The playing field for businesses has changed. Gone are the days when only a smile and a handshake were enough to do good business. Today, we’re all connected online, making the need for an excellent social media presence even more important for businesses to succeed.

Billions of users use social media to stay connected with family and friends and research companies and products. Social media searches continue to increase while traditional search engine searches decrease. Any business (especially small businesses) aims to convert these social media users into long-term clients. 

This article will look at the best way to increase social media awareness and sales. The Reputation Management Company has compiled these tips and tricks so that our clients can benefit in the following ways:

• Increase their audience
• Improve brand awareness
• Increase website traffic
• Receive better leads
• Improve sales

Let’s take a closer look at how you can increase traffic and awareness to your business’s social media accounts. 

1. Set Goals and Objectives

Your social media objectives should align with your marketing goals. It’s critical for any business to know where they want to go and what they want to achieve. Writing this down on paper gives you a good framework for your social media direction.

Here are some tips on how to set social media goals for your business:

• Always use numbers: For instance, if you are using Instagram as part of your social media campaign, write down how many followers you want by the end of the year.
• Incorporate deadlines: All campaigns must have deadlines. This will help business owners stay on track and make it easier to measure success.
• Align marketing and social media goals: Social media is an extension of your marking goal, making it essential that both pull in the same direction.

For best results, use SMART goals. Here’s a good example of how you can use SMART: 

• Specific: We are going to have 50,000 followers.
• Measurable: We will have 50,000 followers by the end of the year.
• Achievable: We will gain 2,500 followers per week.
• Relevant: This will tie in with our marking campaign.
• Time-bound: Starting end of July and finishing end of December this year.

Successful marketers know that goal setting for social media will always lead to increased traffic. Knowing the exact steps to take, they can perfect their social media campaigns and boost revenue.

2. Stay on Top of Current Trends

It’s always essential to have the tools to do the job. Be sure to know which social media clients prefer and add value to those platforms. These platforms will give your business free advertising and marketing.

An important trend happening in 2022 is shoppers want to be able to buy products directly on social media platforms. This means they won’t be redirected to a different site while they scroll through social media. Allowing customers to purchase directly off the platform will make buying easier and increase sales.

These social media platforms best for eCommerce in 2022: Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube & TikTok.

3. Understand Your Audience

Reaching and connecting with your target audience is vital in today’s market if you want to be profitable. Therefore, you need to know and understand your audience very well. Understand their wants, needs, and desires so that your social media campaigns can speak to them directly.

How do you do this:

1. Run surveys to understand your audience’s pain point better.
2. Use feedback tools to collect feedback (Facebook post automatic responses, direct messaging, etc.).
3. Stay engaged on all platforms, replying to questions and comments.
4. Read reviews and blogs in your industry.
5. Take into consideration their demographics.

Businesses that care and understand their client’s needs will always have customers. Understanding your audience is difficult, but it’s extremely important. You can share targeted content that resonates with them and build a long-term relationship.

If you make your social media audience your top priority, you will receive increased traffic and growth for your business. 

4. Be Active Online

Do you know why big companies spend millions on marketing? They want to stay on top for when that potential client is looking for a product or service like the one they are offering. As most businesses’ budget isn’t on that level, social media can help your business achieve similar results.

This will take time, and your goals are important here (think how many posts per week you want to send out and stick with it). You will build relationships with your clients by being regularly active, resulting in engaged and returning customers.

Pro-tip: Figure out when user activity is at its highest. Be sure to post during these timeframes. 

5. Create Images and Videos  

Social media posts with visuals have a much more significant impact than text alone (excluding Twitter). Users enjoy beautiful and creative multimedia, and when done right, these posts will have a lasting effect and increase sales for you.

It’s important to note that whatever you put out there will always point back to your brand. Therefore, try to be as professional as possible by sticking to quality content your customers will benefit from. You can easily outsource these processes to other companies, allowing you to stay consistent in your offering.

6. Promote Your Social Media Accounts

Your social media accounts need marketing of their own. Promoting them on your website and cross-promote them on your social platforms is important. This way, you will always be easy to find on whichever platform your customers prefer.

Running campaigns are beneficial for promoting your accounts. When your budget is tight, you can always ask friends and family to interact with your platforms, thus creating activity.

Pro-tip: Other places to add links to your social media accounts include marketing and company emails, banners and flyers, business cards, and blog posts.

7. Automate

Big companies can afford to have large social media teams. If you are in charge of your company’s accounts, automate these processes using the correct tools. These tools will allow you to streamline your campaigns and pre-schedule and plan posts.

Here are some examples of social media automation that could be of benefit to your business:

• Chatbots can respond to incoming user messages.
• Schedule Facebook posts long before campaigns start.
• Automatically send tweets at peak audience levels.
• Receive social conversation notifications.

You will not only save precious time, but you will be consistent over all your platforms and increase your presence and reach. Analytic tools can also help you monitor your posts to check their effectiveness.

8. Keep an Eye on Customer Service

Social media is where you service and interact with your clients. They accept a certain level of service, and you should always match that level with your level of engagement. Always attend to their complaints, engage with them, and look after their demands.

Notice what your customers say about your business, products, or services and how they portray your business online.  

Pro-tip: On social media platforms use the hashtag #addyourbusinessnameinhere to search for what people say about your business. If you are new to these platforms, use #yourproductnamehere to see what customers say about your industry. The Reputation Management Company can help you stay on top and manage these search results.

9. Paid Ads

Investing in paid social media ads can help you stand out and increase your conversions in 2022. When you pay for ads, your products or services will appear in front of potential clients who will likely buy them from you. This increases your brand and product/service awareness.

Note that social media platforms have different price tiers, making them accessible even to the smallest budgets. Your approach should be using non paid ads to engage and delight your current customers and use paid ads to attract new customers.

By understanding your target market and where they hang out, you can direct your paid ads to them more easily. Then, when you know the correct platform, you can perfect your message and produce great ads.  

Pro-tip: YouTube is the third most visited website worldwide. Use video ads or content to connect with a massive audience.

Conclusion

These tips and tricks, if well implemented, will increase traffic to your business’s social media platforms. Fortunately, technology and automation can help you easily implement all these tips and tricks.

We know running a successful social media strategy can be challenging, but the benefits far outweigh the efforts. Every business needs to take this strategy seriously, so they don’t miss out on new customers, leads, and online presence. No business can be without a social media presence in today’s business climate.

Always check with The Reputation Management Company to ensure your online reputation is positive. We’re here to help!