Call on Calls to Action
Calls to Action are when you tell your reader what to do. “Subscribe to Our Newsletter” “Like, Comment, and Share!” and “Buy Now!” are all calls to action. Studies show that these suggestions really do prompt action. This works especially well with Facebook where inviting people to Like, Comment, and Share your post will lead to them (and others) seeing your posts more. But be sure to be clear in your Calls to Action: “Donate Today to Help Save Honeybees!” is a lot more direct than “Help Us Save Honeybees!”
Customize Your Strategy
If you’re a music artist or author, sharing about your life and happenings may be a great way to form close relationships with your followers. If you’re a local business, sharing stories or beautiful photos of your town may be a sure route to build your audience. Try different strategies and see what your audience responds to.
Reveal You’re Human
Relationships and attachments are about people, and businesses can often seem out of the realm of human social interaction. Bridge the gap with social media by posting behind-the-scenes photos and details of business happenings. Even posting about the challenges your company’s facing helps form connections. Treat your followers like friends privy to the inside scoop and your followers will become more like friends.
Help and Be Helped
When people receive help, they like to reciprocate the favor. Find ways you can be helpful on social media on topics related to your business and you’ll earn yourself some loyal customers.
Data, Data, Data
Capitalize on your time investment with social media by tracking the results you’re getting. Review your website analytics to discover what posts are getting leads. Build a strategy around those results, but remember that even if popular posts don’t draw in customers, they may be building your brand reputation for results down the line.
Engage, Engage, Engage
While great content is the keystone to a great social media presence, an easy way to increase interaction is to ask your audience questions. Everyone loves voicing their opinion, so ask your audience for recommendations or thoughts on topics related to your business. A great way to build your relationship with your audience is to include them in your business decisions. Ask them about what they’d like to see you offering or for feedback on something not quite decided. We’ve seen great interaction from polling what new flavor should be introduced, where a band should tour, or what photograph is a better promo. Posting this type of content may not only get you great interaction but also some valuable feedback. As always, but especially with this strategy, don’t forget to Like and respond to comments!
Keywords are Key
To boost your search engine optimization (SEO), center your social media content around the keywords your business is targeting to rank highly in search engines.
Draw in Engagement by Drawing on Images
In a world of information overload, images stand out a whole lot better than words. Studies show that Facebook posts that include images have more interaction than Facebook posts with links, text, or even video. Strong images that appeal to the primal brain (think sex and survival) are especially captivating. You can also capitalize on the Facebook image trend that features a strong image paired with a short statement–it’s a formula that allows you to transmit your ideas easily.
Make Sharing Easy
Make sharing your content easy by integrating click-to-share buttons right at the end of your content. We love big friendly buttons that make sharing irresistible.
Make Social Media Connections Easy
Separate from buttons that allow your audience to share your content are buttons that allow your audience to follow you on your various social media channels. We recommend these being placed right in the header or footer navigation, if not both. If someone’s on your website, they’re a good target to convert to your social media audience.
Check Yourself
Over time it’s easy to forget about your social media profiles. Doublecheck to make sure your website, address, hours, and contact information is filled out and current. Then populate your profile with your keywords for an extra boost of SEO.
Cheat
This isn’t a test–you can look at your neighbor’s work. So be sure to keep an eye on what your competition is doing and the results they’re getting. Bigger companies with bigger social media budgets are great studies. Be sure to make it your own though; your social media should reflect your brand’s unique identity.
