The world of social media isn’t easy and let’s face it, the inevitable changes in algorithms and release of new features on platforms are nerve-wracking for social media marketers and new small business owners.
You have to be on your toes or podcasts to regularly keep up with strategies that are aligned with the changes being rolled out, and don’t even get to the technical aspect of learning how a new feature works, it is like adding more fuel to fire!
The struggle of small new business owners and marketers on social media is REAL, but we talk so less about it, and honestly, sometimes the entire process seems like an endless loop.
But the good news is that you CAN do something about it. You can unlock some new strategies when you see that the number of your followers is not growing or your audience is not engaging enough. Sometimes, a lot of changes rolled out by social media platforms could result in slowing down the growth of your brand in terms of following, shares, or likes. The best strategy for you is to follow long-term strategies like the ones below-.
- Revisit and identify your SMART goals
- Revise your data about your audience (maybe the demographics changed over time)
- Invest time in building a close-knit of community members
- Optimize your bio
- Focus on content that delivers your core values
- Identify which content type resonates with your values and most looked up by your audience.
- Optimize your links
- Focus on building your list of subscribers
- Avoid making overlooked mistakes
- Have a coach to help you out
Let me explain.
- Revisit and identify your SMART goals.
Did you have SMART goals from the very beginning? If not then revisit this not-so very talked about stage again as you need to have clarity on what you are trying to achieve. Is it increasing website traffic? Is it getting more engagement in the online community, or is it I have covered this before in one of my previous posts and I would like to explain it again with examples. Click here if you want to review the previous post.
A lot of marketers tend to miss out on establishing these SMART goals on paper, including me..yes I admit to making one of these errors early on in my career. So here is a fair explanation of what SMART goals are with examples-
- Specific: I have a specific channel to focus on since my audience between the age group “35-50” yrs is on that platform.
- Measurable: I can measure my follower’s engagement through shares, saves, likes or mentions. I can also measure a 2% increase in foot traffic to my store due to the paid social media campaigns.
- Achievable: Is your specific goal achievable? Say, your defined specific goal is to have a 2% increase in sales in 3 months through the social media channel defined, how achievable or attainable is this goal?
- Relevant: Would your social media goals have an impact on your overall business goals? Which is to either increase online sales, product sales, foot traffic, etc.
- Timeliness: Whether your goal is attainable in a certain time frame, say three or six months.
- Revise your data about your audience
If you have been on socialmedia for sometime and your services or offers have modified when you first started promoting your brand, it will be wise to take a look at the new audience or followers that are engaged with your new content. Dig deep into learning more about their demographics and behaviours to have a better understanding of how your products or services are helping them solve a problem. Check into your audience insights to see your audience demographics.
- Invest time in building a close knit of community members
If you have some followers on social media, say Instagram or Facebook, I strongly suggest that you try to get to know most of them, if not all. Send a DM or personal message saying that you noticed that they liked some content ideas and that you were wondering what you could possibly do to help them. By doing this, you are not only allowing your brand to interact as a human but also showing them that you as a brand cares for them. The transparency and authenticity for your followers will help you build a long-term relationship with them.
- Optimize your BIO.
Your social media bio is a summation of why you do what you do and the keywords that your potential clients can look up to find you. It shows why you are in the business and who you help. So optimizing your social media profile means that you identify and use certain keywords that are relevant to your niche or services on your profile to help people find you which also includes –
- Profile photos, branded cover photos, and background images.
- Link to other Social Media Profiles.
- Link to Your Main Website.
- Uniformity in Profile Descriptions and their completion.
- Focus on content that delivers your core brand values
What are your core brand values- inspirational, feminism, sustainability, convenience, authenticity, etc. Brand values in general are limitless and since social media is in your marketing mix, you can use them in any marketing campaign to add a creative and personal edge to your brand. That being said, why do you have to focus on delivering content that shows off your brand values on social media?
Because that helps your tribe understand you better, what you stand for. This also brings out brand personality with which your followers can find you relatable. If you’re trying to get your audience to connect with you, then you should share your brand values seriously. This will help your audience to relate to your brand and engage better.
- Identify which content type resonates with your values and most sought after by your audience.
There are several content type formats to choose from such as videos, blog posts, viral post, podcasts, infographics, short videos, demos etc. Some may resonate well with your audience or some may not.Checking your audience insights on which content type format gets more shares or likes will help you understand the format liked by your audience and sometimes the results may even surprise you. Maybe your podcast is doing wayb etter than the blog posts on your website or the reel videos on your Instagram account are doing way better than your Youtube channel. Having a thorough analysis of this will help you dive deeper into what is more preferable by your audience to absorb your content and this info is helpful as you don’t have to experiement with the others to keep up in limited time.
- Optimize your links
Think about this. You are curious to find out more details about a bag from a shoppable post on Instagram and once you click on the “Shop Now” button, you are directed to a website that is not at all related to handbags, rather a website that sells cosmetics. This would feel like a bad trick won’t it? Would you follow such a brand on Insta? I would most certainly report such links to Insta and unfollow such accounts.
And the same is stated by research from AdWeek that 61% of consumers will unfollow brands because their content is no longer relevant and 20% will unfollow if the brand is sharing boring or repetitive content or if the links are not optimized. Having proper links on your social media profile of your website, landing pages and even to other social media profiles matters a lot in the end because-
- It helps customers find your brand on any social media platform.. duh.!
- It improves your ranking in search engines..oh so very true.
- It’s an easy way to build and grow your customer base by telling them that you are on other platforms.
- It builds up connections with your target audience
- Focus on building your list of subscribers
Are you building a list on social? If you nodded ‘No’ to this question then my friend, I would urge you to get started soon. Given that the algorithms will always keep changing on social, it is only imperative to resort to a cohesive and a long-term communication channel which is email marketing. Through your list you can convey several updates on your business, distribute coupons, giveaways, up-sell or cross-sell more products and build a long-term relationship with them.
- Avoid overlooked mistakes
Even the best of us have been victims to certain practices on social media channels that may have driven our potential clients away instead of attracting them. Some blunders can get too expensive to an extent that it can hurt your marketing efforts, ruin your public image, and cause several thousands of dollars in loss!
I have compiled a list of do’s and don’ts on social media for newbies that you may want to sign up for FREE.
- Get a coach to help you out
If you are wondering what a coach can do for you, then let me help you understand. A coach guides you along your social media journey and aids you to identify your business goals that are achievable and attainable through social media. A coach can also guide you through several other channels of online marketing and help you craft a overall strategy along with one -to-one sessions to check on your progress. For more information on 1:1 sessions, click here.
Conclusion
We all know that social media marketing isn’t just about posting content or creating fancy ad campaigns. Gone are those days when posting anything on any social media channel would make your fans like you. This is a different generation of social media and you know that you cannot just wing it. You need an intent and you need to be focussed but do not stress out if your goals seem unattainable at the moment. With time, patience and perseverance you will attain your goals. Just remember to show up every day and try solving one problem a day.
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