How to Build a Solid Social Media Strategy to Boost Your Business
Taking your business to social media can be a time- (and sometimes energy-) consuming endeavor. If you’re looking to get more eyes on your business and more sales in your bank account and you don’t want your effort to be for naught, social media marketing can be very profitable if you know how to build a solid strategy.
A well-crafted social media strategy should focus on three key objectives: lead generation, lead nurture, and lead conversion. Without these, you’re just creating content for the sake of content. Remember - when it comes to business, the goal shouldn’t be to get as many likes and comments as possible! While it may seem that “going viral” would help to get more eyes on your business, don’t lose sight on the real goal of turnover and revenue. Let’s dive into our key objectives and see how you can leverage them for maximum impact.
1️⃣ Lead Generation
Lead generation is all about attracting potential customers to your business. This can be done through engaging content, targeted ads, and interactive posts that encourage users to provide their contact information.
Tips for Effective Lead Generation:
Content is King: Create high-quality content that resonates with your target audience. This includes blog posts, videos, infographics, and more.
For example, if you’re in the digital marketing space and your target audience is business owners, educate them on how to market their business online (ahem, hello blog post on building your social media strategy!). It may feel like you’re giving away your secrets but at the end of the day, there will always be an organization, company, or person who realizes that they don’t have the time, money, and/or energy to tackle what you’re educating them on by themselves.
Use Targeted Ads: Platforms like Facebook and Instagram offer robust targeting options to reach your ideal customers. You can narrow your ad reach down to even the types of hobbies people are interested in.
Case study: I helped create social media ads for an Indoor Football League team that I worked for. For my audience reach, some of the categories that I included in my targeted market were people who were interested in sports, spent time at pastimes like tailgating, enjoyed alcoholic beverages like beer, spent money at sports events, etc. - all within a certain range/mileage of our events. Sometimes some categories (e.g. “enjoyed alcoholic beverages like beer”) can be a reach, but try to include very specific commonalities for a majority of your target audience.
Offer Value: Provide free resources like e-Books, webinars, or trials in exchange for contact information.
By providing free resources with value, you’re also able to gather a list of people who are looking for the types of products and services you offer.
2️⃣ Lead Nurture
Once you’ve generated leads, the next step is to nurture them. This involves building relationships with potential customers and keeping them engaged with your brand. One “secret” I like to live by is to always provide value. Again, this may feel like you’re giving all of your experience away but it isn’t - some people just want/need to understand what you’re doing to feel more comfortable investing in a product or service like yours, especially if they don’t have the time and energy to tackle it on their own (business owners, I’m talking to you!).
Tips for Effective Lead Nurturing:
Email Marketing: Send personalized emails that address the needs and interests of your leads.
Side note: I believe that email lists are extremely underrated. With all of the recent changes we’ve seen with Twitter/X, we can’t predict what other changes may happen to other social media platforms. That being said, building an email list is building a resource that is yours, and you own that list even if all social media platforms were to all of a sudden go out of business or start charging for services. This is your cue to build your email list!
Engaging Content: Continue to provide valuable content through blogs, social media posts, and newsletters.
Social Proof: Share testimonials, case studies, and user-generated content to build trust.
Potential customers liking you is only the first half of the battle, getting them to trust you is an even bigger hurdle. Your word isn’t always enough, so provide social proof to share what you’ve done or provided for other people/customers.
3️⃣ Lead Conversion
The final objective is to convert leads into paying customers. This requires a strategic approach to move leads through your sales funnel.
Tips for Effective Lead Conversion:
Clear Call-to-Action (CTA): Make it easy for leads to take the next step, whether it’s making a purchase, signing up for a service, or contacting your sales team.
An effective marketing strategy (not just a social media strategy) should have all of this laid out from the get-go. Ask yourself: what are the short-term and long-term goals for every piece of content you’re sharing?
Optimized Landing Pages: Ensure your landing pages are user-friendly and optimized for conversions.
Follow-Up: Don’t be afraid to follow up with leads who haven’t converted yet. Sometimes a gentle nudge is all they need. When I was in sales for financial services, we used to always say that “sometimes ‘no’ just means ‘not yet’.”
Last Tip: Focus on Quality Over Quantity
✨ Let’s circle back. Yes, likes, views, and follows are good, but they don’t always contribute to your bottom line. That being said, don’t be so quick to follow trends, and make every piece of content count!
Remember, a successful social media strategy isn’t about having the most followers or the highest engagement rate. It’s about driving real business results. By focusing on lead generation, lead nurturing, and lead conversion, you can create a social media strategy that not only attracts attention but also drives sales and growth for your business.
Need Help?
If you need help generating a social media strategy or want to work with someone on our team, click the contact button below to reach out to us and/or schedule a discovery call. We're here to help you achieve your business goals!
CONTACT US to schedule a discovery call.
