Boosting sales and leads is one of the greatest assets that social media can offer a business. When done properly, social media can transform into a lead generation monster for your company. To unleash the monster, people need to know that you exist and are ready to make an impact on the social media world. So how do we do this? By building a social media presence.
The Foundation
Before you do anything social media related, you need to start from square one — which is building a foundation. The first step towards building a social media infrastructure is choosing the right social networks: Facebook and Twitter. These platforms both have well over 300 million monthly active users, giving them the largest demographic and making them the most popular among all social networks. To get the maximum benefit of these networks, you need to optimize your bio and visuals. The ideal bio will include a clear and concise description of your company and its URL. The visuals should include an awesome logo that is on both the profile picture and background image; this will further increase brand association. A fully optimized profile will allow customers, who are researching your industry, to see who you are and what you’re all about. Laying a sturdy foundation is just the first step to creating a social media empire. Now let’s give the industry something to buzz about and discuss the art of posting.
Be a Problem Solver
The secret to any successful social media page —first-rate content. Creating quality posts is vital; it gives followers a reason to come back to your page(s) and an opportunity for potential new fans to discover and follow your organization. What specifically will make people return to your social media accounts and gain new followers? One thing all humans have in common, besides being human, is they experience conflict; which is why many people are attracted to material that pertains to their particular issue(s). For instance, let’s say you’re the owner of a gym whose members are mostly men in their late 50’s and are having troubling lowering their cholesterol. To help your members combat their problem, find and post educational information about the topic; this could include an article on the “10 Best Ways to Lower Your Cholesterol” or a video on the “7 Best Heart Healthy Exercises”. Not only are you helping your clients, but you’re demonstrating an expertise within the field. Content like this will have people raving about you and will aid in building your social media presence. Let’s strengthen that presence even further by getting social.
Get Social
Social media is more than a publishing tool, it’s an engagement tool. The conversation aspect is what makes social media unique, which is why Facebook and Twitter have made it easy with their internal search functions. However, there are also outside search platforms such as www.buzzsumo.com— a website that makes it quick and easy to discover relevant industry content and influencers. Identifying and communicating with well-known industry bloggers is essential to expanding your social circle and gaining some serious social clout. When it comes to an interaction strategy think beyond just industry thought leaders, and stay open to finding industry groups and getting involved with their circle. Last but not least, make sure you’re engaging followers with thought provoking questions and discussions; it will add value to your page(s) and keep followers hungry for more. The more interacting you do, the more of a name you will be making for yourself. Get involved and let your presence be felt.
The Conclusion…
Start from the beginning and optimize your profiles so people will have no question about who you are and what you stand for. Next, tackle the posting beast to show people what industry knowledge you bring to the table. Finally, use social media for its purpose—to communicate and share ideas with others. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither will your social media empire be. Although it might take time and patience, in the end it will all be worthwhile as you see the tweets fly-in and the likes accumulate.