Social media is constantly changing and evolving. One day the “it’s corn” kid is trending, and the next, the Wednesday Addams dance is everywhere. Despite its turbulent environment, social media is still one of the most effective tools to grow your business and connect with your audience. There’s no guidebook on how to run your social media, which is one part of its beauty, but there are a few key practices to make the most of this tool and keep up with its fun and chaotic landscape – especially in 2023.
At its core, social media is about connecting with people. So, as a business, it’s important to know your audience. Think, “what do they want to see?” “What do they like, and who do they follow?” “Do they already know my brand?” These are just a few questions to think through when creating your social media strategy. Posting on social media can be fun, but if it’s not what your customers are interested in, they’re going to scroll past your post.
This leads me to our next tip which is to establish a niche. Recreating trends is entertaining and important to remain relevant, but make sure to relate it back to your brand and your “why.” This strategy stimulates building a strong follower base and therefore consumer base for your products or services. It will also encourage the algorithm to pick up your content. This recommendation system draws us in by analyzing what type of content we like to see and recommends similar videos and profiles. If your posts appear random or are not relevant to your brand, your followers will be confused and the algorithm is not going to direct them back to your profile.
Now that you know your audience and have made a plan for posting relevant content, engage with everyone. If someone comments on your post, comment back. If you see an interesting post (which doesn’t need to be super brand relevant), comment on it or share it to your own feed. More engagement equals more visibility AND more of a connection with your followers. Conversing with customers and other brands on social media makes your brand feel more personable and less robotic.
There’s a reason TikTok reigns supreme over almost all social media sites in 2023. Our society wants information and entertainment quick and easy and short-form video content does just that. In only 30 minutes of mindlessly scrolling through reels and TikToks, you’re exposed to hundreds of different people with unique ideas, information, humor, news and so much more. It doesn’t take much effort to watch these short videos but they can hold our attention for hours. That’s why short-form video content is so powerful. The good news is, you don’t need a whole production crew to accomplish this. Your phone camera, a clever caption and fun audio are the perfect ingredients for a relatable video. If you already have long-form content such as a podcast or vlog, take a snippet and post it as a sneak peek, encouraging your followers to go to your website to see more.
These are just a few tips to kick-start your business’s social media success. Again, there is no single road map to social media success, so keep these practices in mind and tweak them for your brand’s unique image. The ultimate end goal is creating a strong base of loyal followers and broadening your brand awareness. If you stay consistent, create engaging content and get creative you’ll see results for 2023 and beyond.
