Social media content has become the primary driver of business branding, leads, and sales. And for a good reason. Almost the entire world is on social media. Even in the most remote places, people have mobile phones and tap into the global social media network.
According to Statista, the number of social media users will grow to 4.4 billion by 2025. That’s a lot of potential customers. But you’re not the only one thinking this way.
The competition for attention in the digital space is fierce. Large brands have bigger budgets and can afford more ad space. Therefore, if you’re a small business or solopreneur, making your social media content more visible is more of a challenge but not impossible.
Here are our favorite tips to help you push your social media content past your competitors.
#1 Be Specific About Who You Are
Everyone is not your customer.
Large businesses can afford to market to everyone. However, as a small business struggling to be heard, you’ll need to target your audience to deliver personalized content.
- Focus on your niche.
- Create customer personas.
- Do your research to discover the pain points of your target audience. What are their questions? Concerns? Interests?
- Create content that highlights your services or products.
- Describe what your services or products do; explain how they help your target audience.
Publishing targeted and engaging content that resonates with the customers seeking your specialized products and services will help your social media content reach your customers.
#2 Let Customers Know Who Is Behind The Brand
Consumers want to know who is behind the brand. To grow your business, you need authentic relationships with your customers. The goal is to develop an army of brand ambassadors who will refer your business to their friends and family.
- Share your personal stories.
- Open the door to provide an “insider’s view” of your business.
- Use videos and photos of you and your team at work or having fun.
- Utilize the power of user-generated content.
#3 Shine The Spotlight On Your Values
One of the many by-products of the pandemic is a rise in consumer consciousness. Of course, consumers care about price and quality, but they’re willing to switch brands or pay more to find a company that aligns with their values.
A 2020 Zeno Strength of Purpose study found that out of 8,000 consumers surveyed, 94% say that a brand’s purpose is one of the critical elements in their decision-making.
“The Truths, Myths and Nuances Behind Purpose” study conducted by Razorfish and VICE Media Group finds the following:
82% of consumers make purchase decisions with purpose in mind, yet brands struggle to put purpose into practice.
The research findings indicate a higher preference for value-led brands among Gen Z and Millennials. But this doesn’t mean you can skip out on spotlighting your values and purpose if you’re not marketing to this target audience.
“62% of consumers of all ages surveyed say that when it comes to making purchase decisions, a brand’s values are important or very important to them, with 40% actively researching a brand’s values and practices. Brand purpose (41%) also outweighs other benefits, including innovation (32%) and discounts (26%) when choosing a brand.”
Infusing your purpose into your social media content marketing will help you compete in a saturated marketplace.
Define your values and ensure that these values are reflected in everything you do, from branding collaterals to customer service.
Be sure that your business practices are consistent with the values you claim.
#4 Be Authentic
The Edelman Trust Barometer Report found that 70% of consumers say trusting a brand is more crucial today than before. The need for trust spans all demographics. One of the best ways to vault your social media content to the top of the tier is to
- be yourself
- publish truthful content about your products and services
- ensure that your brand’s actions do not conflict with your stated values
- be honest about the value of what you offer and why someone should purchase it.
Losing Trust Results in Lost Brand Ambassadors
And, as we’ve discussed in previous articles, word of mouth still works. In fact, according to a 2020 Community Industry Trends report, 83% of consumers say word of mouth influences their purchasing decision.
Today, word-of-mouth happens on social media. So instead of telling six friends something negative about your brand, consumers can tell 6,000. If consumers detect you are being dishonest, you could quickly find yourself with a digital firestorm that you cannot extinguish.
#5 Differentiate Yourself From The Competition
Because you’re a small business with niche services and products, you have more social media content to publish to differentiate you from the competition.
For instance, if you’re a leadership coach, you can create content that showcases the work you’re doing for your clients. Your social media content might include
- webinars of coaching seminars
- testimonials from the leaders who have engaged your services
- engaging creatives that include quotes from your customers
- or on-location video that emphasizes the enthusiasm of your customers.
If you’re a fitness coach, you can create social media content
- that shows the benefits your clients have received from working with you
- the latest data and research on health, exercise, and diet
- tips on how to stick to a healthy exercise routine
- how to set fitness goals, and stick to them.
User-generated content is key to your social media content strategy.
#6 Customer-Centric Social Media Content
We’ve written on the importance of creating content that speaks directly to the pain points, concerns, questions of your customer base. Be sure to check out previous articles with tips on defining your audience using both demographics and psychographics data.
As mentioned above, the advantage you have over larger brands is that you can target your social media content to more specifically defined audiences.
Use strategies such as polls, surveys, or emails to find out
- your consumers’ needs
- what interests them
- the kind of content they like to see
- their favorite digital platforms.
Create content that puts your consumers in the center.
Make sure to use social listening tools so that you’re able to respond to customer questions and concerns immediately.
Let your social media content be a door to two-way conversations, not just a platform for promoting your business.
#7 Maintain Brand Consistency
Publish a consistent tone across your social media content, website design, copy, and brand messaging. Doing this will help you stand out from the competition. Consumers will immediately identify the digital content they see as yours. In an online world, crammed with digital content, you want your customers to stop scrolling and see what you’re saying. You’ll increase engagement, followers, and brand loyalty with immediately identifiable digital content.
Bottom Line
With a gazillion data bits floating across the internet every second, carving out your brand space is not easy. You have even more work to do if you’re a small brand. But with a carefully crafted strategy, you’ll succeed in moving past the competition and boosting your social media content to the top of the feed.
- Concentrate on your specialty.
- Differentiate your brand.
- Know who is your target audience.
- Be authentic.
- Speak to your purpose and values.
- Make your content customer-centric.
- Maintain consistent messaging.
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