37% of the world’s population are now using social media and the fact there is a predicted annual growth of 21% it’s more important than ever for your business to be visible online, especially if you want to grow in 2017.

But it’s about more than just being on social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn it’s about making the accounts work for you and help you grow your brand.

Use every bit of your profile

Every social media profile is different and should be set up accordingly – with every section completed to show your business off in the best possible light. With a fixed number of characters available make sure you plan what you want to get across in your bio, add the appropriate links and use your cover images wisely to attract as many likes and followers as possible.

So many people set up their profiles and then concentrate solely on the social media content and not the actual account. Did you know header images, about us sections and changing descriptions to reflect changes in your business can attract as much attention as a good update?

Applications such as Picmonkey and Canva allow you to create the perfect header imagery using templates for inspiration. Giving your social media accounts a makeover several times a year is highly recommended – even if it’s just to reflect the seasons.

Understand your audience

Not all of your current customers and potential ones will use all of the different social media platforms so if time and resources are at a premium for your business, concentrate your efforts where you are likely to see a better return on your investment.

In order to achieve this, you need to find out where your customers hang out, what they like and what they respond most to, so it’s essential to spend some time doing research, which will save you time further down the line.

What your business does should also have an impact on the social media channels you choose. There’s no point having an Instagram account if you have no images or Facebook if there’s unlikely to be any interaction.

To make sure you understand your market it’s worth creating the avatar of your perfect customer by asking yourself the following questions:

  • Age, gender, occupation, location?
  • What do they love?
  • What do they hate?
  • Where do they hang out? This can be found by looking at your competition and see where they are excelling on social media
  • What do they need from you?

Social Media

Grow your tribe

Your social media accounts are a great way to speak to your clients/customers, engage in conversation, share your news and products and stimulate discussion.  If you can successfully grow your tribe then it means they will promote your products and services for you and we all know the importance of word of mouth.

The most important thing to remember is to post regularly – you should treat your tribe like you would your friends and you wouldn’t ignore them would you?

But taking all of this into account you need to understand why growing your tribe is important. Is it just about vanity, so you can be seen to have thousands of followers? or do you want a hardcore following of potential customers? Depending on that answer will, or at least should, affect your strategy.

For example, if you just want numbers then creating viral content is the best way forward but then remember the engagement for your business will be limited and conversion rates will be low.

Showcase your work

It’s one thing to tell people how good you are but another to show them and the latter is likely to have a far bigger impact. So keep people updated on what you’re working on, highlight positive feedback and give people an insight behind the scenes of your business.

Remember people buy from people, so giving a human touch makes it easier for people to relate to your business.

Engage, entertain and interact

What you post and when you post it are also both essential to success online. It can’t be all about you and your business, there needs to be a balance of engagement, entertainment and promotion.

A great recipe to follow is the 80/20 rule, which states that just 20% of your content should be about your brand and always include a call to action, the rest should be ‘interesting content’ and the more shareable the better to help you reach a larger audience for free.

Webthinking are a Wirral based web design company, who specialise in web design, web development, website optimisation and eCommerce. Contact us on 0800 644 2640 to see how we can help your business.