Social Media Promotion: Tips & Tricks

You need a social media promotion strategy that's on point. Data shows people are using social media to shop.

There are many reasons why social media promotion is important for your business, but the bottom line is that people are on social media.

Moreover, 26% of people hunt for products to buy on social media. So not only are they there, but a quarter of them are also shopping.

What do you need to do to sell your engine oil? Well, you might think you'd have to learn TikTok dances. Wrong. Basically, all you need to do is follow this guide. We promise you won't have to learn any TikTok dances.

Social media marketing for businesses: why should you do it?

Obviously, social media is great for promoting, but why bother?

The number of people using social media has increased by 10% since last year, which means there are many more potential eyes on your promotional material.

The true benefits of social media go beyond reaching a large audience of carbon-based life forms.

Expand your customer base

The majority of internet users are already searching for your brand on social media networks. 49% of internet users regularly look up brands online.

Having a half-decent (or even a fully-decent) product or service is all you need! Be where they are (social media), deliver the content they want, and be where they are.

Loyalty building

A whopping 82% of shoppers say they want a brand's values to align with their own when it comes to shopping. When it comes to buying decisions, 73% of Gen Z and 72% of Millennials prioritize inclusiveness, so as a brand, you can promote content that aligns with your company values.

You don't need to post 500 posts about your latest sale to attract people. They want to know what your company stands for and how it treats its employees. Don't be shy: shout your values from the rooftops as one of the best ways to promote on social media.

You can build brand equity across your marketing funnel by using social media to communicate your values.

Increasing sales and leads

It’s true that social media is used by a lot of companies to promote their revenue goals. It delivers a huge ROI. It’s not worth building an audience and showing off your wares if you’re not making money.

The use of social media to influence purchasing decisions is an integral part of an integrated marketing strategy. In the COVID-19 pandemic, so much of our attention and spending has shifted online, and that trend is expected to continue. 58% of internet users will purchase a product or service online each week in 2022.

Social media marketing for businesses

Social media marketing can help you maximize the huge pool of potential customers online.

You can use this road map to achieve social success (for your business, anyway).

Develop a marketing strategy for social media

Man, you've got to have a plan.

You should include the following in your social media marketing plan at a minimum:

Goals that can be measured
There may be several personas for your clients. Figure out who they are, what they like, and what they dislike.
Analyzing the competition
What topics and formats you will share as part of your content strategy
Content production timeline, posting frequency, and editorial calendar

Your business can benefit from identifying the best social media platforms

You should focus on the few platforms that will bring you the results you want and know which ones are the most effective for your business on social media.

Is that what you're dying to ask me? "How do I promote my business on social media?"

You can't just Google that. The simple answer is: where do your ideal customers hang out online? Your social media returns will likely come from only one or two key platforms.

Get involved!

The purpose of social media is to facilitate conversations, chats, and opportunities to disengage from the daily grind through online interaction.

Engage your customers directly. Ask for their input on new products or fresh ideas, then showcase how you are implementing the feedback you have received.

Among the examples of Taco Bell's successful social media promotions are their Twitter feeds. For instance, Taco Bell implemented Mexican Pizza back into their menu due to popular demand.

Making your audience feel heard is the best recipe for brand loyalty.

Progress should be monitored

Data and analytics will help you monitor your progress and remove your own subjectivity from the equation. Take your own subjectivity out of the equation by using data and analytics.

You can identify areas to improve your strategy by keeping an eye on your analytics.

You should check in on the following at least once a month:

Counting followers, gains and losses, engagement rates, repostings, shares, comments, and likes.
Efficiencies of omnichannel campaigns, sales attributed to social media, and brand equity development are among the advanced metrics.

Changing your goals over time or switching strategies is fine when you don't see the results you wanted. Just be sure you have the data to back up your decisions.

The best ways to promote on social media

Whether your brand is a tech company or a Mexican buffet, you only need to promote consistently and cohesively to attract people to your brand on social media.

