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Using social media for marketing has become the norm. There are many benefits to having a strong social media presence for both paid and unpaid promotion. Whether it’s furthering your engagement with customers on Instagram stories, targeted Facebook ads or utilizing social media influencer marketing, your business is bound to see some benefits with increased brand recognition. 

At this point, you’ve done your research. You know who your target audience is and which platforms they’re on, you know what your strategy is and what goals you're hoping to achieve. The next step is to set your plan into motion. Social media marketing is much more than just setting up your accounts and running with it. There are certain practices you can implement to make sure the execution of your plan maximizes your results.

1. Build Your Presence

Create your social media accounts on the platforms of your choosing. From there, start following other high profile accounts to create connections. Try asking people you know to follow you to establish yourself online. 

Make sure your profile is consistent on all your social media platforms. Using similar usernames, profile pictures, biographies, and layout will help make your business feel professional.

Tip: Make it known to your customers that you're on social media and encourage them to follow you! It can be as simple as linking your profiles in your outgoing emails.

2. Create Content That Enhances Your Business

When you first make your account, deciding what type of information you want to post can seem overwhelming. You don't want to post random shots, without meaning or a call to action. Also, try to avoid making self-serving posts with lots of information. These posts don't sit well with customers and can harm your online presence. 

Instead, make exciting and creative posts about your services, employees and customers. Share relatable content that will resonate with your followers. If you're finding that what you're posting isn't engaging enough, try a different approach or better yet, ask your followers what kind of content they're hoping to see. Engaging with your followers helps build your brand's digital personality and creates a rapport between you and your customers. 

Need some ideas on what to pots? Check out our examples below from our social media library:

 

Call To Action Captions: Your captions need to be just as purposeful as the post itself. Asking a question at the end of your post or encouraging your followers to tag friends will create further engagement in the comment section. More interactions make your page look credible and will increase the awareness of your business.

Don't forget hashtags! A hashtag is a word or keyword phrase with the pound sign preceding it (#). Hashtags help categorize your posts and make them visible for anyone searching for content in your industry. See below for an example of hashtags you can include with your posts.

#electrical #electrician #engineering #electricalengineering #electronics #electricianlife #electricians #construction #electricity #electric #technology #sparky #electricalwork #plumbing #mechanical #sparkylife #power #electricalcontractor #engineer #contractor #tools #lighting #electronic #electriciansofinstagram #electricalengineer #electricalhacks #energy

Also, make sure to use location-specific hashtags for the area that you operate in. This will ensure you are targeting the right audience.

3. Find Your Posting Rhythm

The content on social media has a much shorter lifespan than in traditional marketing. Your electrical business should be posting at a reasonably regular rate that doesn't overwhelm your customers and is often enough that your content doesn't become stale. 

Although most of what you post might be dictated by other news and updates, you can still plan outlines of events within your business that you know are upcoming. 

For example: if your business is attending or sponsoring a community event, you can post information leading up to it, a quick shot of your business at the event and a little reflection thanking everyone who came out to show support for the company.

4. Analyze Your Performance

Once you have started to post regularly and become an active user on your social media platforms, you will be able to see what generates more conversions and engagement and what falls flat. Finding what resonates with your customers might take some adjusting and risk-taking, but the results of a positive online presence will drastically increase brand awareness. 

Some platforms offer some general insights when you have a business account. These can be useful for a basic understanding of social media, but online software can provide a more in-depth analysis of your digital performance.

Sprout Social is a great tool available for businesses. They provide user analytics, can schedule and publish posts onto your feed and can inform you of trends that might work with your marketing strategy.

5. Adapt and Refine

Once you have been able to make a note of strategies that resonate, you will be able to continuously adapt, expand and replicate those ideas in the future. Your online presence and the way you interact with your audience might be susceptible to changes simply because of the nature of social media trends and account growth. Some practices that were working for you might not be the right approach down the line. Continuously discussing ways of improving engagement within your company will serve you well in the future.

In Summary

Social media has become a key player in the world of digital marketing. It’s essential to understand how to correctly execute your marketing strategy on all your platforms so that you can see the results. Utilize the above-noted tips as a basis to make your business’ strategy a success.

If you're looking for more information on how to create engaging social media platforms check out our guide to using TikTok and Instagram.