How to Win at Social Media: The Exact 5 Strategies Used by the Top Brands and Influencers in the World
There are 3.8 billion social media users in the world today. If you own a business, you can bet that nearly all your current and potential customers are on at least one social media platform. By now, you’ve been told by everyone that your business needs to be on social media sites like Facebook and Instagram, among others, and you likely have a page on one or more of those platforms.
However, you’ve probably seen how these sites have taken away much of the organic reach of businesses and brands, forcing them to invest in paid social media advertising to get in front of their potential customers. Many business owners think organic reach is just about dead.
Well, we’re here to tell that it hasn’t. In fact, if you follow the right strategies you can grow your organic reach and build up a special media presence that works every day to grow your business and bring in new leads. The biggest influencers and brands in the world are growing massive audiences organically by following some simple methods and best practices.
Without further ado, here are the five strategies that will guarantee organic social media growth that results in growing your business.
1. Post more than you think you should.
Many business owners have built a belief that social media can’t do much for their business. At least, not organic social media. Sure, you can pour thousands of dollars a month into Facebook and Instagram ads and you might see some results if you know what you’re doing. However, organic results from social media are not easy to come by for businesses or brands.
That is, unless you post the right kind of content…and you post often – much more than you probably think. Influencers like Gary Vaynerchuck post up to seven times a day and big brands like Starbucks and Nike post once a day or once every two days. Most small businesses post much less than that. Maybe you can relate. The point is, if you aren’t getting the engagement you want out of social media, you probably aren’t posting enough.
2. Be consistent for 2 years (more like 5 years).
An even bigger challenge for businesses wanting to use social media as a growth strategy is consistency. Most businesses create a page for their business and post a lot early on, but begin to post less and less over time, sometimes stopping altogether. Trust is a powerful force in online marketing, and the best way to build trust is to show up consistently for a while. You need to create an expectation for your followers and meet that expectation every time.
Whenever you decide to post and however often you do it, keep doing it the same way. Do it for at least two years and you’ll see your social media channels become a reliable marketing tool for your business. Do it for five years and you’ll grow to become a trusted authority in your industry.
3. Document. Don’t Create.
You may be wondering, “what am I supposed to post every day (or several times a day)?” Trying to come up with the most beautiful, attractive, viral-worthy post every time you post is exhausting. You don’t have the time for that and you likely aren’t a bottomless well of creative content. But you might be…
Gary Vanerchuck, a successful online marketer and influencer that we mentioned above, gives this simple, yet powerful advice: Document. Don’t create. Don’t try to create something out of thin air every time you post. Just document your personal journey in your business. Post daily with a challenge you’re facing or wisdom that is helping you. Share your successes and failures. Give advice. Help others.
A way to summarize this simply is to just be yourself. Be genuine and post every day about your journey. You could go live for a few minutes a day on Facebook or Instagram or just share a couple of sentences about your experiences. Yes, you’ll feel a bit uncomfortable early on, but that will fade away as you get better and people start following you. People love connecting with authenticity.
4. Give, give, give, ask.
As a business owner, it can be tempting to talk about your products or services all the time and try to sell with your posts. This is a huge mistake and it’s the fastest way to get people to ignore you on social media. Instead, give away value when you post without asking for anything in return. Help out your audience. Post valuable content that will improve their lives. Post industry expertise that people would pay for elsewhere. Share what you know freely. Then, every now and then you can ask for something.
The best way to sell anything organically online is to provide value first, then ask for the sale later. When it comes to social media, you need to post value-based content at least three times for every post that asks for something – like an offer for your product or service.
5. Hire a social media manager.
If you’re a business owner and you’re reading all of this, you may be thinking that you simply don’t have the time to invest in social media; at least not the kind that will actually grow successfully organically. Yes, you need to be on social media if you want to grow into the future. All of your customers are hanging out somewhere in these online channels. But, you don’t have to do it yourself. One of the best investments you can make when it comes to marketing your business is to hire a social media manager.
A social media manager can post for you every day. They can create all the content for your social media pages and manage all the communication from your posts and messages. It’s a great investment to make for the future of your business.
At Dock Line, we have an entire team of social media managers that help local businesses grow online. If you would like to find out how we could help your business grow through social media, let us know! Not only do we post beautiful content that your audience will love, but we study your market to post at the most optimal times, constantly test and tweak content so it gets maximum engagement, and nurture followers into leads and customers, all while you focus on the parts of your business you do best.
If you need assistance with your social media presence, The Dock Line’s professionals can help! Visit www.thedockline.com or email us at [email protected]
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