Social media has become a power tool 2 decades into the 21st century. What started as a website for youngsters and to connect with each other, make new friends has grown into a billion-dollar industry in just 15 years. Websites and Apps such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Whatsapp, LinkedIn and more have grappled the entire world into their arms. Almost every person with a smartphone and internet access uses at least one social media platform.
Social media today is more than just a medium to communicate. Businesses and businessmen know the value of being able to reach thousands of people quickly to market your offering. Even huge corporations have long begun paying attention to the leverage a well-placed marketing campaign can provide to cut ahead of the competition. Let us take a look at some creative and smart ways to make the most of the internet for your business:
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Start Your Own Page(s)
It doesn’t matter if your business is small, medium or large. Having a business page on all of your favourite platforms is a no-brainer. Your page serves as the basic go-to for anyone to look you up, talk to you, make enquiries, give feedback, recommend you to others and what not. You make a page for free on almost every social media platform.
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Put up your product/service as available wherever possible
Most social media platforms have already come up with small digital marketplaces to help businesses make as many sales as possible. This works in favour of both, the business and the platform, as these companies want users to stay on their site for as long as possible. A sales you make from social media is a sale nonetheless; no big catch.
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Follow Your Competitors
As you try to make sales, increase your audience, get people to like your business and your page, do note your competitors might also be doing the same. Do take a look at your competitors’ pages, if they have. See if how they are doing. You may want to learn a thing or two from your best performing candidate.
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Make a Calendar
As you move forward with engaging the public and getting attention towards your service/product, getting a schedule becomes imperative. After all, you don’t want to look like a business that likes to engage fans when they like. Also, having a content calendar ready helps you keep things scheduled in case you really get busy. Moreover, regular posting also tends to get better engagement and page growth.
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Target Your Favourite Audience
The power of data processing and social media combined is a very powerful tool to get to the very people who are most likely to give you business i.e. you can set your posts to reach the news feed of people who are probably looking for what you have to sell.
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Use the Messaging Tool Effectively
Messenger lets you chat with people as the business. You can answer queries, talk to your customers, prospects etc., try to solve their problems, and get them what they’re looking for with messaging. Virtually every type of conversation between a customer and the businessman can take place on the messaging too. This is a great way to interact with customers even when they’re not physically present.
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Grow Your Audience
Once your calendar is set, people are talking to you and you are able to get a few sales every month, you can start thinking of the next step – expanding the audience. A few thousand likes and a dozen comments on your posts are not enough to make a name for yourself. As people recognize your posts as entertaining, not necessarily forcing calls to action and subtly suggest you are the best, they will recommend you to more and more people. The bigger your fan base, the better your chances of finding real customers for your business.
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Make the Most of Videos
Videos are a hot thing on social media. More people consume video content today than just plain text or even images. People are more likely to stop and take a look at you if you show them a video as compared to a plain creative image or even a meme.
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Create Your Unique Identity
All the major brands have a very specific style of posts. They have set their ‘theme’ for themselves. This ensures people know the post is from a specific page the moment they see it. The best example of this is the Amul girl. We all know it is Amul butter the moment we see the girl. You don’t have to spend a huge chunk of money and create a mascot for yourself; just a style that is your own and reflects the personality of your business very well.
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Paid Campaigns Work
If you want to, you can even spend some money to reach more people that you usually do. As said before, you can target specific groups of people who are likely to buy your product or are looking for what you offer. Advertising on social media doesn’t even have to burn a hole in your pocket. You can always choose how much and when to spend if you want to.
Also Read: A complete guide to opening Facebook Shops
In a Nutshell
Social media platforms have taken the world by storm. As time passes, more and more people will join more and more platforms and share their minds. The growth and future of the business world lie in the hands of these platforms and the companies that run these platforms. Social media is a strong and very powerful tool to take your business to the next level without even having to break a sweat. Harnessing and utilizing the power of social media seems to be a very smart choice; at least right now.
Also Read: Best Ways to Identify Market Opportunities for Business Growth
