Social media marketing tips to help grow your business
Social media marketing is now a major part of the marketing plan of any business. If harnessed
properly, social media channels could be a source of quality leads and a major driver of sales. It
allows businesses to connect with their customers on a personal level and it could be a major
influencer of purchase decisions. Some business owners actually built while businesses on social
media.
However, not every business that mines in this field strikes gold. The consumer market is more
competitive than ever. Harnessing the power of social media has become more difficult for
businesses. But it’s still possible if you employ the right strategies. Here are a few proven tips to help
grow your business through social media:

Set the right goals
Social media marketing has a lot of prospects. But you should know what you hope to achieve with it
before going in. The fact that all your competitors employ social media marketing isn’t enough. It
should be a part of your overall marketing strategy and you should set out with clear objectives. Do
you want to use social media as a sales channel? Or you simply want to use it to create awareness.
Your approach to social media marketing would ultimately depend on the goals you set out to
achieve.

Understand your current following and target audience
To achieve this, you’ll need to conduct a social media audit for your existing pages. The audit helps
you understand the demography of your current social media followers and the best strategies to
reach them. If you do not have an account already, you’ll need to have a clear idea of your target
consumers. This would help you make informed decisions about which platforms to focus on. A B2B
start-up, for example, would reap more benefits investing in Linked In or Google+ marketing over
Instagram or Facebook.

Build up your presence
This is perhaps the hardest part of social media marketing. But you can’t gain much from social
media if you do not have at least a decent following. Once you have identified the platform(s) that
would be of most benefit to your business, the next task is trying to attract the people that’ll be
interested in your products. As you would have heard, content is king. The content on your page is
what would attract and keep your clients. However, this doesn’t mean you should post just about
anything. Your posts should be in line with your brand identity. You could also form partnerships
with other complementary businesses who have an impressive social media presence already.
Organizing giveaways at intervals is another way through which you can build your presence.

Delegate
Social media marketing is a field of its own. As an entrepreneur, achieving the presence you desire
may be difficult if you are constantly distracted by other aspects of your business. If you observe
that your efforts are not yielding fruits, consider hiring a social media marketing expert. Navigating
the difficult waters would be much easier for a professional. The periodic reports they’ll provide
would also make it easier to measure progress.
Social media marketing could be overwhelming. However, it’s almost a must for your business to
have some form of social media presence in this age. We hope the tips shared would at least set you
on the path to spreading the word about your business through social media platforms.