audience than newspapers ever could. However, according to the Social Media Examiner, 97% of marketers are currently participating in social media, but only 85% know how to best use the medium. So do you feel as though your marketing campaign could use a little upgrade? Here are some tips to enhance your marketing via social media:

Share at the Best Times

Sharing your social media strategy at the right times can be critical to make your business stand out from the rest. Most data analytics have found that the optimum times to post on social media platforms is between 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. for Twitter, 1-4 p.m. for Facebook, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. for Google+.  However, the bes time to post for your industry and demographics can vary depending on who you are targeting. Be sure to do your research! Sharing at critical times gives your content or social media marketing strategy maximum exposure and attracts additional clients to your business.  

Engage Your Followers

Engaging followers can be more difficult than it sounds. Try not to preach to your audience or try to sell to hard to them but, engage them and get them involved. Instead, social media is best used to foster relationships and provide information or entertainment for your followers so that they can be attracted to your brand.

Include Images and Infographics

They say that a picture says a thousand words, and with social media marketing this has never been truer. Many new social networking sites such as Twitter put a cap on the amount of characters you can use in a status update and others such as Instagram or Pinterest are completely reliant on the use of images. Pictures can come in handy here. Infographics are a great way to share pictures and tell a story so that you don’t need a caption. Infographics have become very popular on social media networks with many users reacting favourably to them. It is a great way to give your potential clients the information they need in a easily digestible and attractive manner.

Send the Right Message to the Right Platform

All social media sites are not equal. Each one serves a different purpose and attracts a different audience. For example, many of the users of Pinterest are young and female while most users of Google+ tend to be middle aged professionals. Surveys have shown that many Twitter users react favourably to an image being attached to a tweet, Facebook users enjoy pictures and Google+ followers are passionate brand advocates. Experiment and figure out what your follower base reacts to most positively and tailor make your strategy to this.

Create Engaging Content and Make it Easy to Share

Finally, create content that your followers want to see and can engage with easily. Think about what you would like to see if you were a fan or friend of the page, or look for ideas by seeing what type of content your competitors are publishing. Once you have created content that engages your target audience, make it as easy as possible to share.  If it’s easy for someone to just click and share, they’re more likely to do so. Remember- the more social media shares your content piece gets, the more exposure your business will get, in turn bringing more potential clients to your business.

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