How, When and Where should I Promote my Business Through Social Media?

Nowadays Social Media has gotten so big that it’s impossible to ignore as a marketing tool for business. Using social channels allows you to communicate directly with existing and potential customers. You can monitor your results and see which promotion methods work better than others, allowing you to quickly change approach if something isn’t getting the results that you were looking for.

Social Media is a cost-effective promotion tool. You decide how much you are going to spend on any given promotion. You have full control over how and when your promotion is presented. But you need to consider your content and timing strategy. It’s important to know how, when, and where to engage your target audience effectively to get the best results:

How to Promote Your Business through Social Media:

1. Define Your Goals and Target Audience: Firstly decide what you want to achieve through social media. Are you wanting to increase brand awareness, drive traffic to your website, generate leads, or boost sales? Then think about who should see your posts. Who is your ‘ideal customer’? Research and understand their interests, behaviors and preferred social media platforms. These are the social media channels that you should be using.
2. Set up a ‘Content Calendar’: Keep to a regular posting schedule so your audience stays aware of, and engaged with your brand. This should tie in with your marketing goals, and should include promotions, product launches, events, and seasonal campaigns.
3. Create Compelling Content: Develop a content strategy that aligns with your business goals and resonates with your audience. This could include educational ‘how to’ posts, behind-the-scenes glimpses, user-generated content, promotions, and more. When considering your visual content, always use high-quality images, videos and infographics to capture audience attention and convey your message effectively.
4. ‘Go Live’: Consider using live video or real-time updates during events or special promotions. This creates a sense of immediacy and excitement.
5. Engage ‘Authentically’: Actively engage with your audience by responding to comments, messages, and mentions promptly. Encourage conversations and build relationships with your followers. Build your online community by encouraging users to create and share relevant content, which will enhance your credibility and reach.
6. Stay True to your ‘Brand Voice’: Maintain a consistent brand voice and image across all social media platforms. Use a similar writing style and similar imagery or video in all your content. This helps build brand recognition and trust among your audience.
7. Consider using Paid Advertising: Use the targeted advertising options available on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and create ads aimed at specific customer demographics, interests, and behaviors. You can also ‘boost’ important posts or announcements so that more online users see your content beyond your ‘organic’ reach.

When to Promote Your Business through Social Media:

1. Look for Peak Engagement Times: Social Media platforms include analytics tools that identify peak times when your audience is most active. These are the times that you should be posting. Typically, early morning (7-9am) and early evening (5-7pm) tend to be high engagement times. Lunchtime (12-1pm) can also be effective, depending on your audience. Test different posting times and days to determine what works best for the best engagement.
2. Coordinate Posts and Ads with Campaigns and Events: Align your social media promotions with product launches, sales promotions, seasonal campaigns, and relevant events in your industry or community. Build anticipation and ‘hype’ by teasing upcoming offers or events through social media posts.

Where to Promote Your Business through Social Media:

1. Platform Selection: As they say, ‘you need to fish where the fish are’. Choose social media platforms where your target audience is most active for the best results. For example:
   • Facebook: Broad demographic reach.
   • Instagram: Visual-centric content, younger demographics.
   • LinkedIn: B2B networking, professional content.
   • Twitter: Real-time updates, news sharing.
   • TikTok: Short-form video content, younger audience.
2. Multi-Channel Approach: Follow through with posts on multiple social media channels that reach different segments of your audience. Be sure to maintain consistency in brand messaging and adapt content formats to suit each platform.
3. What Happens Next: Ensure your social media profiles and posts include a clear Call to Action (CTA) that tells users what to do next. This could include visiting your website, making a purchase, subscribing to a newsletter, or contacting your business.

Additional Tips:

• Monitor and Measure: Regularly check on the performance of your social media efforts using analytics tools. Review your key metrics such as reach, engagement, click-through rates, conversions, and ROI to optimise your strategy.
• Feedback Loop: Ask for feedback from your audience to understand their preferences and expectations, and use this information to refine your promotional content.
• Stay Updated: Keep abreast of the latest social media trends, algorithm changes, and best practices to stay relevant and get the best exposure.

By strategically planning how, when, and where to promote your business through social media, you can effectively reach your target audience, build brand awareness, and achieve your marketing objectives. Remember to monitor results and adjust your approach based on data-driven insights and feedback to continuously improve your social media strategy.