Social Media isn’t just for sharing Instagrams of amazing meals and checking in to get 10% off cheese fries. Social media management can propel your brand. The key is understanding how to use social media effectively. This month, we’ll look at social through a different lens each week to help you decide how to use the tool to its full potential.

How a Social Media Strategy Can Propel Your Brand

A social media strategy done right will bring significant benefits to your business. Whether you’re using it as a service-oriented tool or to get your name out there, social media influences consumers. Most importantly, though, is social’s ability to drive purchases.

Just look at these stats:

According to The Drum, Facebook influenced 36% of consumers’ online and offline purchases in 2014. In 2015 that number rose to 52%.

Twitter is becoming the way for customers to interact with brands directly. Considering that 71% of consumers are likely to suggest a brand to others that has responded well to a complaint, Twitter is helping companies build loyalty. (Sources: CIO & Ambassador)

Who wouldn’t book their next trip with Virgin Trains after this kind of attention to a complaint?

Instagram is a favorite place for consumers to learn about brands. In fact, if we look at the top content posted by the top 200 global brands in 2015 we find that 60% of those posts were images of products. (Source: Hootsuite)

Consumers love video marketing. In 2015 YouTube hit 40 billion total views of branded content. (Source: ReelSEO)

Let’s face it, if you’ve got something to sell, social media management should be a top priority.

Don’t Discount Twitter

Despite being ten years old, Twitter is huge for small businesses. We’ve got the data to back that up:

“Sixty-six percent of Twitter users have discovered a new small or medium-sized business (SMB) through the network, 79 percent have retweeted an SMB, and a whopping 94 percent plan to make a purchase from the SMBs they follow. And that’s not just talk. Sixty-nine percent have already purchased from an SMB because of something they saw on Twitter.” (source: Hootsuite)

What Is Social Media? Understanding Platforms

The first step to good social media management is knowing how to use the various platforms. It’s not just having a page on Facebook and an account on Instagram. It’s using each of these properly to target the right people.

What Is Social Media? Constructing Posts

You’ve got a good sense now of who is checking out which platforms which can help you determine where to focus your energy. An important component of your social media strategy should be learning to construct quality posts across platforms. Here’s a hint: text-based posts aren’t going to fly.

How To Create Posts In A Social Media Strategy

At Digital Firefly Marketing we take social media management seriously and make sure that our posts follow some strict guidelines.

Does It Connect, Inform, Engage, Entertain, or Promote?

Every social media post should do at least one, if not two, of these. Otherwise you’re not going to get the results you want. Posts must serve one of these purposes.

Connect: These posts build relationships through likes, follows, and reach.

• Don’t operate in a vacuum. When talking about industries or issues be sure to tag others. Aim high!
• Use popular hashtags. Hashtags won’t increase sales but will make your content more visible.

Inform: These posts give you credibility.

• Share stats, infographics, industry news, how to and DIY, tips & tricks and community news and events.
• Hyper-local or regional, it doesn’t matter. Informing in a way that is location-specific garners community. People love small, local businesses. Stay on top of that trend!

Engage: Social Media isn’t a one way street. Get your followers to interact with you.

• Post quizzes, trivia, polls and contests. Recognize those who contribute with a tag and response. People love engaging with brands on social media.

Entertain: Keep it light sometimes in order to gain the benefit of making others laugh or smile.

• There’s a reason #MotivationMonday and #TransformationTuesday are so popular. Share inspiring, fully, or clever posts sparingly to show your multi-faceted brand.

Promote: You’re here for a reason so be sure to promote your brand.

• Don’t be all sales all the time, but when you are connecting, informing, engaging or entertaining be sure to include your brand.

Combining these types of posts and posting on a regular schedule are likely to boost your business because they are proven ways to get people interested. Your social media manager should create posting schedules to keep content fresh. We recommend that every post do one of the top four plus promote your business.

How’s Your Social Measuring Up?

No one’s asking, “What is social media?” anymore because it has become a vital part of our day to day. Bring social media management to your business so that you can interact and engage with the public in a way that your target audience is likely to consume eagerly.

Don’t forget!

What is social media?

• It’s a way to get information about your brand to consumers in a video (Facebook).

What is social media?

• It’s how to grow an international business (Twitter).

What is social media?

• It’s a platform for showing your products off in a beautiful way (Instagram).

What is social media?

• It’s a way to help consumers envision their dreams and goals (Pinterest).

Digital Firefly Marketing offers free social media audits and social media management. Check out our services and let us help you create a killer social media management plan.