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How Can You Maximize Social Media This 2016?

With the advent of “Buy” and “Buy Now” buttons on Facebook and Twitter, many business owners are beginning to see social networking sites as online marketplaces. But, if you’re an entrepreneur, you shouldn’t commit the same mistake. Sure, it’s important to take advantage of these new features, but remember that social media is called “social” for a reason: it’s there for you mainly to connect with other people and build good relationships with others.

 

So, even if your shopping pages on Facebook and Twitter aren’t driving too many sales, don’t give up on social media just yet. To harness its power effectively and maintain its usefulness to your business, you can:

 

Use it as an outlet for customer service

Many brands are using Facebook and Twitter to answer customer queries and handle complaints so, if you’re not doing this, it’s time for you to do so. Monitor your social media accounts so you can reply to questions and respond to complaints ASAP; as your business grows and your responsibilities increase, you can assign a few trusted staff to take over this task. By taking this step, you’ll make it easier for your customers to air out their frustrations about your products or services, and you’ll find it easier to sort through queries and grievances and get them settled.

 

Encourage customers to engage with your brand

Social media isn’t a one-way street so, if you spend most of your time posting content rather than interacting with your followers, you’re probably doing something wrong. Fortunately, it’s not difficult to correct since you can encourage customer engagement by:

 

  • Holding a poll on Facebook. It’s an easy to get people’s opinions and get them to interact with you.

 

  • Having a photo contest on Instagram. Ask your followers to send pictures of themselves using/wearing/eating your products; the photos with the most likes wins.

 

  • Asking customers to share their story on Twitter. If you sell handmade chocolates, for instance, ask people to tell you which flavors/variants they like best and why. Doing this lets you know what your target audience think while getting ideas on how to improve your business.

 

Take advantage of advertising tools offered by social media sites

Many social networking sites now offer advertising products for business owners. Some of these are free, though most of them come at affordable rates. Facebook, for example, offers Facebook Ads, which comes with a range of tools let you deliver relevant marketing messages to the right customers. Pinterest, meanwhile, offers Promoted Pins, which allow you to promote your best pictures so they can be displayed at the right places and seen by the right people. Twitter has the Twitter Ads, which show your tweets to people who don’t follow you but are a part of your target audience (based on gender, geography, or interests).

 

These are just some of the ways to maximize your social media presence in 2016. They may not lead to direct sales, but they’ll boost your online reputation and increase brand awareness, both of which can lead to higher revenues.

 

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