Let’s Be Friends: How to Use Social Media to Grow Your Business

Whether you’re just getting started in screen printing, or you’re an established business, social media offers an inexpensive, fast, and most importantly measurable way to engage with buyers and grow your business. In fact, it can even be your best friend. Out of the world’s 3 billion internet users, more than 2 billion have active social media accounts. That’s a pretty big addressable market!

Social media platform Hootsuite (a great, free tool to manage all your accounts!) outlines 10 key ways social can benefit your business:

1. Gain valuable customer insights
2. Increase brand awareness and loyalty
3. Run targeted ads with real time results
4. Generate higher converting leads
5. Provide rich customer experiences
6. Increase website traffic and search ranking
7. Find out what competitors are doing
8. Share content easier and faster
9. Geotarget content
10. Build relationships

So, how can you make social work for you?

Follow the Three S’s Principle: Searchable, Snackable, Shareable
If you want potential customers to engage, make sure that you’re creating content that draws them in and incents them to share. Studies show that 65% of people are visual learners. That’s great news for you of course because you’re selling a visual product!

At Ryonet, we make good use of channels like Instagram and YouTube that allow us to show customers what makes us, and our products great. Whether you’re using Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, or Facebook to connect with customers, be sure to:

– Use relevant hashtags increase discoverability — research common keywords for Instagram and Twitter.
– Make it visual, and keep it short and sweet — use high-quality photography, and share short instructional videos with big visual appeal.
– Give customers a reason to want to share — tie in special offers, coupons or promotions (with links), or offer valuable advice or insight.

Promote Your Most Valuable Content (and Products)
Have big news to announce, or a special offer you want to make customers and prospects aware of? Consider a little paid promotion.

Facebook gives businesses tools to create targeted ads, or “boost” posts — with a variety of options to target based on location or demographics, and solutions for every budget. Their integrated analytics provide real-time insight into what’s working and what’s not, so you can make changes quickly to optimize your message and spend. Promote thought leadership items to boost your brand; limited-time coupons to generate sales; or seasonal offerings during key drive times. Push customers to your website, your Amazon or Etsy store, or sell to them straight from your Facebook store! The choice is yours!

Measure and Manage Your Online Success
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, what gets measured, gets managed. Use social media management platforms like Hootsuite or Sprout Social to get an overall sense of the performance of your social media properties — whether or not you’re gaining followers; if your content is resonating; if it’s being shared. And use built-in advertising analytics like Facebook Page Insights to measure ROI on your paid advertising efforts. The more you know, the better you can be.

With 63 percent of consumers reporting that they are more likely to buy from businesses with an active social media presence, you can’t afford to be off the grid. So set up your accounts and be sure to follow Ryonet on Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook for more actionable advice!

What Next?
Hungry for more information? Check out Part 2 of our new educational series, “Building Your Own Screen Printing Business, Part 2 :: Developing Your Customer”

The post Let’s Be Friends: How to Use Social Media to Grow Your Business appeared first on Ryonet Blog.

from Ryonet Blog http://blog.screenprinting.com/lets-friends-use-social-media-grow-business/

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