These days, it seems like every small business owner uses some form of social media to promote his or her business. But not all of us know how to use social media well, and even those of us who are committed to using social media in innovative ways often get burned out using the same old tactics day in and day out.
How you use social media can have a big impact on the success of your company. If you’re just tweeting at whim or posting on Facebook without much thought, at best you’re not having much of an effect, at worst you’re damaging your business’ appearance and rapport with customers.
Not sure how to use social media to promote your business? Looking for innovative ways to make the most of it? Here are five creative tips to improve your business’ use of social media:
Consider what customers like.
Social media is a platform on which your customers voice their opinions. By studying what it is they have to say, what they like and dislike, you can gather information that will help you innovate your business further. Consider what questions customers frequently ask about existing products and how you could improve them, as well as what products customers like and how you might create similar ones.
Look at how customers are using your products.
Are customers using your products in innovative ways? Are they personalizing it? Using it for something unexpected? You can gather a lot of data from social media concerning how customers use your products, which can then be used to innovate and improve the product, making it even more attractive than ever before.
Use Facebook for social login.
Most people are tired of filling out even the shortest forms when signing up for new Apps, newsletters, or online profiles. And sometimes, filling out a form could be just what turns away a potential customer. By giving your customers an option of a social login, or logging in through a previously created profile like Facebook, rather than creating a new username and password, you remove that bothersome step. Plus, if you use Facebook as your social login, you then have access to a myriad of details about your customer, including what he or she likes and dislikes, which you can then use to your advantage.
Create relationships with people of influence.
Some people have bigger social media platforms than others. If you create solid business relationships with people of influence, be they related directly to your business or simply a popular figure whom a lot of people follow, you can then leverage that relationship by having them retweet your posts, share your posts on Facebook, and more.
Develop your audience.
Social media is a great way to find out who’s interested in the kind of products or services you sell. By determining who’s posting or tweeting about products similar to yours, you can then focus your marketing toward those individuals. Ask yourself: Are they a certain age? Do they like certain messages? What is the best platform to reach them? Gathering information about your audience through social media may take some time, but most effective innovations do.