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Do you know what the most liked Instagram post of all time is?
A simple photo of an egg.
So far, it has managed to rake in more than 56 million likes.
The account @world_record_egg posted the legendary photo on January 4, 2019, with a caption that invited people to help set a world record for the number of likes and beat the then-champion Kylie Jenner and her 18 million likes.
It quickly gained traction and scooped more than 18 million likes in under ten days, leaving the first snap of Jenner’s baby Stormi behind.
The Instagram Egg that turned out to be a project for raising awareness about mental health perfectly illustrates the power of social media.
And simplicity is at the core of this tactic.
Luckily, achieving decent results from your social media efforts heavily depends on getting the basics right. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel or be better than everyone else. Good user engagement and response to your social media presence often come as a result of some very basic activities.
Let’s discuss some super simple methods you can leverage to boost your brand’s visibility and raise its profile on social media.
1. Take Your Profile Pages Seriously
This is some really low-hanging fruit that plays an important role in forming a memorable first impression.
It doesn’t take too much expertise to optimize your profile and make it stand out.
Here are some best practices to follow.
With almost 3 million active monthly users, Facebook is social media real estate you shouldn’t neglect.
When crafting your Business Page, pay attention to details. For example, customize your URL and make sure it matches your username. This way, you’ll rank better in searches and make your web address more memorable.
Use an attractive, high-quality cover photo to catch the eye of your prospects.
Having a compelling CTA is another essential element, as that will prompt your followers to take action and convert.
Finally, list all the relevant information about your brand in the About section.
Casetify is a textbook example of an effective Facebook Page on which all the above is applied.
Source: Facebook
Polish your profile page and include all the relevant information, such as what your business does, what makes it unique, and how potential customers can reach you.
To jazz things up, add a couple of emojis, particularly if you cater to younger audiences.
You already know that using hashtags in your posts contributes to their visibility, but incorporating at least one in your bio is also a good idea.
Finally, once your posts start getting traction and you amass a decent number of followers, you can apply for account verification. A round blue badge will add to your brand credibility and tell people that the account is legit.
Many Mornings follows all these principles, and their profile is an excellent example of optimization.
Source: Instagram
This microblogging platform is word-of-mouth 2.0.
To get the most out of it, carefully craft your bio. Try to condense what your brand is all about and how prospects can benefit from it into 160 characters. Hashtags and emojis are also welcome, as well as promoting your latest event, discount, or any important updates.
Maybe the bio isn’t too generous with its character count, but you can make this shortage of room by leveraging the header photo. You can also use it to announce new products and events or simply to post a team pic. And yes, it’s possible, even recommended, to change it frequently.
Check out how Social Media Examiner optimized their Twitter profile.
Source: Twitter
LinkedIn may not be the biggest social media platform, but it’s surely the most trusted.
To make your LinkedIn Company Page stand out, start by creating a captivating About section. Tell your prospects more about what your brand offers and what makes it unique. Use relevant keywords to improve your page’s performance in the search results.
Besides the copy, visuals also contribute to the success of your LinkedIn profile. The profile image should be your logo, resized to fit the platform’s requirements.
When it comes to the cover image, you can get more creative and use it to reinforce your brand message.
Canva perfected its profile on LinkedIn. The moment a prospect lands on the page, they can see what the company does and how it can assist them.
Source: LinkedIn
2. Promote Your Prestige Content
Yes, memes and GIFs are fun, but they can’t be your staple content on social media.
Similarly, creating posts about your product or service is OK, but that’s also not very helpful to your audience. They will likely come to your Facebook or LinkedIn to learn more about how you can help them or about a pressing issue they are trying to solve.
So, if you’re already investing time and resources into creating excellent blog content, ensure you’re frequently promoting it on social media.
This way, you’ll share something that’s actually useful and valuable for your followers rather than just sharing memes or funny pics.
As a result, you’ll move the needle and evolve from getting a laughing emoji or a few likes on a random post to sending high-quality traffic to your website. Although vanity metrics are appealing, focusing on actionable metrics is much more important.
3. Support Your Users on Social Media
Long waiting times, back-and-forth emails that attempt to resolve an issue, looking for contact information, and checking customer support business hours – customers nowadays won’t have any of it.
Moreover, poor customer service is like a chain reaction. Unhappy customers are more than willing to share their bad experiences with brands on social media so that the situation can quickly escalate into a crisis. Such an incident can seriously erode your reputation.
To prevent all this and offer your customers top service, integrate support into your social media presence.
The trick is being where your customers are; in many cases, that’s social media.
It’s hugely beneficial when followers see how you support your customers and how easy it is for them to contact you. It’s basically turning your support staff into marketers.
Responding to questions and comments quickly will also convince your potential customers that they don’t have to worry if they decide to do business with you. Statistics say that 47% of US customers have a more favourable impression of brands that respond to complaints or questions on social media.
Here’s how Starbucks handles complaints neatly and without shrinking from responsibility.
Source: Facebook
To a certain extent, social support could even lighten the load on your existing support channels and, in some cases, make them redundant since many users prefer getting help on social media.
That’s why it’s essential to check your social media channels for questions and complaints and respond in a timely manner.
4. Give Your Brand a Professional Face
If your team is a crucial part of your brand’s value proposition, don’t underestimate the importance of showcasing their professional profiles.
LinkedIn is a great platform for showing your potential customers they’re in good hands.
