You’ve just started an online business and you’ve been hearing a lot about the potential of social media marketing.

With over 3 Billion Daily users, there’s an almost limitless opportunity to get your brand and offer in front of people.

Plus with all the data collected via social media, even small businesses and solopreneurs can focus on and target their ideal audience without breaking the bank.

Which also means there’s tons of competition.

Not to mention half the world’s population constantly posting on any imaginable subject.

So how do you leverage social media to get your business and brand noticed and attract new customers?

Keep reading for some helpful tips on social media marketing for beginners based on this in-depth article from altcraft.com

The 80/20 Rule of Social Media Marketing

The first trick of promoting yourself on social media is to find the right ratio of value-based content vs promotional content.

A great place to start is to leverage the 80\20 rule.

• 80% value-based content, geared towards providing information and stories that directly benefit your target audience

• 20% promotional content, geared toward increasing awareness about you, your brand, your business, who you are and what you stand for

This gives you a benchmark to start with when sharing content on social media so that your audience is primed to hear about you based on the value you’ve provided them.

Over time, it’s important to test and adjust this ratio to find what works best for you and your audience as explained in this article on Inc.com.

But 80\20 gives you a solid standard to start promoting yourself on social media.

Become an Expert on Social Media

In order to effectively promote your business on Social Media, it’s essential to build authority with your audience.

If done correctly, your value-based content can help establish you as an industry expert.

In turn, your audience will be more likely to respond to your promotional material when you post it.

Be sure you do some research before preparing content to share.

The more research you do, the more value you can provide.

Plus, when people see that your information comes from trusted sources, their trust in you will grow.

You will also stand out from many of the people posting “fluff” on the internet.

 

You can also check out this post here from sprk-d.com for more in-depth tactics to help establish yourself as a trusted expert on Social Media.

Keep your Social Media Presence Consistent

Being consistent on social media is another factor that will build trust with your audience and help you attract more customers.

But being consistent means much more than simply posting regularly.

In order to create awareness of your business or brand, you must create a consistent identity that people will begin to recognize over time.

Your posts and profile must consistently communicate who you are and what you represent in order to effectively attract new customers.

Here are a few elements to consider when posting on social media:

Brand voice

Your brand voice refers to the language you use when creating messages that will be seen on social media.

How do you want to come across to your target audience?

Would it be best to come across as more formal, or casual?

Humorous, or more serious?

Brief, or long-winded?

Emotional, or factual, and to the point?

We can go on and on, but the point is to think critically about how you will communicate to your audience based on your brand identity.

Also – consider how you will carry this voice into customer interactions.

Stay consistent with your brand voice when responding to customer comments, questions, and direct messages.

Visual guidelines

People will see your post before they read it,

And often what they see will determine if they take the time to read it at all.

Creating a visual guideline will allow people to recognize your posts visually and encourage them to stop and engage as you continue to provide value.

Start with these basic elements when creating visual guidelines for your brand:

• Fonts – Pick a set of fonts and use them for specific purposes, such as headline, body text, and image text and use. For example Serif fonts tend to be better for body text as it is easier for the eye to follow when reading. Sans Serif fonts stand out for their clean bold appearance and work well for headlines.

• Colors – Color is a quick and easy way to communicate emotion and meaning. For example: Red is the most Bold color, communicating energy and excitement, whereas cooler Blue exudes stability and harmony. (Check out this article for a full breakdown of each color). You’ll want to pick a primary color that fits your brand and use it in all your content.

• Types of images – Will professional nature photos fit your brand? Or spontaneous selfies? Or artistic graphics?

Once you’ve created a visual guideline for your brand, stick to it in order to create an identity that your audience will grow to recognize.

 

You can also check out this article from sproutsocial.com for a more advanced social media style guide.

Encourage Interaction on Social Media

Engagement is the main objective of anyone using Social Media.

The same applies to promoting your business.

The more likes, comments, and shares you generate, the more people will be able to see your content.

Plus, as people see others engaging with your content, this will lend to your authority and influence.

What can you do to increase your engagement on social media?

Here are a few essential steps to increasing engagement on social media:

Create a group

Engagement is much higher in groups, so taking the time to build one with some of your biggest fans can be a big help.

Ask a question

Simply ask a question with your content to invite your audience to add their two cents.

Always use images

People see before they read, so posts without images are likely to get lost in the shuffle. Add an image in line with your visual guidelines.

Create an emotional response

Emotion moves people to take action. If you want engagement, stimulate emotion in your post. Using stories is a great way to turn facts into feelings.

Respond to comments

Once you get engagement, nurture it!

Reply to all comments and try to go above and beyond in your response.

This will encourage people to engage even more!

Use these basic steps to help you increase your engagement and interaction on social media.

Check out this post on oberlo.com for a more comprehensive guide to social media engagement.

 

Use Social Media to Capture Leads and Convert Customers

If you are promoting your business on social media, then ultimately your goal is to create more customers.

In order to make the most of your social media marketing, be sure to connect it to your customer journey.

One of the best ways to do this is with a sales funnel.

As you connect with your audience and build a following, lead people into your funnel so that you can follow up with them away from all the distractions of social media and present your offer.

Most of this process can be automated using online marketing software tools.

You’ll also want to monitor your funnel and analyze the data so that you will know what works and what doesn’t.

As you continue to develop a relationship with your audience and fine-tune your funnel, you can transform social media into an endless stream of potential buyers.

Check out Keala’s strategy for converting prospects to buyer’s using automated webinars:

Conclusion

Social media presents a huge opportunity for you to promote your business, even as a beginner.

Following the tips laid out in this article can help you start making an impact on social media.

Start with the 80/20 rule, sharing 80% valuable content while promoting yourself and your business 20% of the time.

Present well-researched content in order to build trust and establish yourself as an expert.

Stay consistent with your voice and visuals. This will increase trust and loyalty with your audience as they get to know you through the way you present yourself.

Social media is all about engagement. Optimize your content to promote maximum interaction.

And don’t forget to create results from all this hard work! Build a funnel and lead interested prospects from social into a customer journey.

Put these tips to use now and start growing your business via social media!

Are there any other challenges that you could use some tips and tools for?

Drop a comment to let us know what you’d like to learn. 

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