Social media is more than a socializing space, even though that’s how regular folk perceive it. According to GRIN, more than 3.69 billion active social media users spend, on average, 30 minutes scrolling through social media feeds daily. So, as a business, you have to look at social media with a different eye; a sea of potential customers and clients assembled in one place, all day, every day, waiting for your pitch. As such, you need to develop strategies relevant to your business to leverage executive social media management to grow your business.
You can use over ten social media platforms to market your company. But not all of them are suited to your business. Depending on your industry, your target audience and where they spend most of their time online will dictate which platforms are the most appropriate for your business. Some businesses perform so poorly in social media marketing because they’re not using the services of an executive social media management company.
The fact that almost everyone is on social media doesn’t mean selling products or services is a walk in the park. Expert help and training are what will set you up for success. Here are a few ways you can leverage the power of executive social media management for your business.
1. Build a Community
Communities give people a sense of belonging and connection. According to Hubspot, a platform like Facebook, reportedly the most popular social media in the US with over 300 million users, thrives on communities and groups. People who support a particular cause or share likes and interests make up the groups. As a business or service provider, you can use Facebook to bring together people who connect on a specific aspect of your business.
For instance, if you are a health and wellness spa, you can create a community or group for people who are into self-love and self-care. Use the group as an opportunity to build a following around your business. Give the group members and followers helpful information about health and wellness, and organize webinars and free in-house events.
You can also post testimonials of people who’ve used your services and had a great experience. Find a way to keep the group engaged, entertained, informed, and feeling seen and heard. Many people will resonate with the group’s objectives, and you’ll become their go-to business partner.
Community building is an excellent way of doing digital marketing. You’ll need a social media strategist and full-time manager to stay on top of the daily posting and engagements with the community. Large corporations hire a community management associate responsible for growing the community. Suppose you aren’t in a position to employ full-time teams. In that case, you could hire an executive social media management agency to create a strategy and train your team on online community engagement and social media management.
2. E-Commerce Integration
Social media have e-commerce integration built into them. If you have a website that you use to sell products, directly link them to regular posts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Visitors will be redirected to your website once they click on your post, which could be a picture or textual link. This integration is highly customizable. You can send people to your website, WhatsApp catalog, Etsy shop, Amazon store, or wherever else your customers can complete the purchase process automatically.
Facebook has an online shop capability where you can build a catalog, include pricing, automate offers and discounts, promote specific posts, and add a payment system. To be on top of your game, enlist the services of an executive social media management consultant to help you streamline the back end of your business page in terms of audience, targeting, and promotions. The consultant will also perform quarterly competitive analyses to help you keep up with trends in your industry.
Invest in excellent product photography and good-quality graphic design. These inform how attractive, professional, and credible your online shop looks and feels to the page visitors. Add all the relevant contact information and ensure all the links are active. Answer messages on time, and engage people who comment on your posts. If you do these things, Facebook will rate your page’s health as excellent, and the algorithm will prioritize your posts over others. You won’t have to struggle to gain followers or post impressions.
3. Make Tutorials
An experienced executive social media management consultant will tell you that tutorials are among the most searched-for on social media platforms like YouTube. YouTube has tutorials for practically everything. The tutorials are not reserved for businesses selling items that need assembling. Your company can record tutorials and post them online as well. For instance, a professional roofer with an online presence on YouTube can post videos showing people how to clean roofs, do minor repairs, and seal leaks using convenient store-purchased sealants.
Pet shops and vets are on YouTube sharing helpful how-to videos and drawing a huge following. If you run a dog daycare, you might wonder what tutorials you can do to help your business grow. Since social media are all about adding value while connecting with your customers and prospects, find a way of communicating the value your dog day care offers.
Record tutorials on performing first aid on a dog or calming an anxious dog. Be practical and give solutions to everyday problems that people with dogs face. At the end of your tutorials, provide a call to action. Send people to your website, social media platforms or give them a physical address to visit.
It’s normal to feel like you’ve run out of ideas after making several videos. That’s the time to call an executive social media management expert to breathe new life into your engagement and digital marketing strategy. Involve your team in a brainstorming session and encourage them to develop creative ideas. It’s also advisable to watch other YouTube Channels by other businesses in your industry to get more ideas on what you can post to grow your business.
4. Run Campaigns
Social media campaigns are not a ‘pay and spray’ affair. It’s more than buying lots of ad space and crossing your fingers for the right people to see and engage with your ads. A social media campaign requires coordinating marketing efforts to reinforce a specific message about your business and its products or services. It needs meticulous planning, sometimes months ahead, and a strategic approach. For a campaign to be truly successful, work with an executive social media management expert.
