Keys to Attract, Engage, and Convert Prospects on Social Media

Marketing has never been easier than it is now.

But it has never been this competitive either.

The current marketing landscape is the true definition of a dog eat dog world.

That’s all because of all the marketing channels available – especially social media.

Social media marketing is now the best way to get yourself, your vision, and your product before the masses.

Before we delve into the strengths and strategies of social media marketing, let me give you a brief definition of what social media marketing is.

Social media marketing is simply the use of social sharing platforms and websites to attract, interact with, and sell to your customers.

So why should you invest your time and money in social media marketing?

Glad you asked.

3 Good Reasons You Need to Embrace Social Media Marketing

Many businesses and startups got on the social media marketing (SMM) bandwagon late simply because of misunderstanding what SMM is and the power it has.

1. Traditional Marketing is Dead

Traditional marketing like TV ads or newspaper ads are on their last breath.

With their fast declining ROI, it is now becoming less economical to invest in them.

The reason for the fast decline in ROI is simple – people have moved away from traditional television, magazines, radio, and newspapers. They have shifted to social media for all their entertainment and information needs.

Marketing is all about reaching people where they are, and social media is that place.

In fact, according to Smart Insights, the number of social media users in 2018 has gone up by 13% and is just shy of reaching 3.2 billion. That’s a big piece of the pie (more than half the world’s population) you miss out on if you are not on social media.

2. Connect With Customers and Prospects – Easily

Social media was created to make it easy for people to connect – globally.

Although the main purpose of social media is to connect families and friends, businesses can also use it to connect with their customers – after all, business is all about relationships.

One great example of an Entrepreneur who has used social media to build a multi-million dollar business is Sam ovens, a millionaire consultant (in both senses of the word). His Facebook page and ads have helped him raise 25 millionaires and build a very successful consulting company for those who want to quit their 9 – 5 jobs and fly solo.

One of the greatest benefits of social media for businesses is that it is a fast 2-way communication channel that can help you get reviews on your products and services and also to expedite some customer care issues.

Take the feedback you receive from your social connections seriously and implement it in producing better products and services.

3. Best Form of Attraction Marketing

People are constantly evolving, thereby necessitating an evolution in the way businesses do their marketing.

In this generation, marketing has to be permissive, as opposed to invasive methods like ads. And the best way to get permission into your prospects’ precious space is to attract them with something of value.

And that is where social media marketing comes in.

SMM is the best way to attract prospects to your brand, product or service by offering value in your social media posts.

If you use your social media channels to give more than you use them to sell (more on that later) you will attract a lot of attention and traffic to your website.

This is one of Sony’s strengths, especially when it comes to one of their most popular products – the PlayStation. AskPlayStation is Sony’s Twitter account for everything PlayStation. And no not promotional but giving tips and advice on everything to do with the PlayStation console.

No wonder they have a massive 1.35 million engaged followers.

And in many cases, this kind of engagement always leads to high conversion rates when it comes to sales.

Now that I’ve given you 3 good reasons to take your social media marketing seriously, let me give you a few important tips on ensuring you don’t fall flat on your face where SMM is concerned.

5 Effective Ways to Ensure Your Social Media Marketing Thrives

Social media marketing is not simply a matter of throwing out a post here and there, or worse still, spamming your followers and prospects with links to your products and specials.

You might as well close up shop because you will lose customers faster than you can spell “SMM”.

Let me give you a few tips on ensuring your SMM campaigns succeed in what they are meant to do – attract, engage, and convert.

1. Define Your Channels of Choice

A new social platform pops up every day (well, almost).

And with such a large number of platforms, it can be overwhelming to have a strong presence on all of them. In fact, it’s downright impossible.

Before you go ahead and sign up for every social media platform sit back, relax, and ask yourself a few questions.

• Who is our target audience and where do they hang out?
• Which platform resonates with our brand?
• What type of content will we be sharing?
• What do we want to achieve with our social media marketing?

Once you have established the answers to these questions, you are well on your way to a great SMM campaign as the answers will form the backbone of everything you do on social media.

These questions will also help you define your social media platforms of choice. This is because:

• Different demographics have one or two predominant platforms they spend time on. For example, if your target market is professionals, you’ll probably find it easier to find and attract them on LinkedIn. If you are looking to reach a wide variety of people, Facebook and Twitter are the two platforms that span many demographics.
• Your brand will have a social platform that resonates better with it. For example, if you are selling visual products like clothes or health supplements, then Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook will serve you better. If, however, you are marketing B2B services and products LinkedIn is the place to be.

