Social Media Logos.

How Should Your Business Use Social Media in 2022?

The best way to use social media in 2022 is to be human. Hear us out.

Social media is the key to engaging with customers, building relationships and increasing brand awareness. If you’re not using social media in your marketing strategy, what the hell are you planning? You’re risking alienating potential customers and missing out on valuable opportunities to grow your business. Have you asked yourself how businesses should use social media? You have if you’re reading this, and that’s why we’ve put together this information on how businesses use social media marketing in 2022.

How to Humanize Your Social Media Marketing Strategy

Of course we love digital marketing and looking at google analytics, but we also love some good social media posts. That being said, your social media marketing strategy is a great way to show off your personality. People of all demographics want to interact with real people and brands that have personalities, not corporate robots.

You can use social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Twitter to show the world who you are as a person and business. Be authentic and genuine on all of your social media accounts when talking to not only your target audience, but the world. This will help establish trust with customers over time as well as attract more followers and engagement, which will make it easier for folks to find out about your products or services when they need them.

So go ahead – dust off your sense of humor by posting funny memes or videos online every once in a while. We all know there is plenty of great content out there. Why not entertain people while laying the foundation for a customer base?

Align Your Social Media Marketing Plan With Each Platform

You need to pay attention to the nuances of each social media platform.

For example, with 122 million active users, YouTube is great for content marketing and branding, but it’s not a great platform for customer engagement or sales. On the other hand, Instagram and Pinterest are more focused on building brand awareness than they are selling products. LinkedIn is great for educational, think-piece content.

Using Metrics to Track Your Social Media Marketing Performance

With all the different metrics you can track, it’s easy to lose sight of your true goals. In order to measure the right metrics and use them to improve your marketing strategy, you need to ask yourself:

    • Why are you doing social media marketing?
    • What is the goal of my campaigns?

For example, if your goal is brand awareness, then focusing on impressions and reach is especially important. If you want more conversions or lead generation in a certain industry segment, then conversion rate matters most. And if you want people who have seen one of your ads recently (e.g., last month), then look at engagement rates instead.

We need to remind you that all social media sites use different algorithms to “decide” which content should be promoted or populate on your feeds. Think of it this way: each social format is different, and so are their approaches to gauging real-time movement within each site.

Hashtags, or the pound sign/tic-tac-toe sign for you more distinguished folks, actually have a meaning. They help track trending or specific content. Look for these on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok. #YouDig?

We know, we know. This is a bit much. Who knew you could track all that on social media? Well… we do.

Invest in Content Creation

Quality content is the key to growing your small business.

Content is your best salesperson. It’s what attracts new customers and engages existing ones. Great social media content is a great way to build your brand and establish trust with your audience. With successful social media management you build thought leadership (showing you know what you’re talking about) in the industry you’re in by helping others solve their problems and improve their lives.

To build this community and create brand loyalty, businesses should invest in content creation, which grows social media presence. Remember: the more value you provide to customers, the more they’ll feel compelled to buy from you.

Build Relationships With Customers and Influencers

Within your niche, social media can kind of be a popularity contest. You want to reach as many pertinent people as you can. Social networks are the perfect place to establish relationships with your customers and influencers, who will become ambassadors for your brand through digital word-of-mouth marketing.

Social media is a great way to build relationships with your customers. It’s more personal than other platforms and you can interact with your customers in a way you can’t on other channels. You can also use social media to build relationships with influencers, who will help promote your brand for you if there’s something in it for them. Say what you want about them, but influencers have a trusted following and it’s worth teaming up with them.

Get Creative With Interaction

Engage with your followers by asking questions, running competitions and polls and posting shareable content.

Social media networks are places for real conversations to happen. It’s where people can interact with each other in ways that weren’t possible before the internet came along. Here are some of the best ways to interact:

    • Ask questions – When you post on your social media profiles it’s easy for people to get distracted by what everyone else is sharing. Asking questions keeps people engaged with your content, but also gives them something to respond to. It’s a win-win situation.
    • Run competitions and polls – Everyone likes winning stuff, right? Of course they do. These will help increase engagement and drive more traffic back to your website or blog post where they can learn more about your offer.
    • Post shareable content – People love viral posts so if there’s something funny or interesting enough that could go viral, then why not try? This could mean heavy liking and commenting actions on your Instagram account or having a flood of retweets on Twitter.

How Do I Start My Social Media Strategy?

Social media is a crucial part of any business’s marketing strategy in today’s age, so make sure you’re using it wisely. Reach new audiences, build relationships and promote your brand. Would you like help answering how businesses should use social media? Contact Lift Marketing today so we can pump you up with information.