Tweet, pin, post and blog. If this sounds like Greek to you, then you are in the right place. With the advent of social media, digital marketing has taken off and there are many platforms which you can use to spread the word about your business. But which one is right? And how do you go about it? Here are five tips on how to use social media to boost your brand.
1. Know your social media platform
Before you decide which platform to promote your brand on, it is important to know who your audience is and what platforms they use. The four most popular social media platforms in South Africa are Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram. Facebook has 13 million followers which accounts for almost a quarter of the population. Facebook can help improve your customer service. Twitter is great to use when you want to keep your finger on the pulse as to what your consumers think and who they are following, and there are 7.4 million people using it. YouTube and Instagram are mainly visual platforms and are good for products which lend themselves to visual marketing. YouTube has 8.28 million users and Instagram has 2.68 million users. Furthermore, YouTube can be used to instruct on how your product can be used to solve the dilemmas of your customers.
2. Be content conscious
Good content is essential when using social media for marketing. You should not only market the products you sell but you should also give your customer’s credible information in the form of articles that they can share with their peers. This will help people see that you have expertise in your field and will increase your reach.
3. Be a social butterfly
It is important to socialise on the networks you choose to promote your brand. Ensure that you are consistent in your interactions so that you can increase your following and be attractive to your target audience. Follow industry leaders and repost any articles which are relevant to your brand. If you get comments on your business page, be sure to attend to them as soon as possible. Additionally, post well thought out comments on blogs. It is important to share content selflessly because this may encourage others to share your content too.
4. Boost your brand
By creating an online presence through social media, you create a platform to build trust with your current and potential audience. The platform gives a voice to your brand. You are able to share information about your business more easily and people can access the information about your business at anytime. This will give your market more incentive to trust the brand you are building.
5. Be security conscious
Even though you are taking your brand online, it is important to be conscious about security issues which may arise. You are at risk of having your accounts hacked and having malicious information posted on your platforms. Therefore, it is imperative to have a good security system in place. You can protect your social media accounts by periodically changing the passwords on the accounts. Furthermore, you can use a social media management system which will prevent you from giving out sensitive account information to all your employees. The last security aspect is to control who is able to see the posts you make. Ensure that you are familiar with account privacy settings for the social media platforms that you use.
If you follow these tips you will be well on your way to creating great brand awareness. You will encourage customer engagement and you may pick up some brand advocates on the way.
Proudly brought to you by the National Small Business Chamber (NSBC).