There is so much information available on the internet, how do you use it to get the most engagement from your audience? If you own a small business, engagement can help you drive sales and build your brand image. Don’t waste valuable time on social media. Use this guide to plan your posts more efficiently.
Determine what time your audience is most active
The time of day you post is important. You want to post at the time your audience is most likely to be active. Usually that is around 6 - 8 PM. Keep in mind time zone differences. If the majority of your customers are in a different time zone, cater to them by posting between 6 and 8 PM their local time.
Use post scheduling software
Sometimes it can be tough to get all of your posts out there when you need them the most. Use tools like Postfity or Sprout Social to schedule your posts for a month out so you never miss one. Both offer an analytics platform so you can calculate what times are best to post and which posts are performing the best
Use high-quality photos
It is worth the cost of a photoshoot to maintain your brand image. The following SmartBiz Loans customers are using high-quality photos successfully to build an Instagram audience:
Encourage your customers to post high quality photos of themselves at your place of business or with your product. Ask them to tag you on social media to elevate your online profile.
Start AB testing
Have you ever heard of the marketing strategy Ready, Fire, Aim? This is a classic marketing technique where you try a strategy, analyze the results, reload, and fire again. The AB Tasty Blog has a good resource to help you get started: 7 Tips for Implementing A/B Testing in your Social Media Campaigns. Don’t be afraid to try different marketing tactics if your current strategy is underperforming.
Use Facebook and Instagram insights
Instagram and Facebook offer great analytics information directly on their platforms. In order to access this on Instagram, you have to change your account to an Instagram business account.
The insights will tell you things like your male/female following ratio which can help you create ads that appeal to females or vice versa. This will help make sure that you are creating content that your audience is actually interested in.
Post frequently enough for your content to be seen
You don’t want to be forgotten about by your audience. You should try to post once every 1 to 3 days to make sure your audience stays engaged with your brand.
Use social media to generate leads
Social Media sites like LinkedIn can be a great tool for selling to the right person. You can use it to search for people with specific positions who would be most likely to buy your product.
For example, if you are a financial advisor, you can use LinkedIn to find people who recently switched jobs and might want to roll over their 401k.
Identify which social media outlet is giving you the best ROI
There are so many social media platforms out there: Facebook, Instagram Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc. Which one works best for your brand? That will likely depend on your product. It is best to create content for all of them and then use Google Analytics on your website to track where your visitors are coming from. From there, you can invest more heavily in that social media platform and tailor your content creation to it.
Conclusion
With patience and the right tools, you can have an edge over your competitors. Make the most out of your time on social media by analyzing your target audience, your content, and the timing of your posts. With those things in mind, you are poised to increase your social media following and boost your sales.
If you don’t have the bandwidth to manage social media, check out this post from the SmartBiz Small Business Blog: Small Business Marketing Tip: How to Hire a Social Media Strategist.
