DW Tips

Social media is such a saturated environment that it can be difficult to know how to make a name for yourself or your brand. Integrating a social media strategy into your overall online marketing strategy can be one of the most difficult things you ever do for your business. 

So how do you create a plan that helps you stand out in social media today? How do you create a unique presence in a very busy and popular market?

These are great questions and the short answer is: you need a solid social media marketing strategy. This is not something you want to go into half-baked. You need goals and a plan to reach those goals. You need action steps and accountability. You need an expert to guide you. 

However, there are some simple things you can do to begin the process, even on your own. Here are some ways to stand out in social media today:

• Be real - Real, authentic content on social media is what truly connects to people today. 
• Add value - Before anything else (and especially before advertising your product or service) it's important you add value.  
• Care more - Just treat people with kindness, ask how they are doing and show that you actually care. It's simple and yet effective. 
• Ask your audience - It sounds so simple, yet so many overlook this option. You can simply ask your audience what they want to see more of from you and then work to supply that need. 

How to Implement This in Practice

Let's say your business revolves around selling products for babies or children. Many mothers of small children stay at home with those children during the day, and they're desperate for adult interaction.  That means that they spend more time on social media than their working counterparts.

Offer Promotions Via Social Media

Stay at home mums often have tighter budgets than families in which both parents work.  That means that they're always looking for deals.  If you have better deals than the competition, you'll pull in new customers and start a relationship that will help lead to future sales.  Even a small percentage discount or a small gift at a certain purchase threshold will help improve your odds of drawing in new customers.

Encourage Customer Interaction

Stay-at-home mums, in particular, are eager to seek out interaction on social media.  They want to answer questions, tell stories, and have the opportunity to talk with other parents who are in the same stage of life they are.  If you have a brand whose image you're attempting to increase, consider creating a fan group with plenty of opportunities for customers to interact with you and with each other.

Hold Contests

Some of the most successful social media pages engage in contests that require their customers to interact with their pages--not just liking, sharing, and commenting, but actively interacting with your website.  Have them check out projects, on a scavenger hunt, or write product reviews.  This interaction will draw in mums who are bored, killing time during nap time or breastfeeding sessions, or looking for something interesting to do for a few minutes.

Three Quick Tips to Get Your Social Media Campaign Started

1. Put social sharing and follow buttons/links on all of your collateral.

You may think this is too obvious to even mention in a 'how to' blog post, but you'd be surprised how many business owners miss the nuances of this tip. Most think they only need to include social sharing buttons on their web page and blog. But you should also make it as easy as possible for those who see your collateral in the physical realm to access your social media pages. An effective way to do this is to display, for example, a Facebook icon along with a QR (Quick Response) code that points to your Facebook business page.

2. Engage with people who aren't following you yet.

This is a very proactive way to attract fans and followers. Most social media marketers just post content and wait for people to engage them. But there's no reason you shouldn't initiate things. So look for opportunities to retweet or share something you find interesting, or initiating a discussion in someone else's LinkedIn group.

3. Stay engaged with existing fans and followers.

Remember, social media engagement is a two-way street. Keep your fans and followers interested and engaged by fostering a chatty community. Post content that people want to talk about, and include our own questions and comments as part of the discussion. The more your community engages publicly, the more organic exposure you receive through shares and retweets. In addition to that, on Facebook, the more engagement a post receives, the more exposure it has in the news feed.

If you'd like to learn more about how to stand out in social media today, or the other ways that we can help you connect with your target market, contact us about our managed SEO services.

Image courtesy of smarnad at FreeDigitalPhotos.net