Business owners are constantly looking for new ways to put their brands in the top of the minds of their potential customers. Social media is a cost-effective way to create brand awareness and reach new customers. But in order to make the most out of this platform, you need to learn a few critical social media skills to successfully reach your business goals.
Copywriting Skills
Copywriting involves developing content that is intended to persuade people to buy into a certain brand or product. This differs from traditional writing in that copywriting is all about getting the audience to take action, whether it is to buy products, subscribe to marketing materials, or keep themselves informed of new updates regarding a particular company or brand.
Effective copywriting makes the reader want to learn more about the product or service not only by appealing to the mind but by also eliciting an emotional response that can potentially translate to sales.
Copywriting is one of the social media skills that can come in handy. The more the reader is engaged through compelling content, the more likely you are able to strike a conversation and learn more about their needs and pain points. You are then able to present yourself as a solutions provider and trusted advisor.
Basic Design
Knowledge of basic design principles is one of the social media skills that can go a long way when you manage your own social media accounts. As humans, we experience different types of perception including smell, sound, touch, taste, smell. But among these, visual perception is primary. It is said that about 90% of information that our brain processes visual. Adding eye-catching images along with your social posts helps you grab the attention of your audience. Learning design principles such as colour, balance, and typography can help you not only enhance your brand image but also helps you achieve your social media business goals.
Networking and People Skills
According to Pew Research Center, 74 percent of adults who regularly use the Internet use social networking sites. 88% get a portion of their news information from popular platforms. As a business owner, you wouldn’t want to miss the opportunity to reach your audience using the channel they prefer to gather information.
But you also have to mindful of which networks would bring the most return on your effort. Social Media can be time consuming especially if you need to manage it on your own without outside help. For B2B companies, LinkedIn would be the best platform you generate leads. A recent survey showed that it drives 80% of B2B social media leads and is the preferred social network by CEOs.
To fully utilize the power of LinkedIn you need to be aware of proper etiquette and best practices to gain the trust of your connections. Things like personalizing each connection request go a long way. Don’t spammy messages that may get you blocked. Respond to messages in a timely manner and keep it professional. Share content but avoid too much self-promotion. Publish relevant news and articles that the community will find of value to their business or professional lives.
Content Curation
Content curation allows you to take advantage of existing third-party contents that could help you enhance helpful materials that you share to your network. You can tap into the power of existing owned, social, and third-party media to enhance and extend your content marketing resources. It can help you keep your account active especially if you can’t develop original content regularly. But admittedly, this can be time consuming. Luckily, there are several content curation tools available to help you manage your time better. Try Feedly or Twitter lists to customize the types of news materials and articles you are looking for. If you use a social management tool like HootSuite, you can create streams organized around specific topics.
Data Analysis
To be able to manage social media effectively, you need to learn how to interpret data to inform your decisions. Social media analytics is about gathering relevant information from your followers as well as how they interact with your posts. This data can then be utilized to track and improve performance.
As a B2B business owner, your time will be best spent on Linkedin and mastering the data analytics tool in the platform is one of the social media skills you must learn. Linkedin provides data-sets that track the reach and engagement of each post. You can then improve your social media content calendar by choosing materials that better resonate with your audience. By better understanding your most engaged followers, you will be able to customize your offerings to increase your chances of closing a sale.
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