Ringing in the new year with a new social media strategy could be what your business needs to elevate your brand. Most business owners struggle to gain organic traffic, grow brand awareness and generate higher sales. By understanding and utilizing core platforms such as Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, Tik Tok, and Pinterest, it can help your business raise social media awareness and ultimately lead to increase in leads and sales.
Here are some popular social media strategies that we have seen successes to achieve the desired goals.
Utilizing Influencers to Promote Your Brand
Businesses can utilize influencer marketing to generate more traffic, create brand trust, and reach a larger consumer base. Influencer marketing is a paid partnership, where an individual will promote a brand through reviews, photo posts, and/or video content. One of the most utilized platforms for influencers is Instagram. Instagram influencers often have inherent trust through their followers because they are educated in a particular subject, have a large following on social media, or inspire others through their content.
By partnering with an Instagram influencer you should expect the following:
Introduction of your product to a new audience
Increased traffic to your website.
Build up your brand
Increased sales
Overall, paid partnerships with an Instagram influencer may help build rapport, build exposure quickly to the right audience, and drive sales to your business.
Instagram Shopping Offers Direct Purchase Access
Another strategy with Instagram to elevate sales is through Instagram Shopping and its features. Product based businesses can utilize in-app purchases with Instagram’s upgraded shopping tab. Within this feature, you can tag your products in a photo and with just a few clicks, consumers can purchase, bookmark, or share your product(s). A recent case study on apparel brand Barbour, reveals a 42% increase in sales from Instagram when they utilized the shopping feature. For service based businesses, they can showcase before and after photos while also inserting call-to-actions like “Free Consultation” or “Limited Time Offers”. Product based companies can ease the purchase process through Instagram shopping feature by simplifying the checkout process from the time the user clicks on your product till the sale completion.
Instagram Reels Are Taking Over
Instagram Reels are short digestible video content that reaches large audiences while creating a captivated customer following. Brands have stepped into the realm of short skits to demonstrate their product in a lighthearted sense using reels. Instagram reels can be implemented by posting video content that is educational, fun and trendy but appropriate for the business. For example, reels are perfect for product tutorials, testimonials, or styling outfits, like Orlando clothing boutique Popular Lonely Girl. Reels may also provide a consumer a personal connection to the brand. Instagram reels can turn a casual social media viewer into a captivated consumer.
LinkedIn Engagements for Organic Reach
Creating quality content for LinkedIn requires a different approach from Instagram because organic reach is difficult without a strategy. One way to create a strong organic strategy is through generating and measuring successful content. LinkedIn Engagements host a breakdown of post reactions, comments, shares, or clicks that can be routinely checked. By doing this, it can help you determine what pieces of content are producing successful engagement.
Another way to measure content success is through relevant hashtags. By incorporating high engagement and well-researched hashtags, it will increase your chances for your brand to be discovered. LinkedIn engagement research helps businesses strategize content that achieves organic reach.
Other Social Platforms for Consideration
Facebook is and continues to be one of the most popular platform that can make an impact in your marketing efforts. Organic reach has become more difficult to achieve over the years however Facebook paid ads can be a strong alternative to reach a vast audience while also increasing leads and sales. The motivational planner, Make it Happen Journal, reported a 27% increase in leads that translated into enrollments through Facebook ads.
Tik Tok
Tik Tok is one of the fastest growing social media platforms. Its short style videos can be discovered through user likes, follows, or majorly through the “For You” section. The “For You” section on Tik Tok leads interested consumers to a particular business’ video. Real Estate is one of the many verticals that can benefit from Tik Tok’s ad platform. Milwaukee Real Estate Agent, Brandon Tyler, credits his $5M sale in this article stating, “the seller found us on TikTok and the buyer clicked the ad we produced on Facebook”. Businesses that utilize multiple platforms such as Tik Tok and Facebook may grow in exposure and higher sales.
Pinterest is another valuable social media platform that can link a product photo directly to a shopping link. This platform is designed for products that have visual appeal. The platform eases the shopping experience by creating a checkout experience with direct clicks from the platform to the products. A case study for the sustainable beauty brand, HelloBody’s Valentine's Day campaign shows a 25% increase in cart size than any other social media ad.
Social Media Strategies can help your Business
Having social media strategies as part of the marketing mix is essential for any business. Understanding the various platforms and the elements that can lead to increased leads and sales are extremely vital to the overall success of a brand. By leveraging the offerings that social platforms have to offer, it will allow for future growth and brand exposure.