A robust, thoughtful social media presence can boost brand awareness and increase sales. Learn how to hone your social strategy.
Because millions of Americans log into their social media accounts daily — particularly younger generations like millennials and Gen Zers — a social media presence is crucial for brands. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn and more allow companies to interact with prospects and customers, spread the word about products and services and connect authentically and emotionally with followers.
But having a social media presence isn’t enough. Businesses must step up their social media marketing and actively seek followers, interactions and engagement. We’ll explore ways companies can improve their social media presence, explain why it’s important and share mistakes to avoid.
Having a strong social media presence is crucial for businesses thought leaders, creators and professionals in 2022. With over 4.2 billion social media users worldwide, social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok and more allow you to reach massive audiences and grow your brand.
Whether you’re just starting out building your social presence or looking to take it to the next level, there are some key strategies you need to implement. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore the most effective ways to increase your social media presence this year
Set Clear Goals
The first step is identifying your reasons for being on social media and setting specific goals Potential social media goals may include
- Growing your audience and reach
- Driving traffic to your website
- Boosting engagement and community
- Generating leads and sales
- Improving brand awareness
- Establishing thought leadership
While vanity metrics like follower counts are nice, you want to focus on goals that align with your core business objectives. Measure success based on engagement, conversions, and real business impact.
Choose the Right Platforms
With so many social platforms to choose from, it’s important to select the ones that make the most sense for your brand. Analyze where your target audience is actively spending time online, and build a presence on those high-value channels.
Here are some top networks to consider:
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Facebook – With 2.9 billion monthly users, Facebook remains a powerful platform, especially for consumer brands. Create a Facebook Business Page to share content and run ads.
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Instagram – Ideal for visual storytelling and lifestyle content. Leverage Instagram to showcase your brand personality.
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Twitter – The top channel for real-time conversations and engagement. Use Twitter to build connections and increase visibility.
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LinkedIn – With 740 million members, LinkedIn is the premier social platform for B2B companies, thought leaders, and professionals to establish authority.
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YouTube – The #2 search engine and top video platform. YouTube presents huge opportunities for video content and building a subscriber base.
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TikTok – One of the fastest growing apps, TikTok offers a new way to capture younger audiences with short videos.
Promote Your Social Presence
Once you’ve set up your key social profiles, you need to spread the word. Feature links prominently on your website, email signatures, business cards, packaging, and other materials.
Encourage website visitors to follow you via clear calls-to-action. You can even add social sharing buttons to blog posts, allowing readers to easily promote your content.
In addition, leverage cross-promotion between your profiles. For example, share Instagram posts on Facebook and tweets on LinkedIn to maximize reach.
Optimize Your Profiles
Take time to fully optimize your social media profiles to appeal to new audiences.
Your profile photos, cover images, bios, and content should align with your brand identity. Showcase what makes your business or personal brand unique.
On each channel, fill out all relevant fields, use high-quality visuals, and include targeted keywords that will help you get discovered in searches.
Review your profiles regularly to keep information, including contact details, up-to-date.
Stay on Top of Algorithms
Social platforms are constantly evolving. It’s crucial to stay on top of algorithm changes and new features that impact how content is distributed.
Read blogs and help centers to learn about the latest updates. Adapt your strategies so your posts can thrive in ever-changing feeds.
For instance, shorter videos and Live broadcasting have become more prominent on Facebook. Instagram now prioritizes Stories and Reels over static posts. You need to shift tactics to avoid being left behind.
Create an Editorial Calendar
Consistency and planning are key to social media success. Develop an editorial calendar to map out what you’ll post day-to-day and week-to-week.
Schedule content types like:
- Industry news and trends – Share timely articles and developments.
- Expert advice – Provide tips and how-tos.
- Behind-the-scenes – Give an inside look at your brand culture.
- User-generated content – Repost and feature social content from happy customers.
- Product updates – Announce new offerings and features.
- Campaigns and promotions – Spotlight sales, contests, and events.
- Holidays and events – Post relevant, seasonal content.
