Creating Compelling and Engaging Social Media Posts: the definitive guide [Infographic]
With 1 million new users joining social media every day- on top of the already impressive 2.56 billion existing mobile social media users globally, it is becoming more vital than ever for businesses to maintain a robust social media presence.
More important to note, is the fact that social media has a direct impact on consumers’ purchase behaviour. Facebook alone drove 52% of consumer’s online and offline purchases in 2015. This in itself is telling of how integral a sound social media strategy is to a brand’ success.
Consequently, the social media marketing scene is getting more competitive with every passing year with 50 million small business turning to Facebook to connect with their customers. Considering that, haphazardly putting together a mediocre post will no longer be enough to drive engagement, much less conversion, brand loyalty or could be used for lead generation.
When you’re channelling marketing budget to a social media campaign, you want to make sure that no word and dollar is wasted and that every social post delivers. Let the infographic below guide you in creating compelling social media posts that will engage leads and customers alike.
If you want to use this infographic on your own blog here is the link: https://www.microcreatives.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/MiC_A-Guide-to-Creating-Compelling-and-Engaging-Social-Media-Posts_v1-01.jpg
How to generate B2B leads from Social Media: 4 essential tips
It’s not true that social media does a poor job of generating sales leads for the B2B market. In fact, social media is where you’ll find 76% of leads that you can nurture as you move them through the sales funnel.
It’s just a matter of coming up with a well-planned social media strategy that you can integrate with other tested lead gen methods such as content marketing and search engine marketing (SEM).
Here are some ideas to help you increase your B2B leads using social media:
1. Choose the right channel.
Different marketing strategies cater to different audiences, so it’s important to know which platform caters to your target audience.
For the B2B space, LinkedIn is your top source of sales leads since this platform gathers together industry experts and business leaders. However, Facebook and Twitter also have tools such as Facebook ads and Twitter cards that can help you with your lead gen efforts.
Other tactics that you can use to generate leads on three of social media’s major players include:
Contests – This strategy is very popular on Facebook, and it’s in sync with your goal of collecting as many leads as possible. You’ll also be glad to note that there are third-party tools that help you set up contests on Facebook and integrate them with your email marketing services.
Brand mentions – One way to gain leads is to keep track of what Twitter users are saying about your brand or competitors using social media monitoring tools.
SlideShare – SlideShare lets you create and share content through slideshows, which can generate traffic from your potential customers.
2. Share gated content.
If you have valuable content up your sleeves, bringing it to social media can be an effective way to generate new leads. Gate the content so that you’ll only be providing snippets or previews of the text, and readers would only be able to access the entire content by sharing their personal information with you.
When sharing gated content, remember the following:
Make sure your content is interesting to your followers or relevant to your industry. This will make your target audience eager enough to view your content but not before they share their contact details with you.
Keep your landing page, the page on your website where a visitor lands after clicking the link to your content and which contains your opt-in form, simple. Use short forms instead of long forms that require your visitors to give more information than what is necessary.
3. Host live streams.
Live streams are the perfect venue to engage your audience in real time and in a more up-close and personal manner. These live video events enable you to address questions from your audience or gather market feedback from people who actually use your products or services.
Some of those in your audience might leave comments as well, giving you another opportunity to generate more leads as you follow up with them after the video contact.
4. Use geotargeted social search.
Although marketers are mostly using geolocation tracking to present ads, you could also use geo-targeting to unlock leads, especially for your local business.
The key is to leverage local search among your geo-targeted leads and lead them to any of your marketing channels by giving them access to your content, landing pages, or special promotions.
Social media has come a long way—from being a place on the internet where people can make friends to becoming a platform for image branding, and now as a tool to help businesses find sales leads.
Make sure your B2B lead generation strategy includes social media to help you fill the sales funnel for your team.
Using BOLD images in your articles will get you seen
One of the six psychological principles that explain how we behave in a certain situation Robert Cialdini, Ph.D. discussed in his book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion is called the social proof
Basically, it means that we will know if an action or thing is right for us if there are other people who do that activity or use the same thing or product.
To better explain this, recall a time when you bought a product just because your best friend is using it and recommended it to you. That’s the principle of social proof – applied.
If you’re wondering how you can apply this principle to your online business, here are five ways you can visualize social proof shown in this infographic made with Visme that can turn your current prospects into lifetime clients.
Cheat Sheet to help you choose your Social Media Plataform(s)
With social media advertising gaining more traction, ad competition is likewise getting increasingly tighter. Thus, the decision on which platform to prioritize becomes more paramount than ever, as companies want assurance that they get the best ROI for each social media ad campaign.
Choosing which social media platform to maximize is already tricky by itself. But when you factor in the competitive environment, your different business goals, and the fact that each platform offers unique advertising and marketing opportunities, things are likely to be trickier.
Before anything else, you have to determine what goal you wish to accomplish with the particular ad campaign. Is it to drive traffic to your website? Is to increase engagement rate? Or is to boost your conversion?
Once you’ve figured that out, then you can proceed to choose what type of ad and on which social media channels to run it. Consult this social media ad cheat sheet infographic to help you decide.
