Many business are still a little weary about social media as a marketing tactic as well as the amount of budget they should invest. It’s easy to think of social media as simply “content and posting” but there is much more to consider. Facebook started as a tool to connect with people and while it has evolved into a playground for advertisers, all social media platforms still stem from that intent.
Businesses have a HUGE opportunity to leverage social to stay top of mind for clients/customers and prospects whether you’re B2B or B2C. In addition, there are now many other tools that can be incorporated into your social media strategy to drive connections and engage with your audience in a meaningful way.
Whether your company just kicked off its social media presence or you’ve been on social media for years, here are some new ways you can start using social media to connect with your business’s followers.
Use Multimedia in All of Your Posts
Think about the types of posts that catch your attention as you’re scrolling. It’s not the posts with a few sentences of text. Posts that include a picture or video have much better interaction. In fact, Facebook posts with images see 2.3X more engagement than those without images. (source) So before you click “Post” on that text-only update about a promotion for your latest product, consider recording a quick video announcing the sale or take/find a great photo that complements your post. The extra time and effort will mean higher reach and engagement—definitely worth it!
Integrate Social Media Into Offline Events
If you have a big event coming up, whether internal or for the public, be sure to include a strategy to incorporate social media in the event. Consider setting up a photo booth or photo spot where attendees can either snap selfies or take group photos with an event-provided photographer. Create an event-specific hashtag and include it on all signage and visuals around the event. If you have the manpower, designate someone on your team to live-stream the event to interact with your followers and share the excitement in real-time. People love to be part of an event or movement and looping in social media is a great way to get everyone together and having fun. That’s a great way to extend a branded experience beyond the attendees and spark many more conversations among your customers.
Use Immersive Media
Retailers like Home Depot and Target have really embraced the augmented reality capability many of us carry around in our pockets. Curious if a paint color will look good in your house but don’t want to put a bunch of paint swatches on the walls? Home Depot’s Project Color app and online Color Center let you play Picasso with your walls before you even step foot into a store. Target uses AR on their app to let customers test out different pieces of furniture in their home before committing to one. If you have the budget and development bandwidth, creating an augmented or virtual reality experience for your customers is an incredibly impactful way to let customers picture your business in their lives and feel more confident in their decision to give you their business. AR technology can also be used to create experiences at events or at your company’s headquarters—a nice touch to bring your audiences to you digitally.
If augmented reality isn’t on your horizon, consider using 360° photos or 3D photos to give your audiences another dimension to experience your brand.
Consider Other Platforms
The “big 3” of social media are Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. They are all powerhouses in their own right, so it makes sense that this is where most of us go when we think of social media. However, there are many other members of the social media family that offer big punches, too!
Snapchat is a social media platform you may think has gone extinct but is alive and well! Snapchat’s users skew much younger (think the high school and college-age demographics), which makes Snapchat advertising and posting prime real estate for any company trying to woo teens and 20-somethings to become customers. If you don’t advertise on Snapchat but have a physical location or events, filters are a great way to inject some fun into your marketing and give customers something quirky to spice up their Snaps.
Podcasts have grown steadily in popularity over the years and are now a staple piece of many companies marketing plans. These casual and candid conversations are easy to create, produce, and push out to the general public through popular hubs like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and many more. If you can commit to a steady production schedule and have a long list of topics you’d like to explore, Podcasts are a great way to establish your business as a thought leader and grow a base of loyal listeners.
If you have someone on your team who is great in front of the camera and you have enough quality content potential, YouTube could be a great way to boost your company’s visibility and clout. 70% of YouTube viewers watch videos for “help with a problem” they’re having in their hobby, studies, or job (source), so if you can offer assistance with common problems experienced by your customers, your views will grow and so will your followers!
If you’re ready to clean your social media slate and start rethinking your strategy, the Marbury team would love to help! Our social media gurus love going to the drawing board and creating unique social media strategies that will not only help your business grow but will be fun for the whole team to implement. For more information on how to get started, contact us today at shelly@marburycreativegroup.com.
