Photo Credit: Carolinerdonnelly.com
Too many content creators and marketers use the fire-and-forget method when it comes to spreading the word about their business. Social media is a great tool, but it’s not a self-fulfilling prophecy or a magic salve that makes prospective customers drop what they’re doing and flock to your site.
Leveraging social media to increase brand awareness and create a healthy word-of-mouth campaign is only going to become more important going forward, so here are five ways that you can boost the reach of your marketing campaign and reap the benefits of social media.
Keep It Simple
They say that brevity is the soul of wit. It’s also the soul of an effective marketing campaign. Think about it this way: when an ultra-loud commercial comes on the television, people don’t look up to see what it is; they grab the remote so they can silence the intrusion. When a quieter, more understated commercial comes on, people are much more likely to be curious.
Employ the same technique when you create your marketing materials. You want to communicate the most important pieces of information, but try to think of it like leaving a trail of breadcrumbs; entice them just enough that they’ll click on through to your website.
Get in Touch with Trending Topics
Maybe you’re involved with a business that makes a certain type of product. It’s certainly not going to be for everybody, or tie in with every societal trend, but demonstrating an awareness of the world around you will go a long way toward letting your customers know that you’re relevant and in touch.
A great way to do this is to create a company blog, but keep in mind that not every post has to be an advertisement for your product. Instead, touch on current events and trends, and subtly tie your product in to the bigger picture. Use sites like Topsy, Twitter and Google Trends to help you find topics that are trending.
Make People Laugh
Even if you’ve never watched the Super Bowl, you’re probably well aware that the most popular ads that run during the big game are often tweeted, posted, and shared. What most of them have in common is that they made the audience laugh. Don’t underestimate the value of a chuckle; people are highly likely to make your ad a viral sensation if they think others will share in their laughter.
Be Consistent, Consistently
Have you ever visited a website or social media page that looks like it hasn’t been updated since 2004? Yeah – don’t do that. If you want others to take your brand seriously, you need to take it seriously as well. Update your content on a regular and consistent schedule. Some say five times per week is the sweet spot for social media. Adding quality copy on your website on a consistent basis can also boost your search engine ranking.
Dress Up Your Content
Nobody likes a wall of text. To make your content infinitely more sharable, make sure your content is regularly interspersed with rich media content such as photographs, videos and infographics. According to Zabisco, 40% of people will respond more positively to a post with rich visual content versus plain text alone. That said, make sure you’re not just including images because you can; make them eye-catching and timely, and remember to embrace popular image-sharing sites like Pinterest.
No matter what, take a page from Google’s playbook and remember: content is king. No matter what else you do, market to others the way you’d want to be marketed to.