Social media is big business and today, it is estimated that there are around 3.69 billion social media users around the world, with over 1.8 billion people logging into Facebook alone every single day so it is important to have a grasp on how to grow your social media presence.
Whether you are an entrepreneur starting out in the world of business, a serial blogger or a huge corporation, every organization with an online presence is utilizing the benefits of social media in 2022/23.
Promotion, brand awareness, and connecting with your consumer base in a meaningful way can all be improved with the effective use of social media channels. Here are some top tips and insights that will allow you to grow your social media presence in 2022/23
How to grow your social media presence in 2022/23
A quick explanation
If you are new to the world of social media, its basic definition is the creation, sharing, and exchange of information and ideas in virtual networks and communities. Imagine it as a modern form of communication where you can foster a dialog with your fans, friends, or your customer base based on the content you create.
For business, it is a superb tool for fostering long-term customer relationships and increasing brand loyalty and recognition. The tech industry is now a firm proponent of social media use, with major tech firms such as Lenovo having a strong presence across multiple social media platforms, such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
Most modern businesses use these channels to promote new products and give deeper insights into their businesses while nurturing their existing customer base to encourage brand loyalty. Social media has rapidly transformed into a marketing pathway that allows a person or organization to promote and build brand awareness in a perpetual manner across time zones and is now an integral part of any marketing strategy.
Is blogging a form of social media?
Blogging is an increasingly popular way to promote your website and your brand. It is often used, combined with the principles of search engine optimization (SEO) and keyword research, to drive increased traffic to your web pages and make organizations more visible on the web and in search results.
However, is it actually a true form of social media? It is a bit of a grey area, as one of social media’s key traits is the promotion of an exchange of ideas with conversations taking place between what is posted and the response from the community. If a blog is posted without the ability to comment on it and without dedicated channels of communication relating to that blog, it could be argued that it is not true social media, as it does not promote a dialog. However, posting your blog and promoting your blog with a dedicated channel for comments moves it into the realms of true social media.
Content is king
In the world of social media, a key factor in how successful your channels are is the actual content you produce. Strong content is beautifully written, engaging content that really draws the visitor in. For the internet celebrity who knows how to cultivate and maintain their fanbase, posting meaningful insights into their world with the opportunity for fans to comment (and receive a response) is a sure-fire way to keep their communities flourishing.
If you are starting out in the world of social media and are looking to build followers, a good starting point is to think about the purpose of your content. Is it designed to educate or offer personal insights? Will you give your content a humorous slant to bring a smile to engage your followers? Who is your content aimed at? These are key questions to ask yourself at the beginning of your social media journey.
One factor that is of paramount importance, regardless of your purpose for creating content, is the quality of the videos, photos, and written content that you produce. Visual media should be produced on suitable tech to allow the finished offering to look fully professional. If you regularly post videos to Instagram, for example, ensure that these offerings are polished in terms of visual and audio quality. In this modern world of social media, your followers expect to view content that is well designed and produced.
Drive two-way communication
Social media relies on the communication between the poster and the community. Building effective fan or customer bases must incorporate the opportunity for dialogue between both parties. For businesses, this means that when content is posted to social media, there must be the facility for customers to ask questions or share their opinions on the content posted.
For larger organizations with considerable amounts of social media traffic, this may necessitate the need for a dedicated social media team to respond to the feedback in a timely manner.
Customers who use social media platforms for specific business-related functions expect a quick response to their questions, issues, and comments. In fact, approximately 50% of consumers on social media expect a response to complaints in at least three hours. If you do not quickly reply to your customer base when they raise issues, you are instantly painting a negative image of your company in the customer’s eyes.
Two-way communication for individuals looking to boost their social media presence can be improved by asking your community to take part in interactive polls on a variety of subjects that will be of interest to them. These can consist of a simple question that is based on the current post and can be answered with one click on an embedded survey or with a dedicated comments section.
Generate excitement with giveaways!
For all forms of social media, whether it be a professional gamer looking to boost followers or a business looking to engage and excite its customer base, offering competitions and giveaways is a current way to generate excitement within the community at large. Gaming streamers often use Twitch as a platform for their live social media where they can showcase their gaming skills, and the tactic of offering giveaways as part of their live streams has been proven to increase viewership.
This tactic has often been used by large video game corporations such as EA, who will run pro tournaments for their sports games, such as FIFA. By watching the live streams of these eSports competitions, viewers have a chance of grabbing an iconic player card for use in the game itself simply by linking their gaming accounts to EA’s Twitch site and then following the stream.
