Does the idea of social media marketing fill you with dread? 

For many business owners, it can be a daunting task that quickly gets pushed to the bottom of the pile. 

It’s easy to neglect your social media pages, but by doing so, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to engage customers. The thing is, it’s really not as difficult as it looks! 

One of the biggest challenges my clients struggled with when it came to social media was not knowing where to start. 

They’d usually set up their pages, create a couple of posts here and there, and not see much engagement. As a result, they became disheartened and left their pages to stagnate. 

Engagement is the currency of social media. In order to get it, you need to generate conversations. You need to be posting quality content that encourages comments, discussion, and interaction. 

Social media is the perfect vehicle to share content that your audience can form an instant connection with. 

What many businesses get wrong is that they only use social media to advertise their products or services, neglecting the opportunity for conversation. That’s the digital equivalent of walking into a party and shouting the same thing over and over while ignoring everybody there. 

That’s not to say you can’t sell on social media, of course you can. But if you want to build a loyal following who will not only buy from you but also recommend you, you need to engage with them first.

I’m going to share a few tips with you right now that will help the cogs to start turning in your mind for the next time you post. 

1. Know your audience – Having a clear idea of who your audience is will be key in creating content they want to see. Who are they? What are their interests? Where do they spend their time online? What do they engage with most?
2. Keep your content consistent – Just like your website, your social media posts should have consistent content and stay true to your brand. If content creation isn’t your strong point, you can hire a copywriter or social media manager to ensure your tone stays on brand.
3. Show your personality – Don’t be afraid to let your personality shine through in your posts. Your followers want to talk to a person!
4. Ask questions – If the internet has taught us anything, it’s that people love to share their opinions. Posting questions is a great way to encourage a conversation. Try to think of topics that your audience would be interested in.
5. Interact with your followers – This isn’t just confined to answering a question here and there. Try to comment on replies left by your followers if you can. You could ask them a follow-up question, or if they’ve posted something you relate to, continue the conversation!
6. Visual variety – Include imagery and videos in your posts. Not only can images tell a bigger story, they can instantly catch the attention of somebody scrolling through their feed. Videos can keep your followers on your post for longer too, especially if you’re selling a product.
7. Stick to a schedule – A huge cause of low engagement is a lack of regular posts. If you don’t stay visible to your followers, it’s hard for them to remember you. Schedule your posts at the beginning of the week so that you’re sharing regular content and staying in their mind.
   

I hope you found these pointers helpful, and if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d love to talk about this more!

To your success,

Richie – Creative Director