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5 ways your business can win with social media
We live in an era in which information is shared within seconds with just a flick of the finger. Social media platforms are great places to market a business.
Having had a hand in content creation and growing a following on various social media platforms, here are five ways I’ve learned that social media can be used to boost a business and engage with customers.
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Social media can be used to boost a business and engage with customers.
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W
e live in an era in which information is shared within seconds with just a flick of the finger. Social media platforms are great places to market a business.
Having had a hand in content creation and growing a following on various social media platforms, here are five ways I’ve learned that social media can be used to boost a business and engage with customers.
Grow a strong online presence
After you’ve set up accounts on several social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, start building up your portfolio through high-quality images and videos.
I recommend scheduling posts and keeping your uploads consistent. This way, your followers (and hopefully future customers) will know what to expect from your page once they click that golden “Follow” button.
With every upload, you want to stick to an online persona that suits your brand image.
Here are examples from successful accounts:
Nastygal is a retailer that specializes in fashion clothing for young women. Its Instagram page has a fun and rebellious vibe that attracts millennials from all over the world.
Don’t forget to keep it quirky through your captions.
Whole Foods Market has people excited about consuming their hearty and healthy foods. You can also upload photos by customers or other sources like Tumblr and Pinterest (with permission and giving credit to the original photographer, of course).
Be responsive to customers
Social media is a safe haven where people go to unwind, relax and reconnect after a long day at work. It’s a place where you can speak to your customers on a more personal level. It humanizes your brand, thus making it come across as more approachable.
Reply to their comments, queries and complaints in a timely manner. It helps to be transparent when you can; people can sense genuineness from a company by the way they interact with their customers.
Collaborate with influencers
In mainstream media like TV and radio, there are celebrities who are paid millions of dollars to endorse a company. Social media influencers are similar, except their asking prices aren’t usually sky-high, and some are even willing to work for free.
Online personalities can come from different platforms: YouTube, blogs, Instagram and many more. Choose the right influencers that you think will represent your brand well.
Note the theme of the influencer’s profile: what images does this person usually post? Is he/she a controversial figure? You may choose to work with controversial individuals, depending on the type of exposure you want.
Depending on the amount of followers they have, their rate card may vary. Feel free to approach these influencers through email and they will be more than happy to discuss collaboration opportunities with you.
A collaboration that I did with NA-KD Fashion.
Use the tools to your advantage
No two social media platforms are the same when it comes to usability and features. Content can be tailored accordingly on each platform to capture the right audience’s attention.
As of the first quarter of 2016, Facebook had 1.65 billion active monthly users. This is a colossal audience you can reach by setting up a Facebook page for your business.
You can keep your fans updated with your newest releases and ongoing campaigns. Pair your eye-catching article headlines with an apt image and watch as people react astoundingly to your posts.
As Facebook is the birthplace of viral videos, you can also take it up a notch by creating a short video that evokes thought and emotions among the public. By sharing great content, this will encourage your followers to click the “share” button so that all their friends and family can see this content and eventually learn about your awesome company.
Check out the reactions this Facebook page gets.
Instagram is personally my favorite place to scroll through endless feeds of aesthetic online stores. Use all the features on Instagram to further promote your brand:
- Tag a location relevant to the post so that when users search that geotag, they can see your post in the list.
- Tag other Instagram accounts that you think may want to feature your post and account on their profile. Some examples are @exploreindonesia, @humansofstartups, or @eats_jakarta. It’s a plus point when these accounts have a large following; meaning more exposure!
- Create and use your own hashtags so your customers can easily refer to a whole page relevant to that tag. Here is an example of For Love & Lemons using its hashtag so its fans can check out what other items there are in the same line.
Also, note how they respond to a customer’s query.
Twitter is a very fast-paced social media platform where people go to share their complaints and opinions. You can imagine how useful Twitter can be for monitoring public opinion about your brand and other global trends.
Twitter has a “Retweet” function where users can share your tweet with their followers if they find it interesting. Thus, you want to be active in posting updates, giveaways and humorous musings as well as respond whenever users mention your brand in their tweets!
Watch out for trends
Social media is a treasure trove of information and trends that you can utilize to your advantage. Pay attention to global trends that haven’t caught on in your region, even those from other industries that might relate to yours.
For example, when the Japanese cartoon Gudetama went viral with massive groups of fans obsessing over this lovable glob-like egg creature, many restaurants in Hong Kong noticed the hype and created Gudetama-themed dishes, much to the adoration of social media.
With that said, trying to keep up with the sheer amount of conversations that are taking place online can be overwhelming and time consuming. After all, you want to focus more on creating an awesome social media strategy. This is where social media listening tools can help you gather and analyze huge volumes of data in real time; from what is being said about your brand, to what people are searching about you on Google and even identifying influencers in your industry.
With a proper social media listening plan in place, you can help your business stay one step ahead of the competition, whether by nipping potential crises in the bud or planning and launching successful campaigns backed by useful data.
Now, go out and rock your social media socks off.
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Titan Tyra is a psychology major who likes to stay creative by creating content on Instagram and YouTube. She has worked with dozens of local and global fashion and beauty brands. She prides herself in staying genuine and real in a world where everything revolves around online. She works full time at Digimind, the global social media monitoring and competitive intelligence company that provides businesses with unrivaled insights into their true standing in the market.
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