The Top 10 Ways to Grow your Business using Social Media

In a question for the digital age: if your brand isn’t online, does it even exist? 

Well, sure it can, but it would be missing out on the many advantages and opportunities that social networks provide. We’re breaking down the top 10 ways you can grow your business using social media.

Top 10 ways to grow on social media

1 - Audience Reach

Social media is a useful tool to increase the exposure of your brand. You will be able to easily and indirect attract new customers - it grows your target audience in a calculated manner. You can manually find people using relevant tags, or expand your base through advertising. Social media’s advantage lies in the ability to share and be ‘sociable’ online, so creating content that people share is another means of increasing your awareness.

2 - Increase Awareness

Simply put, the more people who know about your business, the better. Once people come into contact with your business, the information regarding what you do needs to be clearly understood. Your business will resonate with people who identify with your brand, so at this stage, you want to garner the interest of social media users. Once awareness of your business is made, the next step is interest, so you need to ensure your profile is capable of holding it.

3 - Generate Leads

Leads are a key component of business growth. Social media presents several ways for you to generate, nurture and convert leads. This trio should form the basis of your social strategy. There are several techniques you can use across various platforms to achieve this, from polls to gated content, webinars and advertising. It is also important to note that these leads rank as higher quality when compared to other forms of online marketing.

4 - Build Brand / Business Perception

Your online perception needs to be an extension of your brand. The key to this is building a unique aesthetic and brand voice that leads to brand recognition. This is created by having a strong strategy and image. This is built over a period of time and requires the social media manager to have an excellent understanding of the business in order to represent it accurately. This is not, however, solely in their hands, but also built upon the reviews and testimonials of your audience.

5 - Create Authority

You can grow your business by having solidified and active social media channels. By building your presence online, you’re creating more links to your website and publishing more content associated with your brand. This will improve your ratings when it comes to search engine marketing. This means your brand footprint needs to be well considered and executed in order for you to grow optimally. Another way to increase your authority is by consistently publishing content that showcases your business as a thought leader in your industry.

6 - Build Trust

When people are conducting research about a product or service you offer, or are keen to find more information on your business, a starting - and defining - point is through social media. This is used to assess trustworthiness as your online presence speaks volumes about your visibility, the kind of content you share and the voice you use when speaking with your audience. Build trust by developing solid relationships through these social platforms and utilise scheduling for consistent posting to maintain your brand’s flow of content.

7 - Generate Traffic

Since your social media is an extension of your business, you need to include a link to your business that is easy to reach. Have specific calls to action that are appropriate and lead to your primary, owned website. You can also generate more traffic by encouraging people to share your content. Another great way to do this is to become involved in trending topics as a point of discussion or way to inform your content accordingly.

8 - Customer Service

Do not underestimate the power of customer service on social media. You can grow your business by demonstrating that your business cares and is responsive to users, as this will increase trust in your brand. Interactions are arguably the most important part of your social media strategy, so you need to ensure that these remain positive and are ongoing exchanges.

9 - Reduce Cost

Advertising on social media is far less expensive than traditional marketing. Determine your ad spend according to your budget and increase where necessary, although you need to keep in mind that quality content trumps higher quantities of content - meaning spending on content creation will be beneficial to you. You can also collaborate with influencers as a cost effective way of soft selling. You can also instill the mindset of cost effectiveness for the customer too by sharing exclusive offers with them through social media.

10 - Analysis & Optimization

With digital media and mediums, there is the advantage of rigorous analytics. With thorough analysis, you can grow your business by knowing exactly where and how to improve. This can be based on the feedback you get from your own content, or by conducting competitor analysis, as this is a simple yet insightful means of tracking the industry and ensuring that you remain ahead of the game.

In Summary

By employing the tips listed above, you can better equip your business’s social media strategy and drive business growth. This growth has the potential extend beyond your online influence to increasing your profit margins, while influencing operational efficiency.  Additionally, further analysis and optimization of your social media activity can help you to achieve even more.  

Looking for an agency with social media expertise?

At Nexa, we work with large global brands (and have done since 2005) to create achievable, winning, strategies that are designed for return on investment and business growth.  While many agencies focus on just the aesthetic areas of social media, it's important that businesses balance beautification with real business metrics that are aligned to the overall business strategy.

Book a meeting with us at Nexa and we'll showcase our results and create a strategy that works for your business.