How To Stand Out On Social Media In 2022

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”. We’ve all heard that advice. However, you’ve got BIG goals for your brand this year, and even though you may be doing pretty well on social media now, there’s always room for improvement, right? How can you tell if your social media is booming, and what successful social media marketing will look like in 2022?

Have you ever wondered why everyone else is getting more social media likes, more followers, and more engagement than you? What is their secret??

Social media has given everyone a chance to express their voice, and the result is a lot of noise in a very crowded room. Your challenge is to make your brand pop above the crowd and be seen. And that, my friend, can be difficult.?

If you feel overwhelmed or frustrated by elevating your brand on social media, then you are not alone. We know you need answers, and you need these answers NOW! So we’ve put together some of our best tips to help you stand out on social media this year.?

Check out this list so you can start standing out on social media today:??

FOCUS ON IMPORTANT SOCIAL MEDIA METRICS AND KPIS

There are many social media metrics you can use to measure and monitor your efforts on each channel. In general, the following social media metrics will give you the best overview of your success:

• Unique visitors: How many new people visited your site from a particular source?
• Post engagement rate: What percentage of your posts get likes, comments, and shares?
• Conversion rate: What is the ratio between leads and sales generated from Facebook advertising?
• Followers growth rate: How fast are you gaining/losing followers??

That being said,?there are four main areas ?your social media KPIs should be focusing on: engagement, reach, leads, and customers. Which one(s) do you need to put your attention on?

?USE SHORT-FORM VIDEO CONTENT?

If you’re wondering if short-form video content marketing can really work for your business, you’re not alone. After all, it’s easy to assume that if your product or service is complicated, customers will need at least a few minutes of video to fully understand.

You’ll have to test that assumption with the audience you’re hoping to reach to know for sure. But you might find that 30 seconds of video is all it takes to get your point across.

For a new way to connect with your customers and give them an inside look into your business or nonprofit agency, try short-form video!

We?found ?that people tend to engage more with video content because they find it more compelling. In fact,?68% of users said they prefer to learn about a new product or service from a video than other traditional methods (infographic, article, etc.). This has opened up many companies’ marketing strategies to new possibilities – webinars, live video Q & A, tutorials, vlog updates, and more.?

You can use tiny video clips as part of your social media strategy, whether you upload them to Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, or tweet them. Here are some of the ways you can use them:

• Create a video ad that appears at the top of your Facebook page when someone visits it.
• Use video to introduce yourself on Twitter and answer questions about how you work. This is a great way to get people interested in following you for more updates.
• Make a video newsreel about what’s new in your business, and post it to TikTok.?
• Script what you want to say, and then shoot the footage with a smartphone or webcam. You can even use PowerPoint slides as the background for your talking points.

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RESEARCH YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE

Researching your target audience is a crucial step in any marketing campaign. It can help you determine your ideal customer and the best way to reach them. Have?you ever noticed that different social media channels are better for marketing certain types of brands? Or that some genres of music have fans from all walks of life? It’s the same with your target audience – or people who will use your product, go to your website, or purchase your product. It’s important to know what types of people you’re targeting, so you can optimize your social media channels according to that information. As you grow your brand, you might wonder how to integrate social media with different target audiences. Sure, you can share the same content across multiple profiles, but that doesn’t always work out so well. Find out where your audience is hanging out, and what type of content they like to consume. Show up on those platforms and meet your audience right where they are. We’ve added some ideas that will help you learn more about your audience which will help you get your message across in a way that specifically fits your people.?

Typical research methods include:

Customer surveys: A quick and easy way to learn more about your target audience. Surveys can provide an overview of crucial information (demographics, behaviors, attitudes, and values) or dig deeper into specific issues (such as consumer attitudes toward packaging, price and product details).

Analytics:?While you can (and perhaps should) view analytics for the sake of curiosity, or for a general idea of who your audience is and how they behave, it’s not just about stats. Analytics allow you to gather information on what’s working. When analytics show engagement with a particular post, it’s more than just an indicator that your content resonates; it also provides insight into what kinds of writing your audience responds to best. By paying attention to what kind of content resonates with your market and why, you can use this data to inform new posts and future content strategy.

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INTERACT REGULARLY WITH YOUR AUDIENCE

A good connection with your audience only gets better with time. Involving your followers regularly can help you develop your social media strategy and build a solid base of fans who happily share your posts and recommend you.

Just like in the real world, engagement is vital in online relationships. If you sit around waiting for people to like what you have to say, you’ll be waiting forever. Instead, offer exciting content that will have them coming back for more.

If you’re not sure what kind of content to post, start by paying attention to what gets shared the most on your own social channels. These are the kinds of posts that get noticed and passed around — they’re the ones that truly engage your readers and jump off the page (or screen).

Think about why it works once you’ve identified this kind of content. What makes it so compelling? Can you do the same thing with your own content? Maybe it’s funny or shocking or informative or provocative — whatever it is about those posts that make them so popular, try to incorporate those qualities into your own web presence.