Not only will listing members of your team and highlighting their profiles on LinkedIn add a personal touch to your brand, but it will also allow potential customers to see their experience, skills, and expertise.
Companies that don’t feature their employees on their social media channels seem distant and less trustworthy.
5. Integrate Social Proof Into Your Profile
50% of people between the ages of 16 and 24 use social media to research products and services.
This means your social media profiles are often the first touchpoint between a prospective customer and your brand. That’s why it’s essential to showcase your credibility and build trust with them as soon as possible.
Social proof is one of the most effective ways to achieve this goal. Social media offers many opportunities to incorporate customer reviews, feedback, ratings, and user-generated content.
By enabling Facebook Reviews, your existing customers can express their opinion about your brand and rate their experience. Brands that take advantage of this functionality also show that they have nothing to hide and present their audience with an opportunity to have their say.
Brakes To You uses social proof for their and their customers’ mutual benefit with the help of Facebook Reviews.
Source: Facebook
6. Don’t Focus Solely on the Most Obvious Platforms
It’s a no-brainer that Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn can guarantee you the highest organic reach, thanks to their multi-billion audience.
However, depending on your industry and target audience, there are other channels to consider. For example, TikTok is gaining traction among the young population.
But this doesn’t mean that you should insist on the most popular platforms or the ones that have become the latest fad. You risk spreading yourself too thin, wasting your resources, and achieving a subpar performance.
To avoid this scenario, consider whether your products and services are suitable for marketing on some less popular platforms like Reddit and Pinterest.
These two channels, even though they don’t boast as many users as Facebook or Instagram, offers an even more powerful asset – a loyal and engaged audience.
The industries that can greatly benefit from this visually-oriented platform are food and drink, fashion, travel, beauty, crafts, music, books, and self-improvement.
Top-quality inspirational content can go a long way and capture the attention of potential customers.
The odds are that companies belonging to the B2B, finance, and similar stuffy industries won’t have too much success on Pinterest.
Fire Pit Surplus, for example, uses this platform to share ideas for improving backyards and patios and educational content.
Source: Pinterest
It’s not an exaggeration to say that Reddit can be a tricky channel for brands.
Its users are usually very passionate about their values, beliefs, and preferences. So, switch to another channel if you think you can use Reddit for advertising purposes.
Or you risk getting downvoted, which means your post will be buried under other comments.
Redditors expect brands to drop their thinly-veiled advertising approach and offer valuable, helpful content.
You can use paid promotion that will prioritize your post and allow you to target specific audiences. Users will know that the post is sponsored, so make sure to create compelling content to get them to engage.
Another way to promote your brand is by participating in Ask Me Anything live threads. Influencers, experts, and CEOs create posts about their brands and prompt users to ask questions.
This way, your brand can gain significant exposure on Reddit and connect with potential customers.
Nordstrom took things up a notch by creating the brand community in 2014. So far, this subreddit has become a place where customers and employees share their experiences with the brand or ask product-related questions.
7. Get Involved in Trending Conversations
Trending is the word that best describes Twitter.
Information spreads more quickly on this social media network than, say, Facebook.
On the other hand, back in 2012, Moz concluded that the lifetime of a tweet was about 18 minutes.
All this makes Twitter excellent for engaging in trending conversations and staying relevant.
If you’re on Twitter, insert your brand’s opinion into discussions in a way that evokes a response from your followers. It’s crucial to watch your tone.
While being controversial will get you in the spotlight, be careful how you tread and make sure you don’t offend anyone. Generally speaking, if you want to stay on the safe side, avoid being controversial just for the sake of it.
Be authentic and true to your brand’s voice. That way, you won’t hurt your brand’s reputation and confuse your audience.
Finally, it’s a good idea to tag people you want to involve in the conversation and always reply to responses from your followers.
Wendy’s is known for their cheeky brand voice, roasting its main competitor McDonald’s, and posting funny tweets. This time, the fast food chain tried to involve Elon Musk in the chat and generated some pretty impressive engagement.
Source: Twitter
8. Take Advantage of New Platform Trends
Social media platforms keep on evolving even as we speak.
New formats and functionalities emerge and quickly pick up steam.
For instance, videos and stories have become exceptionally popular on Instagram.
Be aware of this and create content that takes advantage of the platform’s pivot into different types of content.
For example, when Facebook introduced its Live feature in 2015, brands realized how powerful it is, and that’s how the live streaming frenzy started.
Video is still the most popular medium on social media channels, so Instagram rolled out Reels. These 15-second multi-clip videos allow users to add different filters, effects, music, or text.
Brands can use this feature to create entertaining and educational videos and get discovered by diverse audiences.
Sephora, one of the most popular beauty brands, is also among the brands that nail Instagram Reels. Their clips are authentic, educational, and packed with useful skincare and makeup tips. Customers can also view products directly from the Reel.
Wrapping Up
Boosting your brand’s social media presence is a must if you want to grow your business. However, you can’t succeed if you choose your channels randomly and post content without any plan.
First, you have to understand how each platform works and pick the ones that fit your industry and brand.
These eight tactics can help you create some buzz around your brand and get the conversation on your social media channels going.
Karl Kangur is a serial entrepreneur. He founded his first online business as a teenager. And loves to deliver amazing results to his clients. He is also a competitive bodybuilder, against the warnings of his doctor.
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