4 Easy Ways Brands Can Reach a Bigger Social Media Audience

You may have heard that using social media is a fantastic way to boost your brand's visibility, credibility and, ultimately, sales. However, many people dive into social media without a plan, use it obsessively for a week or two and then never look at it again. Don't fall into that trap! Social media can be a beneficial marketing strategy if you use it well. Below are four ways you must consider in your social media strategy to reach a bigger audience. 

Cultivate a consistent brand voice

The first step is to create a cohesive look and feel for your social media presence. Ask your marketing designer to create social media post templates so that you can easily plug in your images, text and contact information without having to start from scratch every time. Your goal is for people to see your posts and know exactly what brand they represent.

Create sharable content

Now that you have a way to scale marketing efforts across the spectrum of social media outlets, it's time to nail down your strategy. With your new brand guidelines and templates at hand, you can concentrate on creating posts that people want to share. The first step is to always include an image, no matter which platform you use. Another key is to always provide value in your posts. 

You can do this by posting a quote that people relate to, mentioning an offer or discount that you're running or sharing educational posts about your field. When you create social posts that are both beautiful and useful, people will want to share them.

Use hashtags to the best advantage

You may think that, as far as your brand goes, there's no such thing as "too popular." When you're using hashtags to promote your business, though, you'll need to look for hashtags that are popular enough to gain some traction but not so widely used that your post will get lost in the shuffle. If you are doing hashtag research and realize that some of your tags have been used hundreds of thousands of times on your chosen platform, they probably aren't the best tags for you. 

At the other extreme, you may not want to use tags that have only 100 or so uses. That said, the more specific your hashtags, the more likely they are to attract a limited, defined audience, which may be desirable in some cases. Once you create your post and make a list of possible hashtags, narrow them down until you have a mix of specific and broad tags. It's OK to leave one or two trendy tags in there, too, if they make sense for the post.

Interact authentically

"Engagement" is a big buzzword in social media strategy. Engaged users are indeed better for your brand, so after you've cultivated a consistent brand voice, created share-worthy content, and figured out your hashtag strategy, don't forget to interact with your followers. Of course, you don't want social media taking up your entire workday, so set aside 15 minutes or so a few days a week to respond to comments and messages on your page. Even if you don't have a lot of engagement yet, you can create some by taking the initiative to leave some substantive, thoughtful comments on other brands' posts. You don't need to write a novel; just avoid the one-word (or one-emoji) response.

Now that you know how to make social media work for your company, which step will you work on first? Let us know in the comment section.