Use a combination of videos, images, Stories, live videos, Reels and more. Plan out content in advance for consistency while leaving room for real-time interaction.
Keep Content Fresh
While planning is vital, you need to ensure content stays relevant. Avoid overly-promotional posts. Instead, provide value to your audience with helpful, interesting content.
Monitor trending topics in your industry and current events you can tie posts to. Take advantage of cultural moments, like Netflix show releases, to join larger conversations.
Interact and engage with followers regularly. Respond to comments and questions to foster community.
Ask for audience feedback and survey ideas through polls and Q&As. Adjust your approach based on what resonates.
Avoid Hard Selling
A common social media mistake is aggressively pushing sales and promotions instead of useful content. Follow the 80/20 rule – only 20% of posts should directly promote your offering.
The key is driving social traffic back to your website where they can learn more and eventually convert. So focus social content on attracting and engaging the right followers through value-driven updates.
Analyze Performance
Continuously analyze your social media efforts to identify what’s working well and what can be improved.
Leverage free platform analytics along with third-party social media management tools like Hootsuite to track performance.
Key metrics to assess include:
- Follower growth
- Engagement rate
- Impressions
- Reach
- Link clicks
- Lead generation
- Sales driven
Compare results over time and benchmark against competitors. Figure out your best content formats and timing. Use these insights to refine your social strategy.
Advertise Strategically
Once you’ve built up your organic presence, social advertising can help accelerate growth.
Leverage ad targeting tools to promote content to highly specific audiences. Test different objectives, placements and creatives to see what converts best.
Start small to keep costs down as you get started. Build up your daily ad budget over time to scale results.
Enlist Help Managing Social
Managing multiple social profiles, responding to customers, creating content, and driving growth can be extremely time-intensive. Consider getting help from tools and specialists.
Social media management platforms like Hootsuite allow you to organize, schedule, and track your social presence from one dashboard. Customizable analytics provide data to sharpen your approach.
Ifresources allow, hire a social media specialist or agency to handle day-to-day management under your direction. Their expertise can take your presence to the next level.
Commit for the Long Haul
Remember that building a social presence requires an ongoing investment, but the long-term dividends are well worth it.
Stay patient and persistent as you put these social media growth strategies into practice. Stick to your editorial calendar and gradually expand your reach.
Listen to your audience, reflect on data-driven insights, and continually fine-tune your efforts. By following this comprehensive approach, you’ll be on your way to social media success.
Promote your social media accounts.
Don’t expect your customers to know about all your social media platforms and search for them. Instead, you must share your social accounts with prospects and customers. If you make it easy for customers to follow or like your social media profiles, they’ll be more willing to take action.
Promote your social media presence to your customers and ask them to interact with you on your accounts. Here are some examples of how to promote your social media accounts:
- Add social media icons to your website.
- Add your social media feeds to your website sidebar.
- Include social links in your email signatures.
- Tell people to follow you on social media at the end of your blog posts.
- Promote your social media accounts in your email marketing.
You should also cross-promote your social media accounts within and across platforms. Include hashtags and account names in each social media bio section to encourage followers to engage with you on multiple platforms. The more people who are aware of your presence on social media, the bigger it will be.
1 Actively engage with your audience on social media.
Would you keep talking to someone who never returned your messages? Probably not. Users won’t want to follow or interact with you on social media if they get nothing in return. Engaging with your audience actively on social media is crucial.
To grow your social media presence, your social media accounts must become a community. Here are some ways to connect with your audience:
- Like and reply to comments on your posts.
- Pose and answer questions in posts.
- Show appreciation to your followers and customers by thanking them and sharing user-generated content.
- Provide social-only discounts with coupons for followers.
- Preview new product launches.
- Hold contests and giveaways to add fun interaction and active engagement.
- Follow back interesting followers, influencers and members of your target audience.
Each social media platform caters to a different audience, so tailor your posts to the platform. For example, keep LinkedIn posts more professional and sales-oriented, share light-hearted GIFs and memes on Snapchat and showcase intriguing photography on Instagram.
