We all know by now how important social media is right? Of course we do, however sometimes knowing how important something is, doesn’t necessarily mean you’re completely sold on how to use it.
The basic idea is a platform for socialising with friends, showing your loved ones your experiences and making your opinions known to the world. Nowadays there’s another element thrown into the mix, and that’s ‘interests’. You can simply like a brand/product / social page you’re interested in and all the news about it floods into your newsfeed. And thanks to some amazing behind the scenes work undertaken by social network developers, you’ll probably notice that the more you like, the more similar stuff is recommended to you from other companies. See Dan’s 5 Simple Ways to Improve Your Facebook Ads with Specific Targeting blog to find out more on that how this works.
The point I’m trying to make is people now expect to be greeted by brands on their social pages, it’s something they’re used to. With targeted campaigns getting ever-increasingly popular it’s a great time to ensure your business is building credibility and a back catalogue of good content before you start taking advantage of this too. There are some fantastic ways to achieve this organically and as the Beatles once said “All you need is love”. Here are my top 5 ways of helping your social presence grow in an organic and personable way.
1. Communicating with your customers
It seems obvious but showing a good rapport with your audience can go a long way to not only making them feel good about the customer service you’re providing, but also get you off on the right foot with any potential new customers browsing your social networks.
Trends show that when a customer makes a decision to buy a product, they tend to firstly look for reviews or customer response and a positive Facebook page for example, can go a long way to convincing them that your brand is credible.
2. Local news updates
Show an interest in the community, especially if you’re a small business based locally. Endorsing events, which may not even relate to your sector can lead to good social relationship building and potential referrals back. This can be a key factor in growing your following.
For example, a local Coffee Shop is having a Neighbourhood Watch meeting; show an interest, promote it. Not only will you be perceived as more approachable, but the likelihood of attracting a relevant audience to your social networks will be higher.
3. Jump on-board with #hashtags
Embracing a good hashtag can be key in attracting new followers and getting your brand in newsfeeds. For example if you’re a charity using #charitytuesday on a Tuesday, you can blend your brand in with competitors competing for following in the same social space. Just ensure it’s relevant! You wouldn’t hashtag #charitytuesday in a post if you were the Coffee Shop with the Neighbourhood Watch meeting now would you? Just make it relevant. One trending hashtag every Monday is #MondayMotivation, helping people get through the darkest of the weekdays. Jump on-board and promote your business in a clever way which tags in this trending term.
4. Following and Unfollowing
It can come across a bit tedious sometimes, but following relevant local businesses, or publications your product might feature in will be essential in putting you on their map, whilst giving you constant access to their content and what they’re up to. Also don’t be afraid to follow your customers back if they’re following you. Following back feels good, show your customers that you’re interested in their lives.
There was an interesting piece a few months back, when Aston Villa FC’s official Twitter feed unfollowed 47,000 accounts, which caused uproar, as their fans were proud of how many people their club originally followed. Stay connected to everybody but avoid the spammers.
5. Find your balance
Whilst writing your content remember that you are invading people’s personal space. These are their personal accounts where they hope to look at pics of friends, family or dogs in hats. Avoid the ‘sell, sell, sell’ attitude because whilst followers are generally loyal, this may wear thin quickly. Now this doesn’t mean you can’t promote your brand or product, of course not, after all the reason you’re doing this is to promote your brand and make money, but finding the balance is important. Having a fun post here and there, for example the #hashtags we spoke about or celebrating an employee’s birthday, can go a long way to increasing your engagement and creating a balance of fun content and selling content.
Give these a try and let us know how you get on. And of course if you need any more information about organically growing your social presence or any aspects of marketing then please feel free drop us a line.