Social Media: You Only Get Out, What You Put In

There are very few circumstances and systems that deviate from this one life principle: you only get out of it what you put into it. It's just how the world works with nearly every situation. Whether you're dealing with something as meaningful as your marriage, as minute as cutting the grass, or as important as eating, the quality of your input will determine the quality of your output. The same principle is applied to your business' social media marketing efforts.

 Many times, we work with business leaders who haven't thought about applying this principle to their social media efforts. As business leaders, we are constantly looking for the greatest return on minimal amounts of time and financial investment, and understandably so. After all, if you don't learn to maximize your ROI (return on investment), you'll be out of business pretty quickly. However, for small businesses that don't have the luxury of hiring full time social media gurus, it's important to find a "sweet spot" of the right amount of time and finances invested to yield the greatest amount of returns in your social media game.

It's easy to think that just because you have your social media accounts set up, that you've opened yourself 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 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 (aka, 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, create industry-related conversations, and respond to feedback on your pages, you'll have a healthy return on your social media investments.

Increasing the quality of your social media activity will ultimately increase the amount of success you experience from it. These 5 tips are crucial to any company's social media success story.

• A Picture Says 1000 Words – Adding an image can be amazingly beneficial to a social media posting's engagement. The numbers speak for themselves:
            More than three-quarters (77%) of brand posts shared on Facebook are photos. (Source: SocialTimes)
            Tweets With Images Get 18% More Clicks, 89% More Favorites And 150% More Retweets. (Source: Buffer)
• Don't Just Sell, Sell, Sell – You probably have a website that is loaded with information on your services. Your social media profile should not be a miniature version of your website. The best social media includes free, helpful tips, company announcements, or pictures that show off your company culture, just to name a few.
• All Roads Lead to Your Website – Ideally, when someone looks at a post you've made on social media, (when possible) include a clear link back to your website. They'll click the link, head to your website and continue to get to know you and your business. It may not always happen, but you should still make it as easy as possible to drive traffic back to your website. 87% of buyers say online content has a major or moderate impact on vendor preference and selection. (Source: B2B Marketing Insider)
• Be Informal, but Sincere - Giving your business a little personality is the best way to catch the attention of your followers on social media. While you may want to avoid phrases like 'Wood u like 2 c wat we can do 4 u?', your posts shouldn't be written as though you were writing a PhD. thesis on theoretical geometry.
• Avoid Just Spewing Information – Social media's purpose is to interest and engage customers. Avoid sounding like a textbook or infomercial. You don't get your audience's attention for long. You need to make them want to learn more about your company, products and services..

If you are diligent in spending time, money, and effort on your social media efforts, you're likely to gain business as a result. You only get what you put into it. If you put quality in, you'll get quality out.

For more information about how your business can benefit from social media, check our our Social Media Resources. If you are interested in 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, or toll-free at (888) 546-4384.