2. Determine the Type of Content You Will Share (and Curate)

Once you have defined your platform of choice, it will be time to determine the type of content you will share.

The type of content is determined by a few key factors, mainly:

• Different platforms favor different content types. For example, Pinterest and Instagram favor visuals, while LinkedIn favors written content. Twitter and Facebook blend the 2 well, although Twitter has some restrictions on length. YouTube on the other hand favors Video strictly, although you can add written content in the description box.
• The people that frequent your social channels will determine the type of content you share as well. After all, the reason you are on social media is to serve them right? Find out what kind of content does well with your demographic and share that. You can also make use of user-generated content to give your readers more reason to feel you care. It also helps you create more relevant content.
• Your brand must have a personality if it is to stand out from other similar businesses. This personality will influence your brand voice and the content you share or curate on social media.

When it comes to the type of content you share on your social media channels, you will need to make sure you analyze which kinds of content do well and which ones don’t move the needle.

Obviously, those that move the needle should get more attention and the type that is just “meh” should not even be given any effort.

Speaking of sharing content, curating can also be a great idea as long as you are not promoting your competitors of course.

3. Consistency is Key

When it comes to the success of your social media marketing campaigns, consistency is key.

Your SMM will need consistency in 2 areas:

Profile

If possible, try to make sure that your profiles across all your social media channels are the same. This includes the account name, theme colors, bio, and everything in your power to control. Uniformity will make it easy for your followers to recognize you and relate on the different platforms you use.

Especially with the proliferation of fake accounts, putting a signature element in all your profiles is key to gaining trust and it makes it easier for people to distinguish you from the sea of all the 3.2 billion social accounts on the internet.

Posting

Contrary to popular belief, posting is not a matter of creating content when you feel like it or when something out of the ordinary happens. Just as you have a content calendar for your website, so too you should come up with posting schedules for your different social media channels.

In fact, it is recommended that you run your social media channels the same way a TV station is run – have specific topics for specific days and times of the day. This will make it easy for your followers to know what to expect and when.

At all costs, make sure your social pages are so consistent with each other they actually become seamless.

Consistency will establish your brand voice, personality, and credibility.

4. Be Social – It is Social Media After All

One of the biggest mistakes businesses make when it comes to social media marketing is that they put the proverbial cart before the horse.

What do I mean?

Simple.

Social. Media. Marketing.

Social comes before marketing, with media providing the common ground to do both.

The mistake many, marketers make is that they spend more time marketing (sharing links and specials) they forget the social part.

That will make you lose fans, followers, and profits fast.

You need to take the 80/20 rule and apply it to your social media marketing.

80 percent social/20 percent marketing.

One of the most important aspects of social media marketing is engagement, and the way to keep your following engaged is by sharing things that matter – to them.

5. Spy on Your Competitors

Yes, spy on them.

No. I don’t mean trolling – it is a crime after all.

What I’m insinuating is that you check your competitors’ social media accounts and see what they are doing right (or wrong). From the type of posts that get the most likes or shares to the concerns raised by their followers, you can learn a lot from them.

And again, I don’t mean you should copy everything they do right, although you can improve on it to your advantage as long as it fits in with your brand voice, personality, and is to your audiences taste.

This is where you can make use of Brand24’s social media analysis tool. It will help you know who’s talking about what and which type of content in your niche is driving engagement and fueling conversations.

Being on top of what’s trending in your particular niche or industry will equip you to create powerful content that will really strike a chord in your users’ hearts. And that is what it takes to win shares, likes, new followers, and ultimately new customers.

Social Media Marketing – It’s Not an Option, It’s a Must

Whether you like it or not, in order to survive and thrive in today’s marketing landscape, you need to invest in social media marketing.

That’s just how it is.

Those who learn and practice the art of social media marketing are the ones who will get a bigger slice of the ever elusive modern prospect.

So what are you waiting for?

It’s time to mix business with pleasure and get social.

Or better yet, since your hands are full, hire a savvy social media manager to give your brand the human touch it needs.

Author Bio

Kato Nkhoma is a unicorn content writer who specializes in creating highly engaging content that will keep readers coming back for more. If you’re looking for something special to beef up your content marketing, this unicorn is it.

Twitter handle: @Katonkhoma

Gravatar: kato@bizcontenthub.com