5 steps to grow your business on social media

If your company is just starting out in social media, the first thing you’ll need to do is look at what you’re currently doing, if anything at all. It’s important to think about your goal, how you want your audience to perceive your brand and how you’ll encourage engagement with your posts.

Consider auditing what you’ve got to start building something new. We’ve put together five key steps for you to follow.

1. Define your goal

What do you want to do with your social channels? Is it a case that your brand is little known and you want to raise brand awareness? Do you want to increase interactions with your posts? Or are you in a more mature position where you want to define your growth strategy?

2. Create your content calendar

Start thinking about having a yearly overview of key milestones in your business and what you want to be know for. Structure your calendar based on categories, for example, Monday could be Business news and updates, Wednesday showcasing your products in action and Friday fun and interactive posts like polls or competitions. Remember, consistency is key. Use scheduling tools like Meta suite to plan ahead and make sure you post regularly.

3. Mix up your content

Think about where you’re posting your content and who you want to reach. Do your prospects hang out on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn or Tik Tok? Would your products be better showcased as short-form videos than long-form copy and singular images? Research your audience demographics and gain some insights into what they are interacting with. Once you’ve established what’s working, build up your content library and encourage followers to share their content and stories with you.

4. Engage with other brands

Social algorithms favour content that has high engagement. The way to increase your engagement is to like, comment and share other brands’ content. If you can share it and add your perspective and expertise, even better. Once you start engaging with other content, the social channels will start showing your posts to more followers and gaining more reach. You could then plan a follower increase strategy by following brands of interest and inviting them to like or follow your pages.

5. Measure and optimise

Test and learn is a key part of optimising any marketing content. Monitor your reach and engagement by channel on a weekly basis. Test different days and times for posting and use your learnings to improve and shape your content calendar.

Short-form video working on Tik Tok and Instagram but not Facebook? Consider different content formats or repurposing what you’ve got e.g. blog posts into infographics. Got an image that’s resonated really well with your audience? Use it again with updated information from the previous time you posted.

Developing an effective social media strategy is key to enhancing your brand’s online presence. Whether you’re a newcomer trying to make a mark, or an established business looking to fine-tune your growth strategy, the right approach can make all the difference.