Do you think you can grow a business through social media platforms? Yes, you need to go for innovation eventually. But you can start with a presence on social media as well. This year, "Heart Up Your Sleeves" showed up in Shark Tank India. They have been selling detachable sleeves primarily on their Instagram store. They made a vast profit in the market, and honestly, the numbers surprised me.
Many thrift stores and businesses with several creative solutions came up during the pandemic. They have sustained in the market, opening websites and then physical stores. Social media can do wonders, and it is no more a secret. In this article, MarsDevs dives deep into the rabbit hole and highlights the mistakes that you should avoid.
The ads on youtube with an exclusive offer, your favorite influencer recommending a service they liked, or an infographic with a link to the website; all of these are part of social media marketing. Over the pandemic, hundreds of small businesses paved their way to success starting with one of these platforms.
According to a research-based article by Sprout Social, the wave of marketing through social media took a sharp turn around 2021 as the world continued to remain shut down. Even in how brands and consumers use, view, or value social media, there was a transformation. The article even gives us insights in the form of data.
Social media platforms open up doors to limitless opportunities. But to know what to do with them, you need to avoid mistakes. Although you might make mistakes and learn through them, it does not sound intelligent. So, MarsDevs has highlighted seven mistakes that you need to avoid in order to get great results.
While brands use social media to attract and connect to new customers, most do not know which tools to use. In addition, customers are more likely to search for a brand online based on an established social media presence. We all know there is a vast potential to grow using these platforms, but most brands lack an understanding of how to do so. You can make your consumers your brand ambassadors, then why stay back?
It would be best if you had a strategy. The steps are simple to follow. You need to research your competitors and what practices they follow, analyze their growth rate, and chalk out a strategy of your own. Without a plan, you would keep working hard, but hard work should be focused on the right direction to get results. So, you end up with nothing.
What content should you post? Say you are a marketing agency, and you keep talking about your customers' reviews. Wouldn't your customers get bored eventually? You need to structure the content according to your customers' expectations.
If you do not know your target audience, you can never structure content effectively. So, first, you need to research. Who are your customers? What demographics do they fall under, and what do they expect from you?
Let us get back to the example. As a marketing agency, you need to first raise awareness about why marketing is essential for their brand. You can make people aware and then make them take action. Knowing your audience helps you structure content and choose the platforms you want to focus more on.
Social media helps you connect. When we talk about connection or engagement, it is more personal. As you get bigger, your customers might feel distant from you. Social media is a tool that helps you create a sense of belonging and closeness.
So, if you do not respond to the comments or some DMS, you are not using the medium ideally. The social media platforms are not serving any purpose, and in the end, you remain how you were without them. Though you might increase sales, you would not be able to build a community. For instance, if you check Instagram or Linkedin for Zomato, they used its platforms well, grew, and built communities through engagement.
Hashtags simplify the whole "reaching the target audience" process. When you search for a hashtag, you come across all the posts that used it. It is easy to reach your audience and more accessible for your consumers to find information. But, would using any hashtag work?
When you use a hashtag for a particular piece of content, it needs to make sense. If you post marketing-related content and insert a hashtag, fashion would not work. The more specific hashtags you use, the more the chances you can reach and grow your audience. It would help if you even avoided overusing hashtags. Find some industry-related specific hashtags, check the analytics a bit, and use those that fit your content.
You would always want your audience to recognize your brand, generate leads, increase conversions, etc. The social media channels serve more than one purpose, and the brands use different channels for different goals. For instance, Instagram helps you create a brand presence and reputation online, Twitter enables you to announce the new launch and connect with your audience directly. Linkedin has a more professional feel, helps you generate leads with conversions that follow the conversations.
When you make a new friend and talk to them on the phone for the first time, you need to introduce yourself. After being friends for some time, talking almost every day, they eventually start recognizing your voice through just a "hello." They know your voice now.
Now, you want to build a loyal audience base and following on social media too. For that, first, you need the customers to recognize your brand. The three tips for doing that are to post authentic, relevant, and consistent content. Even the algorithms work for you when you are active consistently.
Your graphic designs and aesthetics of videos that you post on social media reflect your brand's voice, identity, and story. It is the digital era, and people would move on to the following content if you do not grab their attention within the first few seconds. The designs play a critical role in grabbing your customer's attention. If you can't make them stop scrolling, you stand no chance even with the best content.
The evolution of social media has made it one of the best platforms for marketing your brand. You can connect with your customers directly, learn from them, help them understand your brand, and inspire people. To promote on social media, you do not need a publicist. You are enough.
How do you know what content you should post? You need to study your customers. To provide the best service even in terms of content, you need to know how your customers feel about your brand. You need to understand what their pain points are. These eventually point towards the market gap that you want to fill. First, recognize the opportunities and then go for it.
So, communicating ideas through the social media pages and getting feedback through the comment directly can also help you go further. In case there's a trend that everyone is crazy about. Should you go for it? What if these trends do not fit right with your way to your customers? Studying your customers would answer all these questions right away.
You always need a roadmap, just hard work barely does the job. For instance, say you want to chop off a tree. You take an ax and keep hitting the ground beside the tree. Would you get any results? Your hard work needs to be focused in the right direction to get results.
So, you need to study first. Some aspects that can help you get further are understanding the platform's algorithm, what works and what does not, how your competitors are doing it right, and what tools you need to use. As you study and the process gets more evident, you can create a strategic plan and go for it. Beating around the bush never works out.
A social media calendar gives you an overview of your upcoming social media activities. You can use a spreadsheet, dashboard, or Google calendar to organize it and manage it. Depending on what your brand needs to put out there, you can make it simple or complex. The entries in a social media calendar include:
A social media calendar can be one of the most integral parts of your social media strategy. It often sounds like a big commitment at first; you need to put in a lot of effort. But it always pays back in the future. You can ensure consistency without worrying about it, helping you maintain your strategy well.
Managing social media gets tricky. You need to keep in mind several aspects, and sometimes it gets tough to manage these channels routinely. To make it easy, you can automate the process. Specific tools can help you track, understand, and manage these accounts.
Social media's primary purpose is to increase your brand's awareness, generate leads, and increase conversion rates. Even understanding the algorithms of each social media account is time-consuming too. So, you can make a list of the tasks, ranging from tracking analytics and other data-based activities to creative ones like designing. Then look for tools for each of them. As you find some, try and confirm to get going.
Why are social media platforms so successful? Because they let their consumers engage in two-way conversations. You need to figure out the right way to communicate with your consumers for successful conversions. People want to talk with other people, not with a faceless brand.
Designs are an essential investment. But social media is just the beginning. Every business has to eventually invest in technology to scale well. But the transition from the presence of your brand on social media to being a technology-based winning business is tricky. Do you have to hire a team of developers now?
MarsDevs can help you win this game. From development to deployment, maintenance to management, MarsDevs can chip in anytime you want. It takes care of all your tech issues so you can now focus on building your business well. But, words are never enough to discuss possibilities. Let us know about your requirements while we share our expertise.
