Forbes reported that, in early 2024, 90% of all social media users followed at least one brand. Showing evidence of people preferring to have a direct relationship with the companies that they buy from.
With an estimated 4.9 billion users in 2024, this represents a massive market that is too large to ignore.
As the importance of social media marketing to a business cannot be understated, here are some tips on how to grow your online presence.
How To Get Started with Social Media Marketing for Your Business
Identify the Right Platform and Audience
Each social media platform engages different audiences. Knowing your demographics and your target audience is critical in knowing how to engage with them.
Brands that focus on promoting a lifestyle may want to focus on Instagram, where users are more concerned with visuals and projecting an image. On the other hand, corporate-centric businesses may want to put more emphasis on thought leadership through LinkedIn posts.
It is advisable to have a clear brand identity before you decide on which platform and audience to engage with.
Optimise Your Social Media Profiles
Ensure your profiles are complete with clear bios, profile pictures, and contact details to build the trust and credibility of your online presence.
Consistent branding, such as logos, colour schemes and taglines across platforms, helps create a cohesive brand identity, making it easier for followers to recognise your business.
Creating and Repurposing Engaging Content
Mix content types—images, videos, infographics, stories, and live videos—to maintain interest in your feed. Using fresh approaches to conveying your message based on different audiences’ preferences, broadens your reach and engagement.
By repurposing high-performing content for various formats, such as turning your blog article into video snippets for Instagram, you can extend your reach and impact.
Using Hashtags Strategically
Hashtags help categorise your content, making it discoverable by users interested in specific topics. You can use social media platforms’ search function to find relevant, trending hashtags that best relate to your content and use them to increase your reach.
You shouldn’t be using more than five to ten hashtags on a post to avoid overwhelming the text.
Engage with Followers
Interacting with followers is the key to building brand loyalty. Responding quickly to comments, messages, and mentions fosters a sense of community.
Replies should always correspond with your brand image and avoid directly confronting critical comments.
Understand your Metrics
Regularly reviewing performance metrics – likes, views, shares, comments, and follower growth – helps you understand which posts drive better engagement, reach and conversions.
Using data and insights lets you make informed decisions in refining your strategy, but only if you have context for why they did well. Collect your information and review it carefully before making any decisions.
Understanding the Algorithm
Each social media platform has an algorithm that decides which content is shown to users.
Understanding the platform-specific preferences related to the algorithm, such as engagement rates on Instagram or relevance on Facebook, is vital to maximising your reach.
Focus on creating engaging, high-interaction content to boost visibility, as some platforms favour posts with higher engagement rates.
Ready to boost your social media presence and grow your business? Sign up as an Involve Partner and leverage the power of social media for your success.