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SHOWCASE YOUR BRAND’S PERSONALITY AND HUMAN SIDE

Whether you’re a small business or a large brand, social media is the perfect platform to showcase your brand’s personality and human side. It’s an opportunity to connect with your customers more personally.

Social media is a great opportunity to humanize your brand. It’s not just about the products and services you sell, it’s about what you offer your customers in terms of customer service. Your social media channels should be filled with useful content, new and exciting information about your company, and people who are willing to help when a customer has a question.

Let people know who you are behind the company name by posting photos of employees – or even better – by asking them to take photos of themselves at work with their co-workers or customers. People want to connect with real people, and they love having a personal connection with companies they do business with.

Be transparent on social media: respond to comments, answer questions and make sure that you give people what they’re looking for. Social media gives you an opportunity to tell your story in your own words — take advantage of this!

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CREATE UNIQUE CONTENT THAT IS INTERESTING AND ENGAGING, NOT JUST PROMOTIONAL

Have you ever felt like you were talking to a brick wall? It happens! Not everyone is as enthusiastic about your product or company as you are. This is where content marketing comes into play. Content?marketing is an effective technique for reaching out to customers, but social media is the best way to drive them back to your site. It’s a great way to increase traffic and ultimately, your sales. The main idea behind content marketing is that people won’t buy from you unless they trust you, and they won’t trust you until they know who you are.

Creating unique, engaging content is the key to success on social media. The only way to stand out from the crowd and ensure that your followers remain engaged is to post unique content that follows a specific strategy. Here are some tips:?

1. Create a content calendar that outlines your posting schedule for the next couple of weeks and months.
2. Research popular hashtags related to your niche and create a list of these hashtags for you to use in your posts.
3. Create a content plan that outlines what type of posts you will be publishing and making sure you have a variety of different types (images, videos, etc).
4. Use the tools below to find popular images you can use in your posts – iStockPhoto, Canva, Unsplash and Google Images.
5. Make sure all of your images have watermarks so people know where they came from if they share them on social media or blogs.

Thankfully, it’s not hard to come up with unique social media ideas for your business or brand. If you follow the steps above, you’ll have no trouble creating posts that capture and engage your audience. Plus, these tips will help ensure that your posts stand out on social media—a must if you want to generate leads and grow your business.

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USE SOCIAL MEDIA FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE

According to?Status Brew , “63% of customers expect businesses to offer customer service through their media.” It’s a common misconception that social media is a platform for marketing only. Still, it can be an excellent customer service channel with the right approach. Treating customers right on social media is good business sense and can help you gain their trust and respect. When customers know they’re being listened to, they’re more likely to do business with you again.?

In fact, according to?Sprout Social , “40% of consumers expect brands to respond within the first hour of reaching out on social media, while 79% expect a response in the first 24 hours.”

There are several ways you can use social media for customer service. You may choose to address each customer individually or find it more effective to use a group response on Twitter or Facebook. The key is to resolve the customer’s issue as quickly as possible, in the manner they prefer.

Social media is a powerful tool for customer service. Here are four ways to use it effectively:

1. Be responsive. Make sure your customers can reach you no matter their method of choice, and respond promptly. Don’t be the company that sends an automated response that says the customer will receive a response within 24 hours. Even if you don’t have a direct line of communication, respond as soon as you can and say you’re working on it.
2. Tailor your responses to the medium. For example, if someone reaches out via Twitter, make sure your response is short — 140 characters or less. If someone contacts you via Facebook, it’s OK to be more thorough or add photos or other media to your response.
3. Make sure your customers can contact you privately if necessary. Public posts about customer service issues are OK, but be sure they can contact you directly if they need help fast or discreetly.
4. Engage with your customers on social media only when appropriate. If you’re having problems with an order and it’s unrelated to the customer’s experience, use one-to-one communication instead of posting publicly about it.

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Social media marketing is a never-ending game of cat and mouse. We get it! To make it easier for yourself, treat your social media accounts like you would any other piece of marketing collateral; be sure to follow these 5 rules of thumb:

1. Stay on message – Social media is the perfect place to introduce new products, promote special offers and encourage fans to spread the word about your company.
2. Keep it accurate – Your social media pages are an excellent way for potential customers to know your business and its values. Be yourself and share what you love about the brand!
3. Be responsive – Make it easy for people to contact you, either through calls-to-action on the page or by responding directly to comments and questions through private messages or tweets.
4. Keep it visual – Posts with images receive 94% more total engagement than those without, so mix it up with photos, videos, and GIFs! And be sure that they are high quality!
5. Use analytics tools – Most social media platforms offer tools for tracking how effective each post has been in driving traffic and engagement.

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Just when you think you have it figured out, something changes the rules. It’s essential to stay up to date with the latest trends so that you can keep your marketing strategies fresh and compelling. It takes effort to know what your customers want and which social platforms they’re active on. However, suppose you don’t stay up to date. In that case, you could be missing out on some valuable social media. Don’t take that chance! Reach out to us for help with your social media management. We know that growing your brand is a top priority for you, and we are ready to?help ?when you’re ready. ??