Social media has become one of the most popular and effective ways to market almost any business, but there are so many sites, tasks, profiles and publishing to manage every day, it is easy to feel overwhelmed.
The most successful social media marketers have several habits that enable them to do it all successfully. See how many you’re already doing, and add those you aren’t to your day to see what a difference they can make.
Know your niche
Know what the people in your niche are most interested in, and come up with content that satisfies those needs. For example, any new virtual assistant will want to know how to find and pitch clients.
Think about beginners who are new to your niche, and intermediates, when you write your content. You will become a go-to for them as they look for solutions to their questions and issues.
Block time on your calendar
Set aside time each day to spend on your social networking profiles. Fifteen minutes per day 2 or 3 times a day will prevent you from getting distracted and eating up your time.
Log in, look around, and interact as needed. Make an effort to be helpful. Find questions in Facebook groups that you can answer. Participate in a Twitter Chat. Comment on your favorite Instagram posts.
Don’t constantly crank out content with no thought to what’s actually happening in the account. For example, if you have a Tweet that is getting a lot of traction, don’t tweet more items that are just going to push it down the page. Instead, let it ride as long as it can.
Leverage advertising as needed
Even a small budget can go far when you have the right content on the right network. Using the example of the tweet above, consider turning it into a sponsored tweet. Also consider running a campaign to add more followers while the tweet is prominent, in order to give it more exposure to those interested in your niche who are on the network but not connected with you yet.
Using automation as needed
A growing number of tools will allow you to manage multiple social media accounts, with just a few clicks. Pay particular attention to publishing content during the times you are not online, for around the clock marketing. Here are a few of my favorite tools for automation.
Think engagement, not just views
Your content needs to evoke a response, such as a comment, like or share. Make your calls to action obvious to get the response you want.
Here are a few great ways to bring engagement to your account:
- Create a Poll
- Write a Survey
- Ask a provocative or thought-provoking question
- Share interesting articles and other niche-related content, and encourage others to as well
- Create a range of content at your site and share it
- Comment on a recent news item
If you get a comment, be sure to reply to it. Stuck with a troll? Don’t engage them, just delete their nonsense and block them.
In each post, give a clear call to action, such as “Like or share if you agree.” For more details, invite them to share more with, “Let us know what you think in the comments box below.”
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Follow others and engage them
Check out what others are doing and be helpful in all your interactions online. And soon people will be checking out your profile and starting to follow you because you look like someone worth paying attention to.
Connect with influencers
Connect with the top people in your niche. You can learn from them, and you will be keeping good company, which over time may result in some amazing opportunities.
Track your results
See how many engagements you get from each activity. If you want to drive traffic to your site, create a unique URL for each network campaign so you can see the results from each network quickly. Look at the times of day that you’re getting the most interaction and be sure to post at those times every day. If you’re not seeing the engagement you want, play around with different times.
Consistently doing these 8 things every day will soon bring you the results you want from your social media marketing. Just remember that keyword consistency because it’s the most important part of your success story.
