As a company owner, you can’t avoid social media. Social media is a business goldmine.  You only need to learn how to dig it properly. This article will tell you how.

Your customers spend most of their time on social media and as a serious business, you need to spend as much time with them as you can on the channels they like. 

Social media is where people talk about their favorite brands and products. It is also where people go to complain about a certain service or company. You need to be there to listen to all these conversations and learn the sentimental language people use to talk about you. 

Many companies find it difficult to have a successful social media presence. Without knowing what you’re doing online, it is easy to ruin your business reputation just in minutes. Here are the best tips to stay on top of the social media game. Without further ado, let’s dive in;

Be familiar with social media platforms and their users 

Social media networks are not interchangeable. They’re different platforms with different content types and different types of people. 

For example;

• Instagram and Pinterest are highly visual mostly used by young people. So you need to be visually creative. 

• LinkedIn is a career based platform joining professionals

• Twitter is a microblogging platform which is perfect for texts than images 

Knowing the differences among these channels will help you to better navigate and engage people within each channel. 

Be human, not a company 

Many companies have no idea what they are doing on social media. They usually make a terrible mistake of making these social platforms all about themselves —posting about programs launching, talking to people instead of talking with people. Or even worse, going silent for weeks and only come to post when they have something nice about themselves to say. 

Social media marketing is not about great advertising and branding, it is about building meaningful relationships with your followers. You can make your social media channels feel more human by doing the following;

• Talk with people, don’t talk to people.

• Make your followers matter, listen to them carefully

• Take time to interact and respond to their comments

• Create a comment response chart for frequently asked questions

Social media is human and that’s exactly how you should approach it. Don’t be a company speaking in tones that limit your followers from interacting with you. 

Do you prefer a professional and authoritative tone? Then you might consider using it on LinkedIn. Is your tone light and friendly? Then social networks like Instagram and Facebook are perfect for you. 

Do not spam

Just because you have that great product or service you offer, it doesn’t mean you have the right to cluster your feed with the same product every post you make. That is spamming. Using too many hashtags is also spamming.

Let’s say you run a smartphone shop at Kariakoo and you have decided to open an Instagram account to find more customers online. You really don’t have to post smartphones every time you make a post. You won’t last long. 

You can be creative with your feed by making it more interesting. On certain days you can post customer testimonial videos, how-to tips, offers, quotes, tips, facts, funny memes and many more. Be creative. 

Don’t be too selly 

No one goes on social media to buy. People go on social media to socialize. There’s a reason it was called social media in the first place. While you are there, don’t be overly promotional or too selly. Be strategic. Hang out with people while you are pushing your agenda. There is no need to be aggressively promoting your business because people who follow you, are already interested in your product or service. 

Do not lie!

It takes years to build a company’s reputation. However, with the rise of online conversations, it only takes minutes for a company to suffer. Always be authentic. People can smell it when it’s fake. 

Have a plan

Make things easier for you by having a plan to act on. Without a clear thought out plan, social media is going to be tough for you. Try to use a content calendar that will guide you. With a calendar, you will know when and what to post.

A good content calendar should answer the following questions;

• What type of content are you going to share? 

• At what time you’re going to share the content and how much time you will spend on social networks? 

• How often are you going to post on a specific channel? 

• Are you doing it yourself, or training someone or you are hiring a freelancer? 

Stay updated and motivated

Social media isn’t something you learned three years ago and keep believing you know it. Being a social media enthusiast means being a lifelong learner. These platforms are constantly evolving —adding in new hashtags, new tools, and features. You need to be alert when these new features arrive and use them to your advantage.

Content is king

Without great content, the window to succeeding on social media is very narrow. Connect with your audience with great content such as video clips, infographics, images, and eBooks. Create content that will build trust, help people answer their questions and establish yourself as an authority in your field. 

Use videos often 

If a picture says a thousand words, a video says a million. Video has become the most important part of the online experience. Internet speed is getting faster and our devices are getting smarter. All these factors contribute to the booming of video marketing. Use video to tell a story, to showcase your store or sharing helpful tips —or anything. With the help of video editing apps, you can create great videos at any budget. 

Tell moving stories

This should be on number one. Storytelling, the oldest form of art has proven to be at the core of every successful marketing strategy. This is because there is nothing more powerful that can unite people than a good story. Remember the ‘Dream Crazier’ advertisement by Nike? or the ‘No Human Is Limited’ story? That’s what we are talking about.

Use employees advocacy

The easiest way to grow your visibility on social media is by using your employees as brand champions. Make sure you empower your team so that they understand and live the brand in online and offline life. If your employees love their job, they will surely become brand protectors and promoters online.

Try influencer marketing

We live in a world where people are becoming brands while brands are trying to be people. You can use influencers to skyrocket your brand’s awareness or grow your sales. Influencers are affordable and provide social proof because they have the capacity to affect people’s opinions about a certain topic, service or product. 

Pay attention to metrics and KPIs

There is no planning without measuring. The good thing about digital marketing is that we can’t wait for people to inform us about our mistakes. We can use data to make educated decisions about our online strategy. Social networks know a lot about their users and you can use the analytics they provide to gain insights about your followers. 

To measure your KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), you need to set clear and attainable goals. Start with the question; what do you want to accomplish in social media. See the metrics chart obtained from HubSpot below;

Find inspiration from other brands 

Here are my favorite brands on Instagram. Check them out and learn how they are engaging their audience by creating content that is more than just their products. 

• WeWork
• Lyft
• Ben and Jerry’s
• Google 
• Under Armour
• Rolex
• Red bull

Keep your eye on your competitors 

When you look at your competitors’ social media channels, do you feel proud? Or you feel jealous? If you feel jealous, then there are things you really need to improve on your strategy. 

It is no doubt that social media is among the new ways of serving the 21st-century business. The internet has given customers the power to choose the way they want to receive information. Business owners no longer have the luxury to choose advertising methods as they used to with traditional marketing.

Whether you choose to be on social media or not, people are already talking about you there. It is up to you to join these conversations or start your own conversation and empower your followers to do the marketing for you.