Since social media has become one of the most effective ways to market your business, people are always trying to find even better ways to become good at it. We are past the point where people think that social media is becoming increasingly more important, because the world has established that it already IS THE MOST important.

Staying on top of social media trends and tricks ensures that your business will show significantly more growth than a company that doesn’t optimise their social media presence. Social media is so important for your business because it leads to increased exposure and traffic for your company. It helps generate leads and sales while you save on costs!

Here are 8 effective ways to make sure that you give your social media a boost so that you stand out from the crowd.

1. Get your blog on!
Do this, because potential customers read blogs to find helpful industry content. Even if people do not subscribe to your blog, it doesn’t mean that they don't stumble upon blog posts when they're doing online research. The more content you have out there the better and the more informative your content is, the better.

2. Encourage, respond to and monitor feedback.
Ask questions in your blogs, on Twitter and Facebook. When you ask your audience something, you give them permission to respond and speak up. Getting people involved in the conversation is critical. Respond when they comment. Respond quickly and professionally and thank them for their contribution. Make sure that comments aren’t getting left unanswered as this gives a bad impression.

3. Boost Your Post Frequency.
Don’t assume that a post is seen by every follower, it is not, and this is due to numerous reasons: algorithms, the fast-paced turnover of social media and timing (when people choose to log on and how often).  Posting regularly boosts your chances of having a wider reach across social media. Posting more often makes it more likely that people will recognise your brand.

4. Schedule your posts to publish just before or just after the hour.
In a must read article by Cindy King on marketing tips, she suggests relooking at when you schedule your Tweets. Posting Tweets just before or just after the hour can significantly increase the amount of eyes scanning over your tweets, for two very simple reasons; Firstly it is to catch people who are checking their social media just before or just after a meeting. Secondly, most companies schedule their tweets on the hour, so there is a flood of tweets on the hour to compete with.

5. Use more images!
Tweets with images get share 150% more often, so don’t be afraid to use them. Enough said.

6. Turn your email signature into call-to-action.
This is a clever, yet rarely uses tactic. Make a simple change like adding a link to your social media profiles or blog in your email signature.
You can do it any number of different ways. Get creative and have links to your Company Facebook page, Twitter or simply an enticing message to get visitors to your website.


7. Boost Visibility With Meta titles and keywords
During the holidays, our Video editor and photographer, Oliver Karstel, updated the Sound Idea Video production website’s Meta titles and extended our list of keywords. Where we have always featured in the bottom of the pile for Video Production, all of a sudden we are among the top 3 results on google, and we are getting 3 times as many requests for quotes in comparison with two months ago. It really can make a difference if you use relevant keywords and you constantly improve your SEO.

8. Empower and promote others.
This is a failsafe tactic; and it basically means that you give credit where credit is due. If you have quoted someone in their blog, add a hyperlink to their blog. Retweet your favourite blogs. The way you extend your network and build connections is by making friends in the industry that will do the same for you. Allow some guest to collaborate or add to your blog.  You can do “blog swaps” where you post on their blog and they post on yours.

These are just a few ideas to give your social media platforms a quick boost and see immediate results. It takes constant adapting and readapting to stay on top, so make sure you find the best tactics on a monthly basis and implement them as often as you can.

What have you done that worked for you in the past, we would love to hear your ideas?

Lorraine Coetzee is a Digital Media Project Manager at Sound Idea Digital | Email: Lorraine@soundidea.co.za | Twitter: @SoundIdea