An experienced social media manager will help you set clear goals for your campaign, build a persona for your target audience, clarify your messaging, and select the best platform to run the campaign. The consultant will also help you to create a budget that works, set proper timelines, and teach you how to set parameters to monitor and analyze the performance of your campaign.
Some of the objectives of a social media campaign are to enhance brand awareness, drive sales, increase traffic to your social media pages, or promote a product or service to a target audience.
All businesses can run campaigns. For instance, a dental clinic may decide to run a campaign to reinforce the message that they have the best dentists in town. Their clinic may already be popular, but they want to strengthen their target audience’s positive emotions and perceptions towards them. Since their campaign goal is to reinforce their message, they can set parameters that will help them measure the campaign’s performance.
For example, they can monitor reviews and comments on their websites and social media platforms. In the case of a dentist, this only works if the comments complement the practice for excellent service. With a goal and a measuring parameter, you start curating content that meets your objectives. The content should go all out to portray your business in the best light possible. The same scenario would suffice for a bondsman or a child attorney. The key is to have a measurable objective and develop a strategy to achieve it.
5. Go Live
It helps to post frequently and connect with your target audience by responding to their messages and comments and posting engaging content to elicit reactions. But going live takes things to a new level. You are no longer faceless when you go live on social media platforms. You can see your thoughts in real-time via the live chat section.
All major social media platforms have the ‘go live’ capability. If you spoke to an executive social media management professional, they would tell you to take advantage of it as often as possible. Whether you deal in fashion, vehicle wrapping, or culinary arts, every business could do with a little more authenticity and personal engagement with their audiences.
What would you say if you went live on a social media platform? That is a question on the minds of many business people. Still, it would surprise you that if you went live and did a simple thing like taking your audience through one of your processes, giving a shoutout to your loyal customers, or talking about challenges people in your line of business face, your audience would resonate. Even though social media are virtual, they are not removed from the ‘real’ world.
Be authentic. Don’t begin selling right off the bat. Allow people to connect with you. Allow them to see you, not just your business. When people feel a connection with you, they’re more likely to buy from you.
6. Collaborate With Influencers
There’s a reason influencer marketing is taking the marketing world by storm. It’s everywhere on social media, and it’s become a highly effective marketing tool that many businesses are leveraging. Executive social media management companies specializing in influencer marketing work with businesses of all sizes. Unfortunately, only a few have jumped onto this bandwagon. It’s a classic case of innovation adoption, where you have trendsetters diving in first, followed by the mainstream users, and finally, the late adopters or laggards who take their sweet time before embracing something new.
Understandably, you might believe influencer marketing involves working with celebrities and spending a lot of money. But hold on a sec! Influencer marketing is way more than that. It’s not just about seeing Serena Williams wearing Nike shoes. It’s about leveraging online experts who authentically promote products to their dedicated audience.
Working with an influencer comes with a host of advantages. It boils down to your budget, your audience, and your industry. For example, an auto body repair company could work with a celebrity known for their love for cars or extensive experience in the motor industry; someone from the Fast and Furious movie, for instance, would be a great fit.
The Benchmark Report on the 2023 state of influencer marketing contends that influencer marketing is a $21.1 billion industry. This shows how powerful and effective influencer marketing is as a marketing strategy for your business. An executive social media management company can help you find the best celebrity to push your brand to the right people.
7. Work With Data to Optimize Your Content
The best business decisions, including those related to social media, are data-driven. One can’t just post on social media and hope for the best. You’ve got to keep a close eye on what’s going on! That’s why analyzing and optimizing your content is crucial! First, know what metrics to focus on: the number of likes, comments, and clicks. Each platform has an insights section that gives you all the data.
You’ll start noticing patterns and trends as you track and analyze the data. You’ll know which posts are getting people excited and which are falling flat. This data is important because it helps you learn what tickles your audience’s fancy. Once you understand what’s working and what’s not, begin to optimize.
Take the insights you’ve gathered and start tweaking your content to make it more appealing and relevant to your audience. The back end of your business page is where the data and metrics may feel intimidating with all the graphs, charts, and numbers. To leverage the data, you can hire an executive social media management consultant to help you make sense of everything.
A custom sign company can test the likeability of a new web design or style guide before launching it. They can post it on social media and observe and collect data based on how people react. The data will reveal that the audience has preferences. In future designs, the company could lean towards creating designs with elements that people like.
Social media is versatile and dynamic. One can use it to grow your business, and it doesn’t matter which industry you’re in. There’s room to build a following, connect with your audience, gain new followers, and drive sales. Whether you provide delivery services, auto repair, or iv drip therapy, with the assistance of an executive social media management consultant, you can take advantage of social media and get a significant return on your investment over time.
