How to Use Social Media To Promote Your Business

You’ve been using social media to promote your business, but have you been using these tools strategically?  If you want social media to have a positive impact on your bottom line, you need a planned approach that is both creative and consistent.  If you set up your profiles and just try to wing it, it is unlikely to be effective.  Here are ten ideas that will help you build a relationship with your customers online:

1.      Hold a Colouring Contest on Facebook.

Children love to showcase their art, and most parents will appreciate any business that makes an effort to connect to their children.  Holding a colouring contest and scanning the entries onto your Facebook page is a great way to interact with your customers.  If you determine the winner of the colouring contest by having people vote on the Facebook page, you may have more visits to your page than ever before.

2.  Have a Twitter raffle. 

Twitter is a useful tool when you are trying to reach a large audience quickly.  When you consider that most people who are active on Twitter have hundreds of followers, if you can persuade people to tweet about your business, you can increase the scope of your promotional efforts almost instantly.  Depending on the nature of your business, you can ask people to tweet an answer to a specific question and to mention your handle or include a hashtag in their tweet.  For example, if your business is helping people to plan their meals, you could ask people to tweet snack ideas.  You can then randomly select a winner from everyone who participates.

3.  Scan thank you letters and post them on Facebook.

People love to see a personal connection between the customer and the business.  A great way to highlight this is by posting the thank you letters that you receive on Facebook.  This works particularly well if many of your customers are children.  A children’s hair cutting salon found this to be an extremely effective way to connect to their customers and once people noticed the letters posted on Facebook, they received more thank you notes than ever before.

4.  Make Youtube videos.

People love watching videos, especially if they are short and interesting.  By using a digital camera and Youtube, you can create and publish your own videos almost instantly for free.  Take advantage of this opportunity and create videos that showcase your products and services.  You can post these videos on your website as well as on Facebook and Twitter.  You can even encourage your customers to make videos of themselves using your products and have people vote on their favourite one.  There are lots of different ways that you can do it; you are only limited by your time and your creativity.

5.  Support other people’s initiatives.

To be effective of on social media, you need to build relationships.  Everybody on social media has their own agenda, whether it is trying to promote their business, or simply to make connections.  You will notice that people regularly ask for support on social media.  They could be asking for you to “like” a Facebook page, vote for them in a contest, or spread the word about an event.  If you do your best to support people in this way, you will find that they are much more willing to support you.

6.  Join LinkedIn Groups.

Try to find LinkedIn groups that attract a lot of your customers.  Once you are a member of these groups, you are able to directly contact other members of the group.  By starting and participating in discussions on these groups, you can showcase your expertise and make real connections.

7.  Post polls on Facebook.

People love giving their opinion.  Facebook polls are a great way to engage customers and to drive traffic to your Facebook page.  Your questions should be simple and related to your business.  One example could be:  “What is your favourite thing to eat on the barbeque?

8.  Post tips on Twitter.

With tweets being limited to 140 characters, it can be difficult to find content to post.  However, quick tips actually work well in this format.  Tips can be useful to your followers and if you are posting information that is innovative, fresh and relevant.

9.  Offer online deals and discounts.

People will be happy to follow you on Twitter and like your Facebook page if it will save them money.  By offering special promotions and discounts exclusively to your social media followers, you will get new customers and you’ll drive traffic to your sites.

10.  Start a blog.

Blogs are a great way to get people to visit your website and to regularly interact with your customers.  They also allow you to present yourself as an expert in the field.  However, keep in mind that blogs require a consistent time investment.  If you don’t have time to keep it up, hire somebody who does.

Depending on how it’s used, social media can either be an effective marketing tool or a time thief.  It’s a good idea to regularly monitor the social media tools that you use in order to determine how it is contributing to your business’s bottom line.  Don’t be afraid to try something unconventional; these tools are so new that businesses haven’t even skimmed the surface of their potential.  Get creative and have fun!  If it doesn’t work, then try something else!