Social marketing isn’t rocket science, but it does take quite a bit of practice. And without any experience, it can be challenging to get started. It’s vital to understand the fundamentals which will help build your foundation on.
We’ve been at it for a little while now and have put together 10 tips for leveraging content for social marketing and avoiding rookie mistakes. Hopefully you will find some useful tips here to help increase your audience engagement and customer base by leveraging your content.
1. Be a good listener
Listen more and talk less. Reading your audience’s content and joining into their discussions will help you learn what’s important to them. Engage in social channels and add value – don’t try to hijack a thread – but treat each conversation as an opportunity to give something back. This will help you gain respect from those who may not yet know you.
2. Focus, Focus, Focus
Hone in on one topic that you can become an expert on. It’s better to have a specific strategy than freelance as a jack-of-all-trades. Specialization is key, so find something that you are passionate about that is relevant to your industry.
3. Quality over Quantity
It’s better to have a smaller number of followers who engage with you than it is to have a large following where the engagement is dismal. Quality over quantity is always better. It’s tempting to try to gain as much of a following as possible by casting a wide net. That’s fine at the start, but focus on providing quality content every time you post.
4. Be Patient
Chances are you are in this for a long time. Go after the long tail and realize that success isn’t built overnight. Create themes of interest and publish around those themes regularly.
5. Compounding Value
A solid audience with quality content will help spread your reach. Search engines like Google will find your content in keyword searches, which will lead to potentially more engagement and new followers over the longer term. The long tail of content is that you’ll continue to increase reach organically over time.
6. Find influencers
Finding social influencers in your market with a quality audience is uncharted territory. Connecting with these influencers is a great way for quick expansion. Find your influencers and engage with them at the right times while adding value along the way.
7. Don’t promote
Your value will go much further if you focus on quality content and engagement rather than by pushing your content. Remember that too much promotion can devalue your brand. Entrust in your audience to spread your growth.
8. Acknowledge your followers
Building relationships is the key to social media success. Never ignore your audience. Every piece of engagement is important, so make sure you acknowledge your followers regardless of their own status.
9. Be Accessible
Remain active in your outlets and stay engaged in your publications. Don’t disappear for periods of time. Stay relevant. Be accessible to your fans. Always.
10. Reciprocity pays off
Help those who have helped you. You can’t expect content sharing without lending a helping hand yourself. Help yourself by helping others. It’s a win win. If you want to learn how votin can help you create and leverage content for social marketing, click below to learn more!