We live in the age of social media everything. New platforms appear overnight and take the world by storm. Business owners, no matter their field, are kept on their toes when it comes to keeping up with modern consumers. Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and a host of other apps are where businesses need to be if they are trying to compete with a tech-savvy consumer base. We asked entrepreneurs and business owners about how they use social media for business and their replies are listed below. These tips might even help you find the right footing on social media for your business.
#1-My Instagram Effort x 10
Instagram is an ideal platform for anybody that does visual work – whether you are a remodeling company, or a web designer. We've spent more effort there over the last year because of the attention that people are spending on the platform. It requires paying attention to the aesthetic of our posts, but we believe it nurtures ideal prospects, contributes to trust of existing clients, and can help create a high-end brand that people seek out. But the more effort your put in, the more results you will get out. Try 10X-ing your effort here for a month, and see what happens.
Thanks to Tim Brown, Hook Agency!
#2- It varies with each platform
I use social media a bit differently depending on the platform itself. Facebook & LinkedIn is mainly used to share industry related content in an attempt to get our audience to engage with us on a professional level. However, Twitter & Instagram are used vastly differently. I use them as part business and part personal as I would like my followers to get to know the person behind the brand.
Thanks to Ameet Khabra, Ameet Khabra Marketing Inc.!
#3- Build businesses
Social media has been extremely vital for my business and ministry. Over the past several years I have utilized Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Google+ to build multiple international businesses, media outlets, an author and speaker platform and coaching business. Through social media, I have gained authors and writers, as clients, all over the United States and Canada as well as strategic connections around the world. Additionally, as an entrepreneur and author, I have made thousands of dollars via social media through strategic marketing campaigns, visible & relavent content marketing and posting through groups and Facebook-themed marketing days.
Thanks to Angel M. Barrino, Angel B. Inspired Inc.!
#4- Prospecting on LinkedIn
This is where I do the bulk of my prospecting. I post 4 articles a day and trying to engage with a video introduction and/or lead magnet to push 30 minutes strategy session. My page is designed to focus strictly with attorneys so I can turn a cold introduction to a warm one since I already familiar with the nuances of their industry and its major themes.
Thanks to Chris Jackson, Lionshare Partners!
#5- Interact and make real friends
I’m a Certified Health and Abundance Coach and seasonally I freelance as a superyacht stewardess. This atypical, nomadic lifestyle makes it imperative that I operate my business solely online. Given that I do not live in one particular place, for a long time I created a limiting belief that I could not succeed as a coach because I no longer had a land-based community. What I have begun to learn and love about social media is that we have moved away from simply selling ourselves and are moving back to the original intent of social media, which is to be social and genuinely connect with each other! I use my social media platforms to share my story and my life with as much vulnerability as I can in order to have real human connections and find inspiration through these connections. I’m happy to say that I now make real friends through these platforms which eventually turn into word-of-mouth leads for new clients. This is a continuous and repeating cycle and imperative for my successful online business.
Thanks to Chelsea Nielsen, A Mindful Life, LLC!
#6- Repurpose content and advertising
At Prep Expert, social media has proven valuable to us on two fronts: 1) A great way to repurpose our blog posts and infographics as the content itself is updated and improved, 2) An effective paid advertising platform. As we constantly revisit and update our website content, social media allows us to share that material and revitalize its page traffic and SEO rankings. More importantly though, we've found it to be one of our strongest traffic drivers through the means of targeted ad spends and great visual content to capture people's attention. We also work to take advantage of various platforms, such are Facebook and Snapchat in particular, to reach as many specific but related demographics to our business as possible.
Thanks to Shaan Patel, Prep Expert!
#7- Connect with my customers and potential customers
In today's society we are inundated with data and information around the clock. In my business, the competition is ever-present. From TV ads to ads on cell phones to ads at the gas station, someone is pushing a mortgage in your face more than any time ever in history. For me, a mortgage banker, I have found that connecting with my customers and potential customers on social media helps differentiate me from the competition. I become a real person with a real family and they are able to see that. I post stories and information about my career while mixing in stories about my daily life. This way my customers are able to always stay in touch with me and vice versa. I know when they have a baby. I know when they are celebrating a job advancement. Staying top of mind and in front of your database is more important than ever. Social Media is helping to close that gap and keep us top of mind easier than ever before. It is a true game-changer for businesses!
Thanks to Michelle Dugan, Renasant Bank!
#8-YouTube to drive our revenue
In short, we create helpful, genuine YouTube videos to attract viewers and convert them to customers. YouTube is owned by Google and as a result, Google is motivated to promote videos in search results. As such, we've found that if you create a video that is relevant to your audience, you can get in front of potential customers that are searching for related services or products and then pitch them on what you're offering. Overall, we've found this be very effective for attracting new viewers and customers.
Thanks to Matthew Ross, RIZKNOWS!