Check out these social media promotion ideas to incorporate into your strategy if you're struggling for social media post ideas.

Giveaways should be planned

It is possible to run social media contests of various types, including simple ones like “like and comment,” as well as those that require people to share your post, tag a friend, or complete a form. There are no limits to what you can do. If you ask people to rap Doja Cat songs, you can even make them hop and down. You can't be sure they will, but you can.

It's important that you match the contest with your goals, whether that's spreading the word about your brand, getting feedback on your product offerings, or amassing information about your target audience.

It's important to read the contest rules on the platform before you run a contest.

Here are some clever Instagram giveaway ideas you can steal.

Here's how to steal it

Make a plan. What is your goal? Would you like to get more followers? Get email addresses? Go viral? Get user generated content?
If you want more followers, make it easy with a simple "like and share" photo on your feed. If you want more engagement, you may need a more complex contest.
What could you improve next time? How did you meet your goal? Why/why not?

Influencer marketing

There are 16.4 billion dollars worth of influencer content in the global market by 2022, which has doubled from 2019.

There has been some criticism about influencer marketing, especially the product placement look. Yikes. When done well, though, influencer marketing is a legitimate and effective method of digital marketing.

As an example, Mac has partnered with trans-activist, fashion model, and makeup enthusiast Lauren Sundstrom, who is a trans-activist, model, and makeup enthusiast. Sundstrom's 30k followers might not be the biggest following Mac could have indulged in, but choosing an influencer who aligns with your brand is more important than one with a huge reach who might not be a good fit.

This strategy is worth stealing

Small businesses looking to build a cohort of brand ambassadors can start small by reaching out to micro-influencers (10,000 followers or less).
Develop a unified campaign to launch simultaneously with multiple influencers and set aside a marketing budget for influencer marketing.
In order to form authentic partnerships, choose influencers whose values match your brand's.
It's not only for fashion companies. Be creative!

Content created by users can be leveraged

Maintaining social media's insatiable demand for new content can be the most challenging part of managing social media for business.

Wouldn't it be great if your customers did it for you?

As well as saving you time and brainpower, showcasing your customers' photos on your website builds a sense of community around your brand.

This is how you promote your services without shouting to everyone, “Hey! This is what I do!”

A leading e-commerce furniture supplier known as Article does this well by relying solely on digital marketing to promote their products. To help people visualize Article pieces in their homes, Article encourages user-generated content.

The article uses #OurArticle on Instagram, which has over 27k tags. They also credit the original accounts when reposting images from their hashtag.

Take advantage of this strategy

Don't share photos of customers without their permission.
Don't promote yourself in the caption, but focus on your customer.
Please tag your customer so that the photo can be credited to them.

Branding that works

This is a long-term strategy, but it'll pay off in all aspects of your marketing strategy, whether you are a small business owner or a big company.

Getting your brand nailed down is important for your business. Prepare a brand book or a set of brand guidelines that you can easily refer to and use as a checklist to ensure your content aligns with your brand story.

Your brand will be imprinted in consumers' minds as the solution to a particular problem when all facets point in the same direction, visually and narratively.

This can be seen in action at big brands such as Coca-Cola, McDonald's, or Nike. Do you know of anything that makes you think of something when you see a white bottle silhouette on a red background? Or do you remember something when you see a swooshing checkmark and think, "Just do it!"?

It pays off for these brands to be consistent.

Advertise organically as well as paid

Putting paid advertising into your social media strategy is the only way to really take advantage of the reach social media has to offer.

There are plenty of statistics showing that social media advertising spending will reach over $173 billion in 2022. It's a lucrative market for good reason, as with a solid strategy, you get more than you put in.

If you have a smaller budget, social media advertising can be inexpensive. But if you’re willing to spend money, you can do that too. Social advertising has a pretty flexible rate; it’s entirely up to you. You can reach your target audience without wasting precious dollars since they offer powerful targeting options.

Got questions? Visit us @ www.sirkle.com and we’re happy to help.