These days social media is where it’s at, and if you aren’t taking advantage of the available audience throughout the vast social media networks, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity. In 2012, it was shown that over 58 million Americans were using social media platforms several times per day.
That’s a number that’s nearly tripled from just three years prior. What this shows us is that social media is a valuable resource, filled with a cache of available customers. All you’ve got to do is reach them and speak to their needs. Here are 5 steps to help you get there.
-
Get started
First thing’s first – Start! Now! There’s no special skill you need to know or budget you need to stretch to do this. All it takes is a bit of time to create your account and a commitment to posting content regularly. You won’t get anywhere you want to go if you aren’t willing to take the first step, and this is that first step.
-
Keep things updated
Post things frequently and keep at it – although you may be told that posting too much will turn people off and cause them to stop following you, what you’ve got to keep in mind is that, at the beginning at least, you don’t have any followers to lose. You need to post a lot of content in order to attract those followers and get them to share your posts, thereby attracting more followers.
If someone does decide to unfollow you because they feel you’re posting too much, chances are they weren’t completely interested in what you had to offer anyway.
You’ll need to have a library of content to draw from, so you’ll need to either get to work creating that content, or seek out a professional writing service such as Australian Reviewer to help you keep that library fully stocked.
-
Turn yourself into the expert in your field
When you’re able to offer tips and insight into a variety of topics in your related field, you help to solidify yourself as an expert. You want to be seen as the go-to person when someone has a question about something. And you want them taking your advice, sharing your information and referring you to their friends whenever possible.
Don’t be hesitant about sharing information for fear of giving away too much or revealing trade secrets. The more information you present to your audience, the more you’ll be seen as an authority on the subject.
Many companies are turning more and more to online professional writing services, that are staffed with experts in every field imaginable. As detailed in Write My Essay: The New Business Model Review, these services can help you create content that will solidify your position as an expert at the top of your field.
-
Don’t limit your target audience
When you first start out, there’s no real point in limiting the audience you’re targeting. Even if those who choose to follow you clearly never have any intention of buying from you, they may share interesting content with those they know who are more prospective customers.
Your social media presence can reach around the world and back, so don’t limit it from the starting gates by targeting a narrow audience.
-
Stick to the 80/20 rule
It’s quite simple actually. Don’t send out more than 20 percent of your content as promotional items. Even after you’ve gained a larger following, no one wants to be promoted to constantly. But, this is especially true from the start, because no one will start to follow you or continue for very long if all they’re seeing is promotional content.
Provide them with an overwhelming percentage of useful and interesting information that they’ll want to continue reading and sharing. Scattered in between that interesting information can be some promotional items. Even something as simple as sharing relevant information found on reliable sources such as Forbes can provide your readers with interesting content they will want to share with others.
Social media continues to grow as the years pass, with no signs of slowing down. If you haven’t already gotten on board the social media train, it’s time to get on right now. And if you already have, you always have the opportunity to boost your social media sales with the help of these 5 tips.