Let's face it, social media is now a vital piece of your overall inbound marketing strategy.
With social media usage growing 356% in the past six years, it's a no-brainer that businesses should spend time crafting, cultivating, and fine-tuning their messages to reach their desired target audiences on social channels. Whether the goal is to gain more followers, increase engagement, or boost customer sales, businesses continue to find creative ways to leverage social media for their growth and success.
With that said, it's important to stay on trend to keep your social media marketing fresh and relevant to today's market. The trouble some businesses experience is in not knowing what to share to maximize engagement with their audience. No doubt you're aware that it's not good marketing practice to just post promotional pieces - but what should you post to get followers clicking, sharing, and interacting with your content?
If you're stuck on what to share as part of your social media marketing strategy, here are seven useful tips to get your content rolling, while also boosting your brand:
1. Tips, Tricks and Treats
Consider the common problems and questions your target market is most often faced with. Social media is the perfect outlet to address these issues by providing frequent tips and hacks as solutions.
When you offer solutions, you're giving value to your audience, and this is an essential ingredient to inbound marketing. In doing this, you're working to position yourself as an authority in your industry, giving your fans more reasons to follow and engage with you.
2. Live-Stream "In-The-Moment" Videos
Create personable experiences with your market using tools like Facebook Live and Periscope. Video has a profound way of building immediate connections with your viewers, it's one of the fastest ways to build the "know, like and trust" factors because followers get to see the real you.
Adding videos to your marketing enhances and solidifies your social media marketing plan. Popular brands like Red Bull, for example, use live-stream videos as they host events, giving their fans behind the scenes access.
Use live-streaming to share your brand's story, reveal your company's culture, and give inside scoop info, exclusive to your audience.
3. React to Trending Topics
Reporting on recent news shows that your company strives to remain current in the marketplace, positioning you as the go-to resource for the latest updates.
When responding to a news topic, focus on tying that trending news into a brand relevant message that connects with your viewers and market. This makes your message meaningful and reveals more about the "who" behind your brand.
4. Give Shout-Outs
In other words, highlight other movers and shakers in your niche by sharing their posts, celebrating their recent accomplishments, or even publicizing an upcoming event they're hosting.
This is how you create relationships with influencers online - you're promoting them and boosting your credibility in the process. And, ideally, you also get the attention of their followers.
Be sure to also tag them in any relevant post. This is an excellent method to increase your reach using social media.
5. What's Your Next Move?
What are some of your upcoming events, webinars, live meetings, and next travel locations that you can share on social media? Provide updates, keep your audience in the know and give them more reason to stay connected with you and your brand.
6. Ask a Question
This is a simple and highly effective way to create engagement with your followers. The beauty about asking questions is that it could be anything, ranging from getting their opinion on the latest hot topic ("what do you think about...") or giving them a chance to ask you anything. This strategy also helps you to create future content that's super relevant to your market, because it came from them. A win-win.
Don't forget to respond... and have fun.
7. Resources You Recommend
What are some of your favorite go-to sources that your target audience would also enjoy? Consider apps, tools, online sites, products, etc. that may be beneficial to your followers... and they'll thank you for it.
The bottom line is, you want social media to work for meeting your business objectives. Simply implementing these tips can provide you with endless content ideas whilst also creating opportunities to engage with your fans. Through this, you're also increasing your visibility, and thus, enhancing your social brand.
This post originally appeared on The Fried Side blog.