Social media is as important as your website design when it comes to attracting users and helping them find your business online. Did you know that social media can impact everything from search ranking to how customers feel about your brand?
But it is more than “playing" on Facebook or Snapchat. You need to make social media part of your marketing strategy and plan your content with purpose.
Search Tool
I can't emphasize it enough: Social media contributes to search. Not only does a social media presence help users find you on search engines like Google, but Facebook also has its own search engine that's growing in popularity.
To make the most of social media and enhance your search visibility, use the same name and profile photo across channels. Bad Pickle Tees uses the same branded handle for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram–the name appears with no spaces, just like it appears in the company's website URL. Just search “bad pickle tees" and see what happens.
To make the most of social media and enhance your search visibility, use the same name and profile photo across channels. Bad Pickle Tees uses the same branded handle for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram–the name appears with no spaces, just like it appears in the company's website URL. Just search “bad pickle tees" and see what happens.
Brand Barometer
Social media is a good barometer to see how customers feel about your brand. Do users interact with you on social media? Do they like your posts? What are you doing to keep them engaged?
You want to check metrics such as likes, retweets or shares (depending on the platform) as well as reach of the posts. It's more important that people see your content, than necessarily "like" it. From your brand's Facebook Page, click the Insights tab to get data on your posts and page interactions. Log in to Twitter and go to analytics.twitter.com to see a similar dashboard for your Twitter activity.
Use this information to help determine which products or messaging resonates with your followers and feature those more prominently on your website. If you don't have a shop, social media can be just as impactful to determine what content works on your blog.
You want to check metrics such as likes, retweets or shares (depending on the platform) as well as reach of the posts. It's more important that people see your content, than necessarily "like" it. From your brand's Facebook Page, click the Insights tab to get data on your posts and page interactions. Log in to Twitter and go to analytics.twitter.com to see a similar dashboard for your Twitter activity.
Use this information to help determine which products or messaging resonates with your followers and feature those more prominently on your website. If you don't have a shop, social media can be just as impactful to determine what content works on your blog.
Expanded Reach
With social media, you can attract a wider audience than your website alone. In addition to information you can learn from social media users, they can learn more about your brand as well.
Think of every share and every like as one more opportunity for you to connect with a potential customer. A user on social media may not have known about your brand until someone in their network mentioned it, giving you the perfect opportunity to reach out. Social networks provide a place to interact with people in an organic way.
The easiest way to get brand loyalists to share? Ask them to do it. According to Practical Ecommerce, "Tweets that ask people to retweet them get 51 percent more retweets than tweets that never ask."
Think of every share and every like as one more opportunity for you to connect with a potential customer. A user on social media may not have known about your brand until someone in their network mentioned it, giving you the perfect opportunity to reach out. Social networks provide a place to interact with people in an organic way.
The easiest way to get brand loyalists to share? Ask them to do it. According to Practical Ecommerce, "Tweets that ask people to retweet them get 51 percent more retweets than tweets that never ask."
Brand Loyalty
Remember to connect social media to your website so brand ambassadors can share content. This should be a critical component of your overall social media strategy.
You want fans to tell everyone they know about your brand, blog or products. Make it easy for them. Offer a coupon code or discount for shares. Put the tools in a highly visible location so that sharing is an easy part of the process.
This applies to social media posts as well. Encourage shares with a contest or discount. Include a social media feed or use the same images on social media profiles and your website, like Happy Little Human's does. And always include a link to your website on channels that allow it.
You want fans to tell everyone they know about your brand, blog or products. Make it easy for them. Offer a coupon code or discount for shares. Put the tools in a highly visible location so that sharing is an easy part of the process.
This applies to social media posts as well. Encourage shares with a contest or discount. Include a social media feed or use the same images on social media profiles and your website, like Happy Little Human's does. And always include a link to your website on channels that allow it.
Marketing Opportunities
Using multiple platforms can give you more marketing touchpoints. Just one form of digital outreach is not enough in today's climate where people are hit with messages all the time. To maximize your online potential, it is important to push information on multiple channels.
Social media is an affordable marketing option that will fit fairly seamlessly with the rest of your digital plan, but don't try to do it all. Pick one or two channels that best fit your messaging—and that make sense to you—and focus your efforts there. Perhaps Facebook is best for your business, or maybe it's Instagram? You may even find success on LinkedIn.
Social media is an affordable marketing option that will fit fairly seamlessly with the rest of your digital plan, but don't try to do it all. Pick one or two channels that best fit your messaging—and that make sense to you—and focus your efforts there. Perhaps Facebook is best for your business, or maybe it's Instagram? You may even find success on LinkedIn.
Conclusion
Getting started with a social media strategy is easier than you might think. Did you know there are tools built into your Weebly account? You can link social profiles to your Weebly website and add functional tools from the App Center. In fact, there are so many options that there's a whole section devoted just to social media.
Remember, social media isn't just fun and games—it is a targeted way to help drive more visitors to your website or online store.
Ready to get started? Lets go.
Remember, social media isn't just fun and games—it is a targeted way to help drive more visitors to your website or online store.
Ready to get started? Lets go.
Carrie Cousins Carrie is a designer and content marketer. She works promoting the Roanoke Region of Virginia and has more than 10 years of media and marketing experience.
