11 easy ways to make social media your new inbound BFF
It doesn’t matter how marvellous your deeds are if no one knows about them. This saying is definitely true when we’re talking about inbound campaigns. You can develop the most amazing strategy ever, but if you don’t promote it right it will die before its time. Luckily, Social Media can help you with the content distribution and leads’ generation.
Nowadays, platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Snapchat aren’t just what teens use to socialise on the web, as some might be tempted to think, they’re valuable tools your business can’t ignore if it wants to be on top. Inbound campaigns can greatly benefit from them, as they represent a cheap, even free medium for content promotion. All you have to do is to learn how to use them in order to make the most out of your campaign and to maximise its efficiency.
To aid you with that, we’ve compiled a list of 11 ways through which you can make Social Media your new Inbound BFF. Here they are:
1. Identify the best Social Media platform for your business
First things first. Before you venture into the wonderful universe of Social Media, you have to prep. What does that mean? You have to take some time and to identify which are your inbound campaign’s goals, what and how you want to transmit, who’s your target audience, which are your objectives etc. Afterwards, you have to spend some more time getting to know each relevant Social Media platform and to decide which ones are the best suited for your needs.
2. Think before you post something
Social Media can be your best friend, but also your worst enemy. It’s tempting to just write whatever crosses your mind, but, if you’re not paying attention and if you don’t take into account all the possible variables, your efforts might backfire. That’s why you should always think before you post: you should take into account what you want to accomplish with that post, who’s your target audience and what’s the best message to send.
3. Post as often as you can
If you want your followers to keep following your page and subsequently, to become your leads, you have to keep them entertained, to throw them some bones to play with. So, it is recommended to post something on a constant basis, just to keep them hooked. As we, humans, are creatures of routine, these posts have to be published on a pre-set schedule, so that your audience will always know when to expect new content. Think about your favourite page: you probably know when something new is going to be published.
4. Use the mighty hashtags
Hashtags are basically the Social Media equivalent of keywords. Therefore, if you want your posts to draw as much engagement as possible, you have to use them for everything you publish. Doing so will increase the post’s visibility and, therefore, it will reach a higher number of users. Don’t forget that hashtags help others find your content more easily. If they’re interested in a certain topic and want to find out more, they will probably make a search, using hashtags, search that might lead them to your page.
5. Don’t abuse those hashtags
As it’s the case with everything that’s overused, if you put too many hashtags on a post you will manage to do the opposite of what you were planning to. Instead of drawing people in, you will push them away. Every Social Media platform has an ideal number of hashtags to be used, so you better check that before putting them. You can read How to Master the Art of Hashtagging Your Online Content to Perfection to find out what’s that number.
6. Engage your audience
Posting is great. It increases your brand’s awareness and its visibility, it promotes your content, and, all in all, is a godsend. But if you want to keep your followers hooked to your page, to make them trust you and want to enter in a business relationship with you, you have to engage them. You have to urge them to get in touch with you, to like and share your posts, to comment on them, to tell you want they want, what they like, what they dislike and so on. As a bonus, by doing this you will receive valuable feedback on your inbound campaign, feedback you can then use to improve the areas that need improvement.
7. Mix the paid posts with the unpaid ones
If you want to maximise your posts efficiency you should mix the unpaid ones with the paid ones. The paid posts will bring new visitors to your page, while the unpaid ones will convert them into followers. So, if you want to boost your visibility, you should boost some posts.
8. Make contests
If we’re talking about engaging the audience, one of the best ways to do it is through contests. It doesn’t matter the prize, what’s important is to convince your audience to get involved with you one way or another. You can achieve this either by making them like your page in order to have a chance to win something, either by making them share a post, by making them tag their friends or by making them comment. By doing it you can promote your page, grow your followers list and promote your content, all at the same time.
9. Promote other content or other media channels
Social Media is great when you want to get closer to your audience by making a series of stand-alone posts, but it’s also a great and inexpensive (even free) way to advertise all your content. As inbound campaigns use a mix of content, published on various channels, some of your posts should aim to promote that content. For instance you can use Social Media to promote your landing page, your e-book, your tutorial, your website, your blog etc.
10. Use Marketing Automation software to streamline the process
Developing a good Social Media campaign involves creating a well-thought plan, a plan that can contain hundreds of steps and that can be difficult to track if you do it manually. Luckily, you can use a Marketing Automation tool to streamline the process and automate everything. All you have to do is enter the criteria and then gather and analyze the results.
11. Use Social Media to drive value across the customer’s lifecycle
Social Media marketing is an important component of the marketing mix and communication and it’s most effective when its messages and content support and reinforce other marketing channels. Through it you can engage your audience across the entire customer lifecycle—from creating and maintaining relationships to driving revenue growth, increasing customer loyalty and retention, as well as building advocacy.
By using the right tools, like a Marketing Automation and a Social Media Management platform, you’re not only able to listen and respond to your audience across various channels, but you can also track the revenue correlated with your Social Media marketing activities – which can significantly improve your impact.
Now that you have the necessary information, all that’s left is to get to work. Don’t postpone this, the best time for you to start using Social Media was yesterday, but, if you missed that train or if you simply didn’t put much emphasis on it, you should start right now.
If you wanna know what types of content you can promote through Social Media channels, read Content Marketing or How to Sell Without Selling.
Also, if you want to know just how important Social Media is, according to the top marketing professionals from Romania, read 6 marketing trends on stage at Webstock 2016.
And, obviously, if you want to let our team of dedicated Digital Marketing Specialists take care of your Social Media strategy for you, don’t hesitate to contact us!
Yours dedicated,
Teodora Demian
Copywriter
