Creating content that your audience wants and is looking for is one of the most important places to begin your social media marketing strategy.
Without quality content (video, audio, text, images, etc) that you create and share, you will not maximize the potential results with social media.
Sure, you can share other people’s content, you can curate and compile other data (news, research, etc) – but a mix of personal content with curated and syndicated content will provide bigger returns. I’m talking about visibility and traffic for your work. Plus, you’ll build authority for your marketplace, and you’ll be seen as an educator and advocate for your audience. That is profound in itself!
In today’s post, we’ll cover 10 things you can do to improve your traffic from social media, while being more effective at it.
An active online presence through social media is an effective way to reach out to your audience in a more personal level. Because people surfing the net spend most of their time on social media sites, you can interact with them more if you are also spending time there.
Watch the video on how to build more traffic from social media
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1. Research and post at the RIGHT time
Make sure majority of your followers can see and share your posts and updates. Generally speaking, the best time to post is from 8 AM to 8 PM because these are the main work hours, meaning people are most likely online. The ideal amount of posts to optimize results is between 5 to 10 tweets and 1 to 4 Facebook posts per day.
Make sure you post the updates on multiple social media sites and your own blog or website. Pay attention to frequency and timing in order to get the most social engagement possible. While this is somewhat controversial, continually test and track what works for YOUR business.
Don’t trust 100% market research alone (even what I just wrote above!). For the social media activity that provide more / better results, run paid advertising to further boost the impact. Re-run these campaigns at set intervals (for example, once a month for a week).
2. Become an educator sharing your knowledge
As a business, one of your primary goals is to earn money. However, it is also necessary for your customers to know that you are passionate and an expert about your craft. Consider offering your audience a guide, brochure, or whitepaper to download. Put these on your website and then share the link to your social media accounts so it would be easy for your customers to share them to their friends.
Make it engaging and fun. Even a “boring” topic like accounting can be made fun. Plan it out.
3. Create special offers, deals and coupons
Who doesn’t like a bargain, right? Use social media to promote exclusive offers like special discounts, buy one take one promo, or early bird rewards. Raffles and coupons exclusively available to your social media followers can make them feel special, therefore strengthening their loyalty and appreciation of your business.
Do this on a regular basis, and test the results. If you are a local business, consider adding QR codes to your printed materials, and capture their emails and phone numbers to send reminders. (SMS)
4. Engage in conversation, real time
The more you acknowledge and reply to your followers, the more engaged they become. The effectiveness of your social media strategy depends on how often you use it. Social media engagement relies on daily interactions among users to survive. Although auto posting tools can help you communicate with your audience, more businesses are beginning to understand that engaging with their audiences in real conversations will bring them better results.
Being available to your audience in real time means you can have more meaningful back-and-forth conversations.
5. Stay Updated And Be Current
The only thing certain is everything changes; and this is also true about social networking sites. Learn how you can get the latest updates easily so you can know the current trends they are setting. You can follow Facebook’s business page (https://www.facebook.com/business), follow social media and tech experts on Twitter, and set Google alerts (https://www.google.com/alerts) to see when news and updates hits the wires.
6. Use Hashtags (#)
There’s a reason Twitter created hash tagging. It’s s simple way to filter and bookmark content, quotes and streams. Facebook also started using them. Hashtags are made for people to trend topics and businesses to promote. Combine those two and you can use hashtags to promote your new products, services, or special offers. Announce it on your social media accounts so your followers can participate making it trend.
People who use hashtags are more likely to engage in social conversations and therefore are more likely to share a positive experience they’ve had with your brand once you’ve broken through. You often see this used at events, live webcasts and more.
7. Incorporate Infographics
Infographics are graphic visual representations of information, data, or knowledge intended to present complex information quickly and clearly. A social media updaet is easier and more fun to look at if it contains not just plain text but also infographics to catch users’ attention. In fact, they reach more people because they are shared more often than other online content. They are easy to understand and share, so you could spread the word about your company’s products and services effectively.
Certain businesses have built massive traffic by using infographics almost exclusively. (Check out https://www.mint.com/blog/)
8. Responsive Design and Mobile Friendly
People surfing the web are becoming more and more on-the-go lately. There are too many smartphones and tablets in the market these days that there’s no excuse not to go online even if you are away from home. Make sure your pages are mobile-friendly and easy to load. Use a design (responsive design for mobile) that is accessible and convenient for multiple browsers and devices. Include social media icons, mobile redirects, simple landing pages, and content you want your users to see.
Make sure that when you run ads to your website, it has been made mobile friendly.
9. Ask And You Shall Receive
Contrary to popular belief, answering questions is not the end of your social media task. Asking questions is a good way to engage your followers and spark curiosity about your products or services. Some good questions to ask are ones that tap into the interests and lifestyles of your fans to generate conversations.
You may also ask feedback questions regarding your newly launched product or service so you can find out what they like about it and what you still need to improve. This way, your followers can feel that their opinions are part of your decision making process.
10. Use a Friendly, Conversational Tone While Engaging
Social media has changed the way businesses communicate publicly. In fact, it is advised to avoid stiff business writing and encouraged to adopt a more conversational tone. Take them inside your brand’s experience instead of just hard selling.
Although you are viewed as a business entity, your followers communicate with you and expect a response that would make you look sound a normal person just like them. Having a conversational tone makes your content feel more authentic and engaging to readers.
In a world of social media marketing, giving your followers a unique and personal experience is a must. Be innovative and caring in all your social media pursuits so you could gain more traffic and more loyalty out of your customers.
Finally – remember this: it’s not about likes, tweets or followers. It’s about engagement, value and sales.
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Quotable from this post: ” Creating content that your audience wants and is looking for is one of the most important places to begin your social media marketing strategy.” – @JonRognerud
Jon Rognerud is a recognized authority on search marketing, who has spent more than 20 years creating and managing web and marketing projects from small to large companies, including positions at online giant Yahoo!.
He is the founder of Chaosmap.com, a leading search marketing company in Los Angeles, CA. He plans, builds and delivers profit-making SEO, PPC and Social Media training, consulting as well as breakthrough speaking seminars. He also blogs on his website, https://www.jonrognerud.com
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Entrepreneur Magazine says Jon Rognerud is one of the most sought-after Digital Marketing Experts. His clients extend from high-end brands and middle-tier businesses in both B2B and B2C. His SEO website optimization book, "The Ultimate Guide to Optimizing Your Website" from Entrepreneur Press is in bookstores now.