It is pretty clear the social media movement isn't slowing down any time soon. Companies are beginning to see the benefits of supporting a social media presence and how it can certainly increase the bottom line and result in success. Because of this, many companies dive deep into the implementation of social media campaigns, infographics and shareable content. When it is time to sit at the table and figure out the best strategies to take on this social media age, there are a few concepts to consider to lead to success for any given company.
- Guest Posting/Collaborations
Whether it is a small online handmade shop or a booming enterprise with 500+ employees, businesses grow stronger when they collaborate and work with other businesses. For example, it might be wise for coffee company to find a popular blogger who regularly drinks and posts about coffee. Sponsored posts are extremely popular among companies and bloggers and have proven to be lucrative and beneficial for both parties. Once the blogger shares the details about that particular brand of coffee with its followers, followers will become aware of the brand and take interest in it. There are brand ambassadors for almost any industry. It just takes a little creativity to find the most authentic and honest partnership.
- Finding the Audience
Just like a professional singer may not find a lot of helpful connections on LinkedIn, it is important to go where the audience is. A professional singer might want to post clips of their performances to Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and any other site which promotes sharing videos with the potential of viral success. A law firm might want to keep up a really strong presence on LinkedIn. Regular contributions to the site's Pulse blog will definitely help garner lots of attention over time. It is important to figure out who the audience is and then go after them.
- Creating Compelling Content
While it is important to find an audience and share information with them, it is really important to make sure the content is good. In order to create compelling content, it is a good idea to look back and see what's worked in the past. Once that standard gets established, build on it with more innovation. Try to get a few opinions before sharing the content because it is good to get a few perspectives to gauge how the readers will receive the information. Don't forget the power of a clean and applicable graphic. Whether it is an infographic or a behind-the-scenes snapshot, people love and respond well to clean, focused photography. It is also important to broaden the scope of who can understand the content. Add closed captioning for the hard-of-hearing on YouTube videos and add subtitles for those who may not speak the same language.
- Tagging & Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
It is pointless to put content on social media, websites, or blogs without including SEO or hashtags. Tagging the content is the main way people will organically find the information in a search engine. Google loves organic searches the most and that only comes overtime with proper SEO tagging. Additionally, it is important to use hashtags when using any form of social media. In order to broaden the scope of people who find the content, hashtags are the fastest way to attract people on social media who are interested in the same topics. Before using SEO or numerous hashtags at random, it is wise to conduct some research to see what phrases are often searched for the most. There are plenty of websites with research on different tags for various subjects.
These four tips are some of the most beneficial ways to see a company's social media presence explode. With any of these strategies, intentional consistency is really vital. Each time a user logs on to social media, there are a thousand different articles, pictures and videos to grab their attention. The best way to make sure to stay memorable is to show up on a consistent basis. After all, showing up is half of the work!
Photo Credit: Flickr/Jason Howie
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This guest post is courtesy of Jennifer Livingston.
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