7 Ways To Optimize Your Social Media Efforts

Did you know that nearly three-quarters of Americans use social media? How much of your business strategy is focused on social? 

Social media is one of the best ways to connect with people who already know and love your brand and business. It’s also a crucial component for reaching those who may not have even heard of you. If you’re intimidated by social media marketing or just aren’t sure if your efforts are paying off - don’t worry! We’ll give you a few simple ways to optimize your social media so that you can reach new markets, build brand awareness, and hopefully drive sales, regardless of the size (or industry) of your business!

Optimize Your Social Media With These Easy Tips

The worst thing you can do is nothing. Follow a few of these easy tips to help you make the most out of your marketing efforts and hopefully get more of a return.

Start With A Plan and Set Goals

The first thing you need is a plan and to set some realistic goals. Most social platforms are easy to use, and you can get started with organic posting for free. Though it’s tempting to dive in and just start posting, it’s essential to create a business strategy for your social media before diving in. 

Without a clear plan, you’ll have no idea what you’re trying to achieve. And if you aren’t sure what you’re striving for, how can you truly measure your results? Take the time to establish a plan and some realistic goals so that your social strategy can benefit your business. A marketing expert or team can help you get started and develop a system that works.

Like with all goals in your life, personally or professionally, they should follow the SMART framework. They need to be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely. When you base your goals on metrics that will impact your business, you’ll be much happier with the results.

Identify Your Target Audience

Once you’ve successfully outlined your goals, the next step is to outline your target audience. Let’s clear up one thing we have to tell a lot of our clients - “everyone” is NOT your target audience. Narrowing down your audience by industry, age group, interests, and more will help you figure out a myriad of things. Knowing your target audience will help you establish which social media sites you should be using, when to post, the type of content you should be posting, your brand’s voice, and so much more. 

Knowing your audience means you can establish a better way to meet them where they are and give them the information they need to get that conversion, so they choose you over your competitors.

We encourage you to spend some time looking at your audience personas and identifying their challenges and how to relate to them. You can better understand how your social media presence can help you stand out from the crowd when you do a little more competitive analysis.

Don’t Be Afraid To Be Human

One of the biggest mistakes you can make on social media is to sound robotic or corporate with zero personality. In this modern age, people expect transparency, which means they want to get to your know your business and brand on a more personal level.

When it boils down, don’t be afraid to let your brand be human! It’s ok to crack jokes, get personal, and interact with your customers like they are friends. Similarly, we want to encourage your to show off the faces that make up your business. It could be “behind the scenes” shots, office photos, or just snapshots of your team getting personal with clients. 

Try To Build Relationships

The benefit of using social media marketing for small businesses or even large companies is that it allows you to talk directly to customers and followers. Social media can help you build relationships over time, building trust and a reputation rather than asking for the sale upfront. 

More than 40% of digital consumers use social networks to research new brands or products. People use social platforms to get to you as a brand and what you stand for and to help them confirm their suspicions, good or bad, about who you are.

One big tip that we can give is to engage with people, especially if people are already engaging with your organic content or ads. Interacting with people who are trying to interact with you builds trust and a loyal following. As your fans share and like your content, you’ll start to rise in the social algorithms and gain new (and free!) exposure. Building relationships ultimately develop into sales over time.

Stay Organized With A Content Calendar

The next tip we have for you is to create a content calendar or scheduler to help you write and schedule your posts on each platform. When you plan ahead, you make it easier for yourself to align your content with company priorities, promotions, and more. Make sure you’re making space in your content calendar for special events and special seasons within your industry. When you do the hard work of getting the plan on paper, the execution is easy. 

Marketing experts like us will tell you that once you have a plan in place, it is worth the effort to write and create several weeks’ worth of posts at a time. This strategy will save you a lot of time and energy so that you don’t have to log in every day to schedule posts. Ask us about our favorite marketing automation software.

Use Analytics To Refine Your Performance

As you start to implement your social strategy, it’s crucial that you keep track of what is working and what is not working. That way, you can fine-tune your efforts and improve results. There are many analytics tools out there that can give you a better idea of your social efforts, and they can help you target what metrics are the most important.

Once you establish a baseline for how your strategy is working, it’s time to start looking for ways to improve and make those small changes that will slowly but surely begin to boost your success.

No matter the size of your business or what industry you’re in, social tools can help you better connect with your audience, reach potential customers, and help you increase your brand awareness. Here’s what you need to remember, you don’t need to do it all! Start small with a focused approach, and then you can build your social media marketing efforts over time. 

Let Fuel Web Marketing Help Optimize Your Social Media

At Fuel Web Marketing, we know that social media is about so much more than just a way of connecting with old friends. Social media is now a powerhouse for businesses to connect with their target audience. However, we also know that not everyone truly knows how to harness the power of social media to their advantage. If you’re reading this, then you’re likely already away that using these platforms to create brand awareness and generate leads is a time-consuming and elusive skill. Are you spending an excessive amount of time and resources on social media marketing and still not seeing results? Reach out to the social media experts at Fuel Web Marketing and let us help you not only reach your goals but show you actual results - without wasting your time or hard-earned money. 

Our team approaches marketing differently than other marketing firms. We don’t just “guess” about what attracts potential clients. We focus on data and number crunching to drive your social media strategy. Detailed research and analysis is the path to a successful social media campaign. Our trackable results speak for themselves - so reach out to us today!