Because of this, businesses in every sector set up presence on at least one of the major social platforms. The majority of companies decide that they need a Facebook page. In fact, Facebook is so important and pervasive, all of the major print media outlets use Facebook to distribute content. To make the most of your content strategy on Facebook, you might want to look into the best practices for leveraging your Facebook content to gather more inspiration.

With this said, here’s where many businesses mess up when it comes to harnessing the power of social marketing platforms:

They don’t use social platforms strategically.

Company marketers wrongly believe that the odd post will make a difference. For starters, there’s simply too many marketers and casual users fighting for attention and engagement. So posting in a casual, non-strategic manner isn’t enough. In fact, posting in this manner can many times be a waste of time, energy, and resources.

If you want your social business posts to make an impact while driving the type of engagement that you seek, then consider the following strategies and tips that will allow you to accomplish your digital marketing goals while developing strong fans of your brand.

Capture as much attention as feasibly possible for your brand.

Here’s one way to do this: Identify who your target audience is. Not everyone is going to be interested in your posts, and not everyone is a potential prospect. So keep this in mind when you create a profile of a prospect (i.e. a buyer persona). What prospects do you want to attract to your page? Does your target audience include single or family men? Do you have people with a certain income level in mind? You should consider what are your target audience’s needs, pain-points, and aspirations. What type of prospects are you hoping to convert into customers? Who is interested in your brand’s message? Who cares about the mission that your company is on?

When you can answer these questions (and others), then you can stop using the wide-net approach. You can now tailor the message of your posts to attract the exact end-users who care about what you have to post. You want to attract those who are so excited about what you post. They’ll follow your profile so that they can stay on top of what you have to say.

Comments under an Archibald London post

An example of a company knowing their audience well and perfecting their tone is Archibald London. Their Facebook ad garnered a lot of attention for the right reasons. They decided to share an honest but satirical take on how fast fashion brands create their clothing.

Only post great content

It’s been said over the past decade that content is king. While this has proven true on long-form content platforms such as blogs, the same holds true for social platforms, then and now.

Being careless about the type of content you post on your platforms is going to lead to wasted time and resources. Again, it’s important that you aren’t posting your content haphazardly. So what can you do to show that you’re serious about earning your reader’s trust and respect?

You can post the type of information they are looking for. This includes data and facts. Feel free to share factoids that pertain to your readers and any product launches coming down the line. 

Then, ask for their feedback! Your followers crave transparency and information from brands. This is an easy way for you to build up your follower base, and fill it with people that trust you.

Sharing the right type of content doesn’t just go a long way in building up your most engaged followers. When you develop a solid fan base of followers, they’ll share your content with their own friends and followers. Before you know it, your initial followers will start to behave like your brand’s ambassadors, without having to be asked.

In many instances, customers will take to social media platforms to express their feelings— both in favor and against your business. A brand like Archibald London knows when and how to interact with customers. They do so in the above conversation in the comments section. These can be tricky situations, especially trying to understand and interpret what people are saying. If you’re struggling with constructing your responses, it may help to keep the best practices for interacting with your brand’s followers in mind. It’s necessary in order to formulate a response that will be useful for the person you are addressing, the community reading the comments, and your company as a brand. 

Reach out to influencers

Cooperating with influencers is often far more effective for marketing purposes than starting at ground zero with creating branding and trust. Influencers are people who have already done the hard work of creating content for interested followers. Collaborating with an influencer can help you expand your own follower base by reaching a wider audience.

These are just a few reasons why it’s in your best interest as a business marketer to make a list of relevant influencers, and reach out to them. They’ve already established themselves as digital media personalities who have earned the trust and affection of brand prospects. In short, their word and their opinion matters!

An example of a brand that has successfully worked with an influencer would be Nike. Nike is well-known for its use of influential sports stars to communicate their company values and the importance of its products. More recently, NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick has become the star of multiple campaigns including the idea of standing up for what you believe in. These ads have received positive feedback, but in the end, their cooperation has been a strategic choice for Nike to express what they believe in as a company.

Colin Kaepernick as the face of Nike’s campaign

If the influencer has a large following and a strong marketing brand, then they’ll require financial compensation. However, financial compensation is worth it when the right partnership generates more customer interaction than you and your team could ever generate on your own. But before you hire anyone who labels themselves as an influencer, be sure to use best practices and verify that you’ve found the best influencer in your niche.

Appeal to your audience’s emotions

If you’re hoping to increase your following, then one of the best things that you can do is to post content that tugs at heartstrings. One way of doing so is by increasing social media engagement organically through personalized posts.

Think about your brand message, along with how you’d like for your new followers to feel about your message. When designing a post think about what emotions it should elicit in your audience. You will know that you did everything correctly if your audience reacts positively to your content.

Don’t be afraid to thank them for their time and positive feedback if you see that your target audience is engaged. If you see that your Interactivity Index or engagement metrics in Sotrender are improving, that means that you’ve successfully crafted engaging content.

Respond in a timely manner

Remember, you need to be responsive when your followers are reaching out. Users’ patience isn’t unlimited, and the lack of responses could result in a potential crisis. If you go on ignoring them, they could just move on to a brand that will pay attention.

This can be quite a challenge when there are several moderators on one profile. This is why it’s generally best to use a social inbox like Sotrender’s that allows you to respond quickly to your fans and keep track of those responses in real-time.

Communicating with clients through Sotrender

Engaging in 3…2…1…

Interacting with your customers on social media can be the key to driving more sales and bringing in new customers that before may have been weary or skeptical of your brand. It’s extremely important to get this right and put it into practice! Just as we’ve discussed, it doesn’t come all at once and will take some trial and error to find the balance that represents your brand correctly. Don’t be afraid to try!