Tame Social Media to earn Benefits for Your Business

Social media is the new way of communicating, connecting, and interacting with your prospective customers. There are over 14 billion active profiles across the top social media networks. Yeah, that’s a huge potential audience for your business. 

But it’s challenging to manage multiple social media accounts and reel in the unique benefits of each platform. Trends and strategies are continuously evolving. And there’s so much to do- with creating engaging and entertaining content to posting regularly to measuring the right metrics. And let’s not forget to add reputation management to the mix. So understandably, at times, it may even feel like everything is spiraling out of control.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

If you’re fumbling in the fast-paced world of social media, you’re not alone. Don’t let your frustration hold you back from becoming successful. Whether you’re a newbie in social media marketing or a seasoned professional, there’s always something to learn about social media marketing and community-building.

With the following tips and tricks, you’ll soon be able to get a grip on your social media profiles and reap the rewards of a tamed existence.

1. Plan and organize your approach

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither will your social media presence. Don’t get carried away with random acts of marketing. So instead of rushing into the battlefield, why not take a moment to devise a strategy. Whether you hire a team of professionals, or train your current staff to utilize social media tools, select a plan of action that will carry your brand to greater heights in an orderly manner.

2. Identify what tools are best for your brand

Tools are a great way to automate tasks, including the creation, sharing, and scheduling of content. For instance, a social media scheduler can help you organize your social media and digital marketing content, post at times of optimal engagement, and measure the effectiveness of your strategies. 

Moreover, it can allow businesses to gather more leads, generate more sales, and harness higher ROI. If you lack a social media policy or don’t implement the appropriate tools to monitor, measure, and gather the results of your social media campaign, you run the risk of falling behind your competitors.

3. Your focus should be on your target audience

Social media platforms are the reservoirs of creativity. Anything and everything that resonates with your customers and loyal fans is welcome. But in order to capitalize on customer enthusiasm, you need to monitor their comments, likes, and shares about your brand, products, or services. 

This will help provide you with content and ideas that align with your target audience. A social media dashboard can help by offering quick views into followers, likes, and subscribers. It can also track recent posts across numerous platforms.

Image Source: klipfolio.com

4. Don’t lose sight of the competition

Measuring key metrics is an ideal way to gain insights and feedback about your industry and customers in real-time. Important social media KPIs include engagement, reach, conversion, sentiment, community growth, and ROI, among others. With the aid of appropriate research tools, you not only gather vital information but also measure the results and gauge the effectiveness of your social media marketing campaign.

In fact, you can do more than just focus on yourself. Study the essential metrics of your competitors. What are they doing to drive traffic and what strategies are they using that encourage customers to come back?

5. Be on the lookout for strategic alliances

There’s no harm in leaning on others who are killing it on social media. Connect with names that will help you grow. Whether it’s a brand that has tamed and conquered the social media space or an individual influencer, use the power of their loyal base of followers to give your brand a chance to share the limelight. 

6. Social media is more than fun and games

Besides entertainment, explore all the different avenues as to how social media can benefit your brand. This could be as simple as updating customers about a local crisis that affects operating hours or as in-depth as giving advice on how to resolve a related problem. 

With this approach, you’re able to promote your brand’s image as a credible source of information as well as a voice of authority in the industry. Utilize social media to create informative conversations with the target audience. Build lasting relationships and a loyal community of raving fans.

7. Highlight opportunities

Accept that there is always room for improvement, whether it’s organizing a contest or starting a live video session. But because of budget or resource constraints, it’s not possible to do everything all at once. Notice how this brand engages with the audience by asking for their opinions while also promoting a contest. This gives content for further discussions.

Image Source: socialmediaexaminer.com

So start off slowly with smaller projects and build up to bigger ones later on. Discussing these ideas can help plan for future projects in an organized manner. Additionally, assess your current social media campaign and identify any inefficiencies that are disrupting your long-term goals and efforts.

8. On social, be social

Take consumer surveys or polls to garner consumer feedback. By analyzing the data, you can segment your audience and generate content that reaches the right people. Prioritize your consumer’s needs to keep your brand relevant to them. Observe how Airbnb obtained data from customer polls to learn what customers need as well as harness ideas for future marketing material. 

Image Source: socialmediaweek.org

More importantly, taking an extra step to be social by saying thank you for a positive review or apologizing to an unsatisfied customer can really help enhance your stance in the social community.

9. It’s okay to make mistakes

You’re not perfect, and it’s normal to make mistakes. So wipe up the spilled milk and move on. Moreover, don’t let negative results derail your efforts. Instead, use them as guides for improving your products and services.

10. Less is more

Businesses need to work within a budget in order to stay profitable. And social media marketing is no exception. By biting off more than you can chew, you risk running a sloppy campaign and damaging your online reputation. 

So instead of frantically trying (notice the emphasis on the word trying) to claim your presence on five or six platforms, identify a couple that have the biggest consumer base and are bringing the most revenue. (You’ll need to rely on metrics for this.) Dedicate your work on creating fresh and exciting content on these platforms to ensure your customers engage on your page for longer.

Final thoughts

It’s time to stop random acts of marketing on your social media platforms. You need to create a unified strategy for your brand. In order to achieve that, it’s essential that you align your social media involvement with the core corporate values and overall business goals.

While it’s great that you understand the benefits of a tamed social media presence, you’re going to have to bring everyone else on board as well. By educating your employees, you can work as a team to get optimum results and leverage your social media campaigns. It doesn’t take much to master the free media exposure available on various platforms. So grab this opportunity and make the most of it.


Alma is a mother, wife, logophile and a professional blogger by choice. She completed her masters in English literature from the University of Groningen. Oh, and Alma is incomplete without her cats! Find her on Twitter or check out some of her past work at Muckrack.