Improve Your Firm's Social Media Marketing Results and Increase Your Followers

Without a doubt, social media is one of the most powerful corporate marketing tools available today for firms looking to increase their exposure and branch into new markets. The power to reach out directly to followers without the need for mailing lists or having your customers come to your site for the latest updates can put your firm front and centre in the minds of clients.

The challenge of getting your content noticed

However, while the social platforms undoubtedly help you connect with your clients, with so much information on the sites already vying for followers' attention, it's becoming increasingly harder to drive users to your content.

If you find the material your company posts online frequently fails to attract likes or doesn't encourage interaction, below are a few tips you could try to increase your exposure and build your social profile.

Start at the beginning and check your overall online profile

Before starting down the road of working at improving your social exposure, you should first perform a full audit of your online profile, including everything from your corporate website to your social pages and even email branding.

You should aim to have a consistent look and feel across everything you post online so that it's instantly recognizable as being from your company. So check that you use standard colours and images across all your media - and, of course, ensure your logo is the same and sized properly for each social channel. There are various guides online where you can see the optimum sizes for header images and logos on the main platforms.

Also, aim to use a consistent handle across your social channels. For example, if your company is called XYZelectronics, use the same @XYZelectronics across your Pinterest, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter channels, etc. Using the same name increases the likelihood of users finding you on different sites plus makes it easier to remember your address.

You should also ensure you use the same strapline and company description on the social services. While it's true you can include more info on some platforms than others, you should still aim for consistency where possible and use a shortened abbreviated version of your text if space is limited.

Lastly, make sure you include your main contact details - i.e., physical address, telephone number, email, and website links to drive people to the main content on your site.

Develop a social media and marketing strategy

As with most things in life, planning a strategy in advance is far more likely to achieve success than just going gung-ho at your promotion with little direction. Building your firm's online profile takes time and a clear formula if you have any chances of success.

For a start, you should have a clear idea of the message you're trying to convey - plus any specific stand-out products or services that you think will generate the most interest. Depending on your type of company and your sector, it will likely also be useful to prioritize which channels you're going to concentrate on most to save potentially spreading yourself too thin (more on this later).

While it's true clients these days expect firms to be on the major social sites, it's not simply enough to just set up a page then leave it languishing dormant. Rather, if you're to truly engage your clients, you're going to need an angle of attack and a strategy for keeping pages updated.

From the outset, you should have a clear plan of action in place that will help you stick to a routine and achieve your overall goal. Things to consider include:

What are the overall aims of the promotion? - Do you have a specific target in mind that you want to reach, or are you just looking to increase your exposure. These will likely go hand in hand, but it's important to set achievable goals so you can measure your success. Only then will you be able to work out which content is driving you forward.

Setting deadlines - Setting deadlines can be useful to encourage you and your team to post regularly and keep a tighter handle on the material you're publishing plus its relative success rate.

Deciding the type of content you mostly post - Posting a photograph with text should be a no-brainer than just publishing text alone but perhaps you have other material that could work better. Of course, this can also be influenced by the platform you're posting to, but, as a rule, video has by far the highest engagement rate online. That said, there's little point in publishing a mammoth two-hour epic about your company as, in the vast majority of cases, users will simply switch off and go elsewhere. Instead, look around your existing company materials and try to decide on the content that you would react to or would like. Short, impactful video works well as do infographics, how-to videos, and well-framed photos.

Choose a schedule - and stick to it - The main social sites all have recommended the best times for posting to get the highest response rate, but all markets are different, and you likely know your customers better than anyone. Decide on a day and time to post and remain consistent after that. Some of the biggest pages on Twitter and Instagram got there because the page followers knew exactly when new content would be published. Take a look at your competitors' social pages and see how they drummed up interest in their products. If it worked for them, there's a good chance it'll work for you too.

Think about working with influencers to spread your message

The rise of social media influencers in recent years has been nothing short of astounding and, depending on the sector your firm operates in, piggybacking on the success of today's most famous and respected influencers could kickstart your campaign and move you instantly to another level in terms of your promotions.

Influencers are so successful because their message is regarded as being impartial - plus, they produce relatable content that can tell your story in a much more believable way. In addition, today's consumers are considerably savvier than they once were, and simply forcing your sales pitch in a glitzy, over-produced format just doesn't cut it anymore for many social media users.

Instead, consider hiring the services of an influencer to feature your product or service in one of their videos. Sure, the mention you get will likely be much shorter than you might normally think would work but, actually, you'll likely increase the credibility of your firm. To find out more, refer to a global influencer agency to learn how an influencer could propel your brand.

Get personal and avoid posting staid corporate messages

As mentioned earlier, today's consumers are a lot wiser to staid corporate marketing and instead tend to be attracted to posts that engage more and send a clearer message of a company's personality. So don't be afraid to talk in a friendlier way with your followers and, above all, avoid official-sounding, transparent sales waffle.

Choose which platform fits best with your company and its demographic

While it's wise to have a presence on the major social channels (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube), you should closely study which is working best for you and prioritize those platforms. As mentioned earlier, there's little point in setting up pages just for them to lie dormant as this will do little for your brand - and might even result in alienating your followers - both potential and existing.

Rather, you should look at your engagement rates across the various services then pay particular attention to the ones generating the best results.

Also, you shouldn't just automatically discount the other, smaller platforms that might perform equally well (if not better) for your firm. For example, if your company provides products or services that are mainly aimed at women, you may well find Pinterest, with its 77.1% female user base, could prove to be a powerful marketing tool that brings new business.

Remember your audience

Linked to the above, you should identify what audience you're trying to attract and target the social sites you use and the content you produce appropriately. It's not enough to simply take a blanket approach to this - you should have a clear idea of your target demographic's age, sex, interests, and geographical location so you can produce the best and most engaging content.

Practice your soft skills and steer well clear of the hard sell

Social media marketing is unlike any other form of promotion in that it allows brands to build relationships with their clients rather than simply pushing their own message. This two-way street approach allows clients to relate better with a company and to create meaningful bonds.

While it's true there will inevitably be at least some sales-oriented posting in your campaign, it's far more important that you foster the relationships you build and reply quickly to any queries you receive.

In truth, hard-sell tactics tend not to resonate well with modern consumers, so instead, look at sending friendly, authoritative messages - while still gently your pushing product and your firm's particular expertise.

Steve Conway

Content marketing and inbound marketing expert, Steve Conway is passionate about discovering new tech which will enhance his already well-honed digital marketing skills.