Important Considerations for Improving Social Media Engagement and ROI for Small and Medium Businesses

You most likely understand the increasing importance of social media for attracting customers and prospects to your website, as well as for advertising a special event or product promotion. And although there are many different forms of social media (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc.), most users do not know how to use them effectively to help improve the ROI of marketing communications. Simply “having” social media accounts is not enough these days; you should understand the best practices to use each one and nurture your accounts on an ongoing basis.

For example, if your social media accounts haven’t been updated in the last thirty days, your customers and prospects may question your reliability, reach, quality, and professionalism. Your social media is a direct reflection of your brand and what follows are some simple guidelines to improve it.

Relevant social media content improves ROI

Content that is relevant to your customers and prospects is critical to developing meaningful trust in your brand, both short and over time. In today’s world, trust is very important and it is a clear and basic method to improve the customer’s purchase. Conversely, posting anything can be more damaging than simply not posting anything. What seems smart today may be detrimental tomorrow. Your content, both images and text, must be well thought out to meet the needs of your customers and prospects and therefore improve ROI. And it must be presented creatively so that it is received by an often skeptical audience.

With the recent news about fake accounts and messages, Facebook and Instagram are trying to improve their algorithms to remove accounts that post irrelevant content or use popular hashtags just to gain visibility. These tactics will now cause accounts to be phantom blacklisted. This means that your account is visible only to those who search for it directly, but your content will not be displayed on anyone’s timeline.

How to implement hashtags to achieve maximum participation

Hashtags and social media are as important to each other as your engine oil. For better performance than just getting ‘likes’ here and there, you need to research the relevant hashtags. General hashtags can be used as long as they are relevant and are not abused.

For example, when I create a post on Instagram (this same post will also be shared on Facebook), I always start with #GoodMorning #GoodNight depending on the time. There are over 91,500,000 posts on Instagram using the same hashtag. Hashtags are equivalent to meta keywords on your website; They must be relevant to your publication and you must not abuse them.

Post consistency also improves ROI

Strong growth doesn’t happen in fits and starts, and the regularity with which you post is key. Work with your team and, based on your knowledge of your audience, set a minimum number of posts and perhaps ideal times as well.

And in today’s increasingly distrustful environment, “Writing longer posts, spending more time writing them, and posting less often can go a long way toward building trust in your brand. Posts went from 808 words in 2014 to 1,142 words in 2017.” – Orbit Media. And, of the organizations using social media today, only 3 percent post daily, 22 percent post weekly, and most post only multiple times or less in the past six months. Therefore, the consistency of your posts becomes even more meaningful to your customers and prospects, so that profitable growth is more achievable.

Remember, it’s all about the brand

Traditional media, digital media, and social media, in particular, must work together to improve ROI for branding and marketing. When your audience shares your post, you are expanding your brand to reach new audiences, and your existing audience is demonstrating their loyalty to your brand.

And don’t forget your website. It’s the focal point of your brand, and while it can last much longer without updates, search engines are specifically looking for up-to-date content and new professionally developed content can significantly increase your brand ranking.

Marketing Communications Consultants Can Help

In a recent CMO digital benchmark study, 97 percent of marketers said that social spending made only an “average” or “below average” contribution to their business performance. So if you are concerned about what you are doing, you are not alone.

Social media is growing rapidly and, as with any new process, there is a great need for professional help. Without understanding best practices and / or without having the time, energy, or skill to improve your social media efforts, it’s like putting your head in the sand. As Will Rogers said, “Even if you’re on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there.”

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