So you have created various social media accounts for your brand. Now what?
Just because your business is on social media does not mean that you will receive swarms of fans who will like and share your content. Moreso if you are just new to the market and only a handful of people know that your business exists.
That said, you need to be creative in building awareness for your brand and in boosting your conversions and sales. Luckily, you can create a social media profile for free, and imagination is the limit when it comes to building a social media marketing strategy for your business that adheres to the platform’s terms and conditions.
On that note, here are six creative social media marketing ideas suggested by Sociic to help kickstart your promotional initiatives:
Make Sure Your Profile is Complete
It may seem like a no-brainer but a lot of brands tend to overlook this part.
Unless you are aiming for a minimalistic look, then make sure that your business page is completely filled out. This includes adding your contact information and links to your website and other social media profiles.
If you are on Facebook, you can use the Story section to tell something about your brand in a storytelling format. A great example of this is Article’s About section on Facebook.
Also, do not forget to leverage the various tabs that you can use on your Facebook page. This customizable feature serves as your page’s navigation menu, so make sure to showcase different sections of your page that will help your audience know more about your brand.
Use a Branded Hashtag
Generally, social media hashtags allow you to categorize your posts in a sea of content. Imagine looking for outfit inspiration on Instagram. You might want to use #OOTD to look for your desired content.
In relation to this, using hashtags is one of the creative ways of attracting the right social media audience. And by “right social media audience” we mean people who are likely to make a transaction with you.
That said, it would be a good idea to use a branded hashtag and add it to your brand’s social media bio ‒ just like what Caffeine Couture does on their Instagram account. You can use your “official” hashtags to track user-generated content that you can use later on.
Host a Social Media Contest
This is another no-brainer when it comes to promoting your brand on social media. In fact, hosting social media contests only requires very little for your audience to join.
It can be as simple as leaving a comment, tagging a friend, sharing your post, or using your official hashtag on their status update.
Here are some examples of social media contests that you can run:
- Follow and Like: You will encourage the public to follow your page and like your post in exchange for a giveaway.
- Leave a Comment: This refers to encouraging your followers to leave a comment on a particular topic (i.e. Why you should win our giveaway?) and then choosing the best comment as the winner.
- Tag a Friend: Ask your followers to tag a friend or two in hopes that they will follow your brand on social media as well. This tactic is ideal if you want to increase brand awareness.
- Share a Post: To do this, you can instruct your followers to share your post, and then run a randomizer to choose the winner. This is also a great way to ensure that more people will get to join your contest.
- Brand Shoutout: This is where you can encourage your existing customers to share your products and tell their social media friends what they like about it. Just make sure that they use your official hashtag so that you can monitor your giveaway participants.
Run Social Media Ads
As mentioned earlier, it can be difficult to grow your social media following if you are new to the industry. Thus, one of the best ways to build awareness about your brand is through social media ads.
What’s cool about social media ads is that you can choose where it will appear depending on your target audience’s interest and location. Moreover, it uses the pay-per-click model. Meaning, you will only pay when someone clicks on your social media advertisement. This gives you the bang for your buck.
If you would like to test the waters, check out this social media advertising guide by Hootsuite.
Give Social-Only Discount
If you are wondering what kind of social media ad campaign to run, you might want to consider having a social-only discount promo.
Social media is no different from traditional advertising when it comes to promoting deals and promos. However, you can leverage the platform to ensure that you are promoting to the right people.
If you have an online store, Facebook Remarketing Pixel could come in handy. For instance, you can run an ad to promote a social-only discount only to people who have abandoned their online carts. Doing so will encourage them to proceed with purchasing your products online.
Turn Employees Into Advocates
Getting your employees involved with your branding and promotional activities is one underutilized marketing tactic. Nonetheless, this is ideal if your target market matches your employees’ demographics and interests.
According to digital strategist Jenn Chen, your loyal employees can help you promote your brand using their personal social channels. In relation to this, you can opt to tailor a message that they can share via social media, or let them craft their own words.
But other than turning your employees into advocates, you can also use their posts as part of your content amplification tactic. As Marque Branding Agency Auckland points out, branding starts from inside the organization.
And you would be surprised to know that your employees could be your major source of user-generated content. This ensures that you will not run out of relevant content to share on your social media accounts.
Conclusion
This may not be an exhaustive list of creative social media marketing ideas that you can use for your brand. Regardless, make sure that you keep yourself updated with the latest in branding and social media marketing.
How do you use social media to promote your brand? Let us know in the comments!
