Having a stellar social media presence is on every marketer’s agenda this year and there is a good reason for it. Social media drives more than 31% of all referral traffic and it has emerged as the most important traffic source after SEO. Not only does it get traffic, it gets ‘targeted’ traffic that is easier to move along your sales funnel.

But social media marketing can be frustrating for many small and medium size businesses. Founders and marketers invest time and post regularly only to see no visible results. They either struggle with increasing their followers or getting conversions. This can be disappointing and many give up on social media altogether.

Unfortunately , most people are not aware that there are some tactics without which you cannot succeed at social media. Hard work with no smart work can be tiring. In this blog we will tell you how to do that.

But, first things first. You need to understand that social media growth takes time. Just six hours a week on social media can start showing you results in three to four months. However these six hours must be well planned. Work smartly with the following seven tips to improve your social media presence.

1. Get Social

You must use the social networks in social media to your advantage. Invest time in building relations with peers and industry leaders. There is a lot that can be done in collaboration with influencers and communities on social media.

Neil Patel ran a campaign on social media where models with large following were paid to  promote ‘#whoisneilpatel’. As a result the hastag #whoisneilpatel was used 11,000 times and Google searches for ‘Neil Patel’ went up by 71%.

You do not have to spend hefty amounts on Influencer campaigns. A free gift or a percentage of revenue generated by their followers is also good offer to make.

Participate in communities and groups that are relevant to your industry. Answer queries and comment on blogs posted on groups other than yours. Don’t be salesy and avoid talking about how great your product is. The point is to add value to other users. If they see you as a subject matter expert they will follow you.

2. Include your followers

Social media channels are a two way communication street. Just posting interesting content with no conversations is a disengaging and boring way to exist on social media. Instead, make your followers an active part of your page or profile. Here are some ways to do it

• Start a trivia game. Pick a topic that is close to your follower’s heart and related to your brand.
• Ask your followers to post how their life has changed after using your product.
• Use Facebook Polls to understand their interests.
• Word your posts to get more comments and responses. For example, a fitness apparel brand can post asking followers of ‘their favorite fitness activity and what they like about it’

3. Promote Everywhere

Let all your customers know that you are on social media. Mention your twitter handle and facebook page on all company merchandise, marketing material, PR and advertising copies, blogs and product packaging.

You can get decent traction even if all your current customers and employees promote your page among their friends. Make sure you are creating interesting content. This way they would be happy to share without feeling spammy. 

4. Use your website

You can optimize your website to drive more traffic to your social media profiles. Make it easy for your visitors to share at the click of a mouse button.

Install Click to tweet plugin that allows you to convert blog text into tweetable text.

Use social media icons on your website pages. However, be sure to insert them only where they are relevant. Putting social share icons on your home page or contact page is useless as nobody is going to share these pages.

Instead, place the icons on pages with content that is funny, informative and valuable. Make sure your icons scroll down the page with your visitors. Use Add this plug-in to add scrollable icons and make your images shareable on Pinterest at a click.

5. Be human

It helps to show your soft side on social media as people want to connect with real humans and not a faceless brand. Feel free to share behind the scene photos or founder’s story.

Not every social site is fit for all types of content. Always keep in the mind the mood of the social media platform you share on.

Instagram is great for lifestyle promotion; feel free to share glamorous photos here. LinkedIn is professional and suitable to share your expert take on your client’s industry. Facebook has a friendly mood and you can show your personal side here.

The rules of great conversation also apply to social media interactions. Make the conversation more about your followers than about your brand.

It’s good to post content that is not directly related to your products but connects with your audience. Use the 80:20 rules. 80% of your posts should be non-promotional and only 20% should be promotional.

6. Have a Plan

You already know the result if you have been posting on social media sites without a formal plan. It gets you nowhere.

You must have a goal and a content strategy that chalks out how you are going to get there. It does not have to be a super complicated document. Just a structured content calendar that lists what you are going to share everyday will be good to go.

You must decide what platforms are best suited for your brand based on where your target market spends their time. Also make sure your goals are specific, measurable, realistic and time-based.

A structured plan will serve two goals. First it will make sure you post regularly. Second, you will get the content ready beforehand since you know what you have to post. This removes haphazard posting.

7. Live Videos

Live videos have made a mark as the most exciting marketing tool this year. Internet celebrities like Gary Vaynerchuk have used it successfully to grow their following on social media.

According to Livestream.com , 82% of brand audience would prefer a live video rather than social post. Individuals and brands are using it to give more immersive feel of their life to their followers. It has become the new reality TV in every person’s hand.

Live videos are not yet fully exploited which is why social media sites are pushing the feature. Facebook and Instagram send users a notification every time any of their contact starts a live video.

Conclusion

Following these seven practices consistently will increase your social media presence. What are some other tactics that have worked for you to increase social media presence? Let us know in the comments below.