“What’s the ROI of social media marketing?”
It’s one of the toughest questions to answer, yet so many marketers ask it. Why spend your time on social media networks? What’s the actual benefit of being there? Will you really see a healthy return on your time and monetary investment?
In short, yes.
Social media marketing is one of the most crucial components of your marketing strategy.
It is the place where people are chatting about what you have to offer. Your buyers are expressing their questions, concerns and interests already. Are you there to be a part of the conversation?
If you’ve seen less than stellar results from your social media marketing, here are five tips to help you drive more traffic from social media and see a healthier return on your investment.
1. Use Hashtags
One of the most neglected ways of getting found on social media are hashtags. You know you’re supposed to use them but do you? Not as often as you should.
A hashtag is a keyword with a # sign in front of it. The goal is to expand your reach. Anyone who types in the keyword to the search term will find your post, even if they’re not in your immediate network. Examples of hashtags for this post could be:
- #onlinemarketing
- #traffic
- #socialmedia
The goal of hashtags is the same across all social media networks.
Perhaps one reason marketers fail to put hashtags into social media posts is because each social media network is so different. On Twitter, the golden rule is one to two hashtags. Otherwise engagement drops. On Instagram, the more hashtags you use, the more interaction you’re likely to see.
Neil Patel from Quicksprout has a nice infographic to show the distinct benefits to using these keywords. In it, he outlines a few eye opening statistics.
On Twitter:
- Tweets with hashtags get double the engagement;
- Tweets with at least one hashtag are 55% more likely to get retweeted;
- Engagement drops by about 17% when over 2 hashtags are used.
On Instagram:
- The more hashtags you use, the better;
- 11+ hashtags drives 79.5% engagement per 1,000 followers;
- 0 hashtags drives only 18% engagement per 1,000 followers.
On Facebook:
- 1-2 hashtags is the sweet spot with an average of 593 interactions per post;
- 3-5 hashtags per post drops the engagement to an average of 416 per post;
- The more hashtags you add, the lower the interactions you’ll see on each post.
Use hashtags strategically. Look at the network where you’re posting to determine the best practice for that specific audience.
2. Be a Good Listener
When it comes to driving traffic, it makes sense you’d like to share as many links to your content as possible. Still, sometimes you have to take a backseat and listen to what’s happening online to get people to your website.
It sounds counterintuitive but let me explain.
People are talking about what you offer whether you realize it or not. These people are asking for help, want answers, and need direction. You’re the expert in your field, so it’s you who should be offering your voice to the conversation that’s already taking place.
By monitoring specific terms (or hashtags), you will see what people are saying. You can then jump in and offer helpful advice, pointing the person to an article on your website. You’ll drive more traffic and you’ll get in front of someone who is already expressing interest about what you sell.
3. Get in Front of Influencers
Another way to get seen by new audiences on social media is to get influencers to share your work.
An influencer is someone who has influence over your target market’s buying decision. This is the person your buyers go to for advice. It’s the person they trust to guide them on the right path.
There are a few ways you can get in front of influencers and get them to share your content:
- Tag them in a post (because everyone likes hearing other people about them);
- Share their stuff first to get on their radar;
- Ask for the share.
Influencers are always looking for great content to share with their audience. The better work you produce and the more you make yourself known, the more likely they are to share your stuff.
4. Get Visual
Before someone will read your post, you need to get her to stop scrolling through her newsfeed and pay attention. Visuals are the best way to make that happen.
Visuals have been proven to attract more attention than text-only posts. Here are a few stats to prove it:
- Images in posts on LinkedIn attract 98% more comments;
- Images or videos on Twitter get 200% more engagement;
- Images on Facebook get 39% more engagement.
Finding images for your posts isn’t hard. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Make your own using free tools, such as Canva;
- Take a picture in your office or on the go;
- Use a stock photo from a website such as ShutterStock.
No matter what image you choose, make sure it’s a compelling one. Use eye grabbers to get the most people to stop and dig deeper. The goal is to use imagery to spike curiosity. From there, your copy will do the rest of the work to drive traffic to your pages.
5. Encourage Others to Share
Social media engagement comes outside of your social media networks too. It comes from your website.
On your website, it’s crucial that you make it as simple as possible to share your best work. When a person is wow’ed by your great content, you want to make it easy to hit “share now” and send your article to their friends. A few of the best ways to do this are:
- Add sharing buttons to every single post
- Add your social media profiles to every single page and post
- Include click-to-tweet quotes to spark conversation
The more people you have sharing your work, the more chances you get to attract new audiences. It’s an easy way to get in front of new people, increase your exposure, and ultimately attract more traffic.
Summarizing Your Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing is highly effective when done right. You’re more likely to see more traffic from your social media marketing efforts by:
- Using hashtags
- Being a good listener
- Getting in front of influencers
- Making your content visual
- Encouraging shares
Want a little extra help getting started with your social media strategy? Contact us to talk about your goals, challenges, and how we can help.
