Social media marketing is a great way to get your business in front of potential customers, build brand loyalty and increase your online authority.

But don’t just take our word for it. Studies show that 78% of consumers say companies’ social media posts impact their purchases, and  54% of social browsers use social media to research products. But what if your marketing budget is stretched thin or you’re hesitant to bring on a full-time marketer to manage your social media marketing? 

Luckily, there’s a wealth of information online that can help you manage social media campaigns on your own. This quick guide will show you how to get your business up and running on social and how to make the most of your social media marketing efforts.

Optimize your profiles

First things first, you need to optimize your business’s social media profiles. An optimized business profile signals trust and makes your business look professional to potential customers. Here’s how to optimize your business’s social profiles: 

Add your logo: Make sure your profiles have a high-quality version of your logo. Keep in mind that Facebook, Instagram, nd LinkedIn use a circular profile image, so you may need to adjust your logo to fit.

• Facebook: You can find Facebook’s profile photo and cover photo size guidelines here
• Instagram: Instagram doesn’t have photo guidelines, but we recommend uploading an image that’s 320 x 320 pixels. 
• LinkedIn: Profile photo size recommendations: Pixel size between 400 (w) x 400 (h) pixels and 7680 (w) x 4320 (h) pixels. Background photo recommended pixel dimensions are 1584 (w) x 396 (h) pixels. 

Add important business information. Whenever applicable, be sure to fill out the “About” sections on each social platform. For instance, Facebook business pages have an About section where you can list your website, hours, business description, and more. 

• On Instagram, you can include important business information, such as website URL, hours and contact information within your Instagram bio. Keep in mind that you only have 150 characters here, so choose what you put in your bio wisely. 
• You could also create Instagram Story Highlights that have more information about your business, or use a tool, like linktree, to create a custom URL that leads users to your most important content. 

Start making posts: If you haven’t posted in a while, or if you’re starting from scratch, make sure to create some recent social posts. This signals to customers that your business is active on social media and improves the chances that they’ll give you a follow back. 

Know your audience

The better you know your audience, the better your marketing will be. Knowing your audience is key to creating social content that attracts new followers and promotes purchases.

Before you plan out your social calendar, take time to interview past or current customers to learn more about their preferences, interests, demographics, etc. You can also use information from your CRM to determine what your typical customer looks like.

When surveying your past or current customers, you want to get to the root of what they care about and how they make purchasing decisions. 

Some questions to ask include: 

• Who is your audience (i.e. how old are they, where do they live, do they rent or own their house, etc.)?
• What are their most common concerns that you can help address?
• What are they most interested in (i.e. what is the main reason they are visiting your site)?
• What do they care about? What are their hobbies and interests?
• What questions do they have?

Thinking about your customers’ needs will help you paint a clear picture of your target buyers’ persona and allow you to publish social content that they’re interested in.

Plus, it helps you focus your social marketing efforts on platforms your audience use most. For example, Instagram is most popular with millennials, while Facebook is popular across many age groups.

Build your social media follower list

A large social media following lets you spread your message to more people who are interested in your products or services. Plus, your followers can help you reach an even larger audience through post shares, word of mouth, tagging, etc. 

Some easy ways of building your social media following include: 

In-store promotion: You can have a sign at the register that lists your social tags or print your social media information on receipts. You can also verbally remind your customers to follow you on social to stay in the know about promotions and other news. 

Social media giveaways/contests: Instagram contests can be a great way of building your social following. Create a giveaway offer, like a gift card or a product sample, and have users enter to win by tagging a friend on your post. This can increase brand awareness among your followers’ friends while giving your loyal followers a chance to win.

Website signup: Having your social media icons on your website is an excellent way to promote your social profiles and also build trust. We recommend placing your social icons in the footer so that they appear across all your pages. 

Find your unique brand voice

All your social media content, such as images, captions, and videos, should capture your unique brand identity. A consistent brand experience across all your online entities can help improve customer experience and even increase purchases — the average revenue increase attributed to always presenting the brand consistently is 33%. (Lucidpress). 

Here’s how to incorporate your brand into social media: 

• Use your logo: As we mentioned above, make sure your main profile images have your current logo.
• Use branded colors:  When applicable, tie your brand colors into your social media posts. For example, if you post a written testimonial on your Facebook page, use your brand colors and fonts to write it.
• Write in your brand voice: Write all social content with your brand voice in mind. 
• Link back to your official website: Make sure your social profiles link back to your official website. 
• Get verified: When possible, verify your social media profiles to let followers know that you’re the real deal. 

For more tips on how to build your brand on social, check out our blog post, “How to Build a Memorable Brand on Social Media.” 

Use social media tools to make your life easier

Marketing 360® offers social media marketing tools that make DIY social media easier than ever before. From social post scheduling and approval and social media creative design tools to social profile management, our DIY social media software saves you valuable time and lets you take your social presence into your own hands. See our plans and sign up for your free trial.

Originally published on 11/13/20