If you want to use the infographic in your blog here's the link: https://www.microcreatives.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/MiC_infographic_v3-sd.jpg
5 Ways to Make a Post go Viral
Having the ability to make a post go viral is almost seen as a form of dark art. It can enhance brand visibility so much that it’s no wonder marketers far and wide are working tirelessly to ‘crack the code.’Read more
6 Easy Ways To Engage Readers on Your Small Business Website
Bold and unique!
It’s how your website should be, according to leading digital marketeers. As we all know from experience, it’s easier said than done.
As a small business owner, you’re maintaining your website while actively running your business. We understand that good organization and multitasking are a vital part of your everyday routine.
To help you improve engagement and increase the number of visits on your website while keeping up with your everyday responsibilities and goals, we’ve synthesized these 6 easy ways for you to take on gradually and at your own pace.Read more
If Only I'd Been Warned - 6 Avoidable Mistakes Agencies are Making on Social Media
As an agency, you're likely better at using social media than the businesses you help, but that doesn't mean you aren't making your own share of mistakes.
Agencies specializing in social media execution for their clients should be the gold standard, the picture-perfect examples of what effective social media should look like. Sure, you're probably avoiding beginner errors like not posting regularly or not targeting your audience. But the rules of social media marketing are continually evolving, and you might be guilty of more oversights than you realize.
Fixing your agency's social media mistakes starts with recognizing them - which of these six social media marketing blunders are you guilty of?Read more
8 Reasons Why Your Brand Needs Instagram Marketing
Instagram is a formidable presence in the marketing world and is arguably one of the most important networks currently on the market. Any marketer that is not utilizing the platform is missing out on incredible opportunities to grow a business. Whether you are a Fortune 500 company or a small local business, utilizing Instagram as a part of your marketing strategy is essential.
Not sure how this social media platform fits in with your brand? Here are eight reasons why your brand absolutely needs Instagram.
1. Boosts brand visibility & enhance your branding
Instagram allows your brand to reach potential customers that were otherwise inaccessible prior to its existence. This is especially helpful for small businesses and online shops as it provides a fair opportunity for all brands to increase their visibility, regardless of their marketing budget.
2. Instagram gives you the unique opportunity to provide visual content
Storefronts and business cards can easily communicate the most important information about your business to potential customers. This, however, doesn't provide much opportunity for your target audience to really get to know your brand. Visual content allows you to take charge of not only how your brand is seen, but also how potential customers can fully understand the mood and direction of your brand as well.
3. Track your analytics
Rather than posting a picture and hoping that your audience will jump to action, you can easily use analytics to inform your posting habits. With tools like Iconosquare, you can see what your audience responds to and which posts lead to the highest conversion rates. With Instagram, it is easier than ever to know definitively which strategies work and which do not.
4. Instagram results in higher sales
According to Shopify, a computer software platform for online stores, Instagram drives higher sales than any other social network, except Polyvore, another social e-commerce platform. The average order value through Instagram referrals is $65, according to Shopify. The next highest revenue through social referrals is through YouTube, which lags behind at a meek average of $37.63.
5. Easily engage with your community
Instagram has the highest engagement rate of all the social media networks, including both Facebook and Twitter. It seems that users are much more open to branded content on Instagram than they are virtually anywhere else. It is also easier to engage with your community as your content is more discoverable, thanks to hashtags. Likewise, many marketing tools such as Growr are able to help your brand reach out to more users per minute than you would be able to anywhere else on the Internet. By utilizing tools such as Growr, you can gain a significant number of followers, engage with potential customers more easily, and create a larger community to share your content.
6. Instagram Videos are great for getting shares on Facebook
Instagram videos are more shareable than any other videos online because they are short, direct, and easily found. According to Unruly, a video ad tech company, 90 percent of Instagram video shares are shared on Facebook. For marketers trying to harness some of that social momentum on Instagram, this is an easy way to increase traffic between both the two platforms.
7. Great for keeping an eye on your competitors
Your competitors already have something that you want: customers! Instagram gives you the unique advantage of being able to spy on them and observe their tactics. You can easily learn what works, what doesn't, and ensure that you can create the best strategy for your brand.
8. Instagram has the highest conversion rates for social networking platforms
It would be naive to say that direct sales are the main purpose of Instagram marketing as there is a lot more activity on Instagram than there is purchasing. Instagram does, however, increase the average conversion rates for brands utilizing the platform. According to Shopify, brands can expect a one-percent conversion rate for their users. This means that for every 100 visitors they have on their site, one of them will make a purchase. This doesn't seem very high but it is among the highest rates among all social networking sites.
There you have it, eight reasons why your brand should be using Instagram as a marketing platform. Every business will have a different experience, but all businesses can benefit from this social media platform.
Marquis is a writer, social media manager and SEO content marketer. She currently lives on the coast of Ecuador, working remotely as a freelancer. Her primary focus is on building online visibility of new, up and coming brand, particularly brands that promote health and wellness. She lives a nomadic lifestyle, though is originally from California.
