12 Tips to Finding Your Social Media 'Goldilocks Zone'

You only get what you give.

There are very few circumstances and systems that deviate from this one life principle: It's just how the world works. The same principle can be applied to your business' social media marketing efforts. Astronomers use the term "Goldilocks Zone" to define the area which is the right distance from a star to sustain liquid water. Here, we use it to define the correct time and effort you need to put into your marketing initiatives to see the highest possible ROI.

For businesses, raising revenue is directly related to high efficiency. We are constantly looking for the greatest returns on minimal amounts of time and financial investment. After all, if you don't learn to maximize your ROI, you'll be out of business pretty quickly. In terms of social media marketing, the costs and benefits can be immeasurable. However, for most small businesses, hiring a full-time social media guru isn't an option. It's important to find the sweet spot; the right amount of time and finance invested to yield the greatest amount of returns, in your social media game. That balance is your company's Goldilocks Zone.

To illustrate the importance of social media to your business's marketing, consider the following fact: According to State of Inbound Marketing, "Social media has a 100% higher lead-to-close rate than outbound marketing." In other words, a well-kept Facebook Business Page will statistically yield 100 new clients for every new client resulting from a well-produced postcard.

It's easy to think that just because you have your social media accounts set up, that you've opened yourself up to a whole new world of marketing opportunities. The truth is that you have, but if setting up your accounts is the only effort you've made, you're going to reap equally unimpressive results. Without regularly posting new and intriguing content to your social media accounts, you won't be building trust with potential clients by engaging them in conversation (i.e. the entire point of social media).

On the other hand, if you spend time and energy frequently posting valuable and engaging content to your social media accounts (such as creating industry-related conversations, and respond to feedback on your pages), you'll have a healthy return on your social media investments. Hence, the term Goldilocks Zone.

But, how do you find that sweet spot where your social media isn't consuming too much of your time, but still giving you the maximum benefit? Here's a few tips that you can try to get you started:

1. Set Up Accounts. If you don't at least have a Facebook Page, Twitter account, LinkedIn, and Google accounts in place, do it. This should go without saying.
2. Budget Time. Social media marketing is going to cost you time. We recommend blocking off at least two or three hours each week to do the rest of the stuff on this list.
3. Post Quality. Post engaging content that encourages your followers to interact with the content in some way. Post notices of upcoming company activities, provide company photos and videos, announce new webinars and campaigns, introduce new hires, etc. Oh, and of course, post your blog!
4. Purchase Ads. Each major social media outlet gives businesses the opportunity to purchase advertising to boost their posts, gain more followers, advertise events, and more. Take a look into spending some of your marketing budget on these opportunities.
5. Follow Industry Leaders. A good way to engage in conversation within your industry is to follow its key players. Follow people and businesses that you admire, engage in their conversations, and learn from their social media marketing tactics.
6. Follow Their Followers. Once you follow some leaders, spend time following their followers, because essentially, they're your peers. Following others is also a great way to gain visibility for your organization.
7. Set Up a Personal Account. This will be extra work, but if you can manage it, you definitely should. 77 percent of buyers say they are more likely to buy from a company whose CEO uses social media.
8. Engage Your Community. Engage social media users within your community. This includes, but is not limited to, business pages, business leaders, and residents who may be interested in your products and services. A good place to start is to follow your local Chamber of Commerce pages and engage with its followers.
9. Regularly Maintain Your Profiles and Post Frequently. Frequently posted content conveys freshness to your followers, particularly your prospects. Fresh content suggests that you are intentionally communicating to an audience. Also, "out of sight, out of mind" applies to social media. You need to post content to stay relevant with your prospects.
10. Respond to All Feedback. Whether clients and prospects post positive or negative feedback, it's important to respond appropriately. Negative feedback may be hard to respond to, but do so kindly, quickly, and truthfully.
11. Use Analytics. It's important to track your social media progress. The major social media outlets have great analytics features that go along with their business accounts. Analytics are important to measure your efforts and keep tabs on your social media influence. By analyzing your efforts, you'll be able to adjust accordingly for your future social engagement.
12. Direct Activity Back to Your Website. Aside from the overall purpose of building relationships on social media, your business' social media goal should be to drive traffic to your website. Link as much as you can back to your site so your followers can gain additional knowledge in exchange for their contact information. Leads gained from social media efforts are tangible measurements that your business directly benefits from.

There are many more ways to deliver quality from your social media marketing efforts. These twelve tips are a good start. The next step is to use these tips to find your business's Goldilocks Zone. If you are diligent in spending time, money, and effort on your social media practices, you're likely to gain sales as a result.

You only get what you put into it, but if you put quality in, you'll get quality out.

For more information about how your business can benefit from launching a social media campaign, tips on how to make it work, and to learn about our Ultimate Social Media Rig solution, call JoomConnect today at (607) 433-2200 and then toll-free at (888) 546-4384.