#9- Several ways
At BlackExcellence, we use different social media platforms for different goals we have. For brand awareness, we use Instagram. Since Instagram has one of the highest audience engagement rates, it helps us get seen by more of our target audience. To drive more traffic to our website, we use Facebook. Since Facebook has gotten more and more crowded over the years, we have to put money into running ads on the platform to cut through the crowd and get seen. As for networking, we use Twitter. Twitter encourages discussions and conversations and makes it easier for us to engage other brands and personalities.
Thanks to Roman Debotch, blackexcellence.com!
#10- Three ways through LinkedIn
For starters, LinkedIn the least tapped in terms of leveraging influencers. With over 13,000 connections myself, I've become a bit of an expert on the platform and see this as a big opportunity for 2018 and beyond. Secondly, the platform is ideal for business-to-business marketing. There is no other platform that can target prospective customers with ads, based on employer, job title, location and other key factors. One of the secrets to effective content marketing on LinkedIn is to use ad targeting to share high quality content as sponsored content which is more affordable and generally higher-performing than traditional display ads. Lastly, the platform is ideal for generating awareness and credentials via thought leadership (posting updates and writing articles on LinkedIn Pulse. Most recently, I've been leveraging 1st-degree connections for outbound sales efforts, generating meaningful results after just a few months of outreach.
Thanks to Kent Lewis, Anvil!
#11-Communication
In today’s day and age, social media is vital to your company's success. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and blogging are musts to promote your business. We leverage the power of social media to connect with thousands of people. We believe that companies who have active social media accounts and who communicate with their followers are much more favorable in the public’s eye. They’re seen as likable, relatable and understanding. Social media allows you to legitimately become friends with your customer and people go to their friends in the business first. My advice; be active on social media and be a friend to your customer.
Thanks to Jonathan Davila, Diamond View!
#12- Drum up new work and publicity hits
I use social media every week to drum up new work and publicity hits for my business. On LinkedIn, I use the search bar to find potential clients. I'll type a phrase like, looking for a freelance copywriter. Every day several people or businesses post job opportunities that include those exact words, which gives me a fresh selection of new projects to apply for as often as I search. On Twitter, I intentionally follow journalists, bloggers, and editors at top publications in my field. As soon as someone requests an opinion from a copywriter, I'm there to offer my opinion and get published. I even used this method to get published in one of the top marketing blogs. It's great PR. I also follow hashtags like #JournoRequest for similar opportunities. On Facebook, I am part of several digital jobs Groups. I've landed many projects simply by interacting and responding to other people's posts.
Thanks to Alexander Lewis, Lewis Commercial Writing!
#13- Showcase our professional work
In under six months, we have close to doubled our Facebook and Linkedin follower base as well as grown our twitter follower count by over 400%. In line with this strategic community build up we have also created and integrated a new Instagram account and Medium publication. Each platform, while serving its own standalone purpose has been integrated into the entire profile with the intended purpose of portraying a more robust profile giving users an opportunity to work with us professionally as well as follow our story of grassroots growth. The critical element to our success, we find, has been authenticity. From the outset we fully embraced who we are, which is a boutique Recruiting Agency based in Cyprus, in every element of our online presence, visually represented through olives and almonds and replacing stock “professional” images with more authentic imagery from the island. We use our Facebook account to showcase our professional work through job postings, magazine articles and work images. Our Medium publication showcases our community and our individual personalities and interest while our Instagram remains lighthearted and follows our journey often with the hashtag #recruiterlife. Through raising our public profile we have seen a dramatic increase in business traffic.
Thanks to Kevin R. Brown, HR Innovate!
#14- Microblogging
I like Instagram for business – but it has to be done right:When it comes to Instagram for business, I'm all about the microblogging and instagram stories. My actual posts are microblogs of my day or business or money lessons. I use my stories to interact with my audience, answer their questions, show the behind the scenes of my life, and generally just have fun. By doing this, I can connect and build relationships with potential clients as well as current clients. It's also a perfect opportunity to be talking on-trend with things in your industry. When you're out there talking first, you gain more attention. But you have to work it right: You can't hide! People hide themselves. They aren't putting themselves out there with tools like IG stories and then they wonder why no one thinks of them or their business. You have to be approachable and real. People are too stiff. Social media especially a platform like Instagram – is about having fun. There's no need to be so serious all the time.
Thanks to Amanda Abella
#15- Educational purposes
Our company uses social media almost exclusively for educating the public and publicizing events. We post educational tips, statistics, and quotes to foster trust in our followers. We post links to our educational blogs, which has the added bonus of generating website traffic. We publicize our educational events through social media as well. We want our followers to see us as the leading experts in our field, and we strive to give everyone, even those who never hire us, valuable education to accelerate their success.
Thanks to Jennifer Stewart, Gateway Productivity!