5 Key Tips for Social Media Marketing

Despite what some may think, there's a huge discrepancy between personal and professional social media marketing. On a daily basis, countless businesses phone it in with their social media strategy, leading to a lack of reach, engagement, followers, and ultimately, sales.

But today, we're going to change the tide in your favor with these five basic, but key, tips for social media marketing.

Avoid Spelling & Grammatical Errors

While many large organizations have adopted social media as a consistent aspect of their digital marketing strategy, many small business owners still see it as a nice-to-have component. Because of this, there can be a lack of thoroughness when posting across social media channels.

But nothing turns people off more than spelling and grammatical errors. Right away, it screams that this isn't a serious operation. In the end, it does more to hurt your business' reputation than to promote it.

As a solution, take the time to conduct a spelling and grammar check. You may even want to use a free online resource, like Grammarly.

Drop the Sales Pitch

No one likes to be sold.

Selling is awkward, unpleasant, and both sides tend to feel uncomfortable. But that hasn't stopped businesses from trying to turn their social media channels into a broken record of sales pitches.

Instead, view social media, first and foremost, as a tool to engage with your audience. Use it to strengthen your brand and show your customers and prospects alike that you care about them outside of the monetary transaction.

A great way to do this is to consistently post content that your customers may find relevant or interesting. Or share a little bit of your expertise in an article.

As a rule of thumb, always ask, "Where's the value?".

Incorporate Images

Imagery is a great way to tell a story without saying a word. Whether you're showcasing your product, promoting your team, or sharing about the business' background, images add color to any social media profile.

There's a reason why platforms like Instagram and Pinterest took off so quickly.

This isn't to say that you need to splatter pictures and videos just for the sake of doing so. Similar to the last tip, consider whether or not sharing an image is adding value to your brand or customers.

Completely Fill Out Your Profile

Why would you have a business social media account if you didn't include complete, accurate, and updated information?

A large chunk of the time, prospects and customers visit your page because they want to learn more about your business. This includes details, such as hours of operation, address, pricing guides, services, and even a background story.

Anything that you can do to flesh out your brand will make it more likely that others treat you as a serious company and that they, in turn, will buy from you.

Be Respectful

Similar to the first tip, this last one may seem like a no-brainer. But time and time again, business owners engage in unruly arguments with people leaving bad reviews, rude page visitors, or even the platform itself.

This is a quick way to tank a company's reputation.

But the answer is to consider Occam's razor: The best answer is the simplest.

Show respect.

Reply respectfully to bad reviews and try to regain a lost client. Meanwhile, focus on generating positive testimonials from happy clients and prospects.

If rude people visit your page, you usually have options to delete comments, ban people from the page, or to block them entirely. Engaging in an argument is not one of them.

And if you're in a battle with the platform's customer support team, there's usually very little that you can do outside of explaining the issue politely and clearly. Assuming that doesn't work, focus more on what you can control as a business owner.

For questions on social media marketing, send us a message at RizzoYoungMarketing.com.