Social media is a valuable tool for small and large businesses. It can be used to build your brand’s reputation, create loyal customers and even increase sales.

Check out these five tips for making the most of your social media presence and using it to drive sales.

Know your audience and potential customers.

The first step to creating successful social media campaigns is understanding your target audience and meeting them where they live.

Reach them with your brand message on the platforms that they are already on.

It’s important to know what platforms your audience is using and focus on those channels. Instead of using your resources and time building multiple accounts, focus on just a couple of platforms.

Target true engagement

Cheating the system to encourage engagement has been a popular social tactic for some time, with brands sharing posts that suggest users simply “tag a friend in the comments below” to rack up interaction figures without actually creating a conversation.

But algorithms are getting smarter, and engagement bait isn’t going to cut it this year as platforms crack down on spammy systems for garnering likes and shares.

With organic reach declining and more businesses upping their social ad spend, content needs to be truly interesting and engaging so that followers, and wider audiences, can’t help but get involved.

Work with micro-influencers

On the theme of true engagement, it’s no surprise that micro-influencers continue to win ground over their more celebrity-like counterparts.

Aside from budget benefits, in that micro-influencers often work on a gifting basis or simply have much lower fees than the big names, research continues to show that their audiences are more highly engaged and can be more niche-specific than all-singing, all-dancing social media stars.

Create Great Content But Don’t Make It Sound Salesy Or Pushy

While prioritizing on quality over quantity sounds obvious, most digital marketers still get it wrong. Social media users are very savvy. If you create mediocre content, you will not get the engagement you’re looking for.

As you create content, do not make it sound too pushy or salesy. You must consider that social channels are not solely meant for buying and selling. The majority of people are still there to socialize virtually.

Paid ads

Posting frequently to social media and replying to comments alone is not enough to drive sales. The most suitable strategy for making the most of your social accounts is via paid ads.

While organic reach on social channels goes on dropping, paid media helps you reach and boost your audiences quickly.

Every social media channel has advertising abilities. Facebook, for instance, features extensive targeting tools. This makes it really easy for businesses to develop successful campaigns.

Short conclusion

“Cutting through the noise” when every platform is now so noisy can feel like an impossible task, but with niche targeting and a trustworthy, relatable approach, it can be done.

Instead of throwing the net as wide as possible, marketers should take the time to look through detailed insights and get a feel for the small nuances of different sections of their audience.