Other ideas for giveaways using social media include using Facebook and Instagram to post a competition question, with the funniest or most insightful answer being chosen to receive the prize.
If your company is involved with selling specific products, one fantastic way to offer the excitement of a giveaway competition while also boosting your own advertising and internet presence is to request that customers post pictures and video content to social media sites using your products. Whether it be playing a formidable classic rock solo on your favorite guitar to have a chance to win some other branded gear from their stock or taking the best shot with your camera to win great photography prizes or accolades from the same manufacturer, it is a tactic that is rising in popularity across all sectors of business.
Build trust in your brand with influencers
Social media and promotion go hand in hand in today’s world. Customers increasingly want to know that they are buying from a trusted and recognized brand. If your product or service does not have enormous market penetration, you can use influencers to boost its recognition and your social media following. Influencers tend to be internet personalities with large followings on their social media channels, who can effectively affect purchasing decisions by promoting your product or content on their own social media platforms.
It is likely that you will have seen some of your favorite Instagram personalities who have huge followings regularly incorporating products from other companies in their posts from far-flung destinations as they travel the world and document their latest activities. Influencers can also be found in specialist niches and with their own distinct offerings on social media.
This makes it an excellent marketing tactic to pick an influencer who has a strong interest in your product or service and ask them to mention it in their posts. Influencers can also directly promote other social media users. Often, you will see influencers giving links to other up-and-coming social media posters as a way of generating traffic to their sites. In the video-game world, streamers who are starting to build a strong community following can ask to do dual streams with more prominent gamers to build each other’s fanbases.
The wide variety of influencers in the world of social media makes it easy to pick a person who is directly relevant to your own product, service, or fanbase and ask them to promote for you.
Go Live on Facebook
It should be self-evident for most social media users that Facebook is the world’s biggest social media platform. With 2.7 billion monthly active users, it is enormous in its reach and presence across the world. Posting content on Facebook drives more traffic than any other social platform, including YouTube, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Live streaming is a brilliant way to engage your audience and grow your social media following. You can encourage direct audience participation with Q & A sessions, viewer-driven content, and live polls while the stream is in progress to keep the viewers engaged and the live viewer count rising.
Some brief additional tips to ensure that you have a successful and well-attended stream to maximize traffic include:
- Promote your live stream before the event. Ensure that the maximum possible viewers tune in for your live stream by promoting it across all your social media sites.
- Test your streaming equipment before you go live. Your live stream should look professional and be well-produced, so it is vital to do a test run with your streaming equipment and hardware to make sure there will be no technical glitches during the broadcast. You are unlikely to get repeat viewers to subsequent streams if the stream is plagued with technical glitches. Also, this is a prime opportunity to double-check lighting, sound, and video quality.
- Be natural. While you want a clear idea of the topic and content of your stream so there are no awkward silences or long pauses, you do not want to over-script the session. The broadcast must appear natural and not like you are reading from cue cards, so make sure that you deliver it in an engaging manner.
- React to key comments on your feed. If your viewers are making insightful or interesting comments, use these as an opportunity to engage the audience further by responding directly and in real-time during the stream. Be prepared to be flexible with your delivery. A new topic or conversational angle can crop up based on one good comment and it can truly encourage participation from your viewers if their feedback becomes part of your stream.
Use hashtags in your content
Using hashtags in your social media output is a superb way to boost traffic to your content and grow your social media presence.
For the uninitiated, a hashtag is a keyword phrase that is placed within a post to help guide people to your content. No spaces are used within a hashtag, and it should sum up what your post is about to drive similar audiences to you.
For example, if you have just posted about the joys of cooking a stir fry meal, you could use hashtags such as #cookerytips or #easterncuisine to drive suitable traffic to you. These visitors will be immediately engaged with your content, as they are already searching for this type of information.
Hashtags should be kept short to ensure that the phrase is likely to be searched for. Put yourself in the shoes of the person searching and imagine what they would type for such content. For more on hashtag tips and tricks, see here.
How to grow your social media presence in 2022/23 – Takeaways
Here are just some of the proven ways to improve and grow your presence on social media regardless of your social media content or purpose for promotion on social media channels.
Use this selection of advice and tips to ensure that your followers increase and that you delight them with meaningful and relevant content.
Now it is over to you. Did you find this article useful?
Let us know in the comments section below!
regards
Dexter
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