No matter what industry you are in, it is paramount to be present on more than one social media platform in order to spread the message of your company or personal services, and to attach a name and a face to a brand. If you feel that there is no need for you to be sharing, liking, or following, then you are giving your competitors the permission to claim your future clients.
The following are social media hacks for the most popular platforms, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, and Pinterest, that any professional can incorporate into their overall personal marketing strategy in order to increase their exposure and social presence.
1. Twitter
No longer do we rely strictly on a company’s website to provide us with the information we need. With vast information at our fingertips, we put on our X-Ray goggles and scan and dissect every little piece of data that we come across relating to a particular product or service that we are interested in. Everything from recommendations, reviews, product trials and training, to surveys can be surfaced on social media and search engine results. This micro-blogging platform, where the user relays short bursts of information that generally includes a picture and a link, contains over 600k users, averaging on 58 million tweets a day. A follower is 60% more likely to recommend you on Twitter than on Facebook. The main point of Twitter is to engage, hence the only way to build a gathering is by signing up and executing the below tips.
Create a catchy header image.
Before you start following your target market on Twitter, first properly set up your profile by including a professional profile picture (no family pictures or pictures with your pet!), a shortened biography of your services, and add links to your website or blog. Recently, Twitter rolled out a new look for user profiles that includes a large cover photo and tweet categorization. Make sure that your cover photo is appropriate to your industry and is unique in some way as this is part of your brand image. Here are some guidelines to follow when creating your cover photo:
Be consistent with the image used for your cover photo. It has to reflect the cover photos that are currently being used for other social profiles.
Less is sometimes more. Your cover photo should be clean, concise, and to the point. Do not overdo it or else it will look crowded and unprofessional.
Engage with your cover photo. If you have a contest or survey in the making, mention it briefly in the cover photo along with its hashtag to generate more engagement.
Change it often. If it is holiday season or a major change is occurring in your career/company, redesign your cover photo to echo these changes as it will ensure that your profile is not static.
Quality vs. Quantity.
Once you have finished with the design element of your profile, you can now begin to start posting your first tweets. Remember, do not add followers if your page is blank as there will be no award or motivation for a user to follow you back if you bring no value to their wall. Your page must have posts relating to your industry and personal interests. The following are some suggestions on the types of posts to share:
Link to internal or external blog posts pertaining to your industry.
Share information on upcoming events or webinars.
Tell people what you are working on (project, new article).
Ask for people’s opinion on your services or services of others.
Pitch your press release to journalists and influencers.
Share favorites, such as testimonials of your service.
Share quotes that are reflective of your personality.
Post pictures of your products being used.
Post pictures of events that you had attended.
Start a sweepstakes and create a hashtag that will represent the contest.
Include a photo and a link for each tweet as it will increase the chances of a retweet. Since Twitter only allows you to write 140 characters, use a URL shortener like Bitly to give you more writing space. On the left hand-side of your Twitter’s main page, you will find a “Trends” section, look at the hashtags that are being used and try to come up with similar content. Do not forget to include the trending hashtag in your tweet!
Facebook is no longer dominated by the younger demographic; older generations are quickly immersing themselves in the rituals of sharing and liking that come so naturally to adolescents and young adults. With over a billion accounts, Facebook is the leader in the social whirlwind and has changed the way businesses interact with prospects. Posting a link on Facebook will not guarantee public exposure. EdgeRank, Facebook’s algorithm used to determine which content posted on Facebook will be shown to given users at a certain time, places a priority on certain items over others. There are a couple of ways to build an audience and obtain maximum exposure of your content.
Call-to-Action
You have set up your Facebook profile, included a catchy cover photo that is similar to your Twitter header, so now what? First and foremost, you need to start uploading content to your page before you can start inviting your friends. The same rules apply as for Twitter; include a brief synopsis of your URL and a creative image to go along with your post. However, unlike Twitter, Facebook allows for more writing space so you can include a CTA, Call-to-Action, which will prompt a user to interact with the link or company in order to continue down a conversion funnel. The CTA is your final instruction to your reader, encouraging to respond right away. They are commonly used for buttons on banner ads or landing pages in order to effectively capture the audience’s attention but are also found in traditional direct mail promotions and social posts.
Here are some great calls-to-action:
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You cannot depend on your friends to help you grow your business or brand reputation. Though some may share and like your page, it will not be enough to spread the word of your services to the general public as pages organically reach about 16% of their fans on average. EdgeRank ranks content based upon its likely interest to a user in order to help deliver the most relevant content, so if you share your content on your Newsfeed, chances are that many won’t even see your post if it is not applicable to them. If you have an important post that you wish to share with the public, with a set budget, you can sponsor it to make sure your fans see your story. During setup, you will be able to select your target market, run dates, and budget. Make sure that you have a strong call-to-action and a captivating image or else your fans will simply ignore your post.
Extra Tips
Join Facebook groups pertaining to your industry and post content daily to spark the interest of other professionals and target audiences.
Use hashtags. Though many marketing experts are skeptical whether hashtags make any difference on Facebook, I believe that if the major brands are using them, it wouldn’t hurt to use them as well.
Set up a Content Calendar, scheduling the times and the type of content to post daily. Remember to differentiate your posts by theme. E.g. On Mondays, you can post a Quote of the Day and Thursday can be Helpful Marketing Tips.
Add a Custom Tab to your page to act as a virtual store front. You can also connect Pinterest Page to your Facebook page.
3. LinkedIn
As a professional network for companies, entrepreneurs, and job hunters, LinkedIn showcases over 3 million business pages, and has over 200 conversations occurring per minute in LinkedIn groups. This is not a social network to be taken lightly. This social platform helps like-minded professionals expand their influence and build a network of connections that could potentially convert into leads or referrals. Unlike Facebook where individuals can add anyone to their contact list, LinkedIn has developed a process where first degree connections must request an introduction from a second degree connection in order to connect to the third. Therefore, a complete profile demonstrating your skills and past work is imperative if you wish for connections to take you seriously and trust your brand.
Groups
If you think that requesting to connect with other professionals is the main purpose of this site, you are missing out on some very important marketing tactics. The best way to build a strong fan base if you are promoting yourself is to join groups relating to your industry and your target market. For example, if you are a marketer, then join groups that are all about social media marketing, digital marketing, PR, branding, and start posting your blog posts and status updates there. Look through these groups and see the type of things that other professionals post and comment, ask questions, or simply “like” their status. As you become more interactive, people will soon start to notice your presence and will be more inclined to read your stuff and even request to add you to their network.
Additionally, find groups that are prospect hang out spots, meaning where your target market is posting information. These are mainly self-help groups so it is best that you do not spam the participants with your services; rather, offer helpful suggestions, post relative information, and even ask for your audience’s opinion. Before you get started, think of an engagement strategy and all blog posts that you write should be a reflection of this plan.
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