8 Winner Suggestions to Beef Up Your Social Media Game – Part 1

Social media marketing is a must for every small business. It’s so effective for getting noticed. But tactics that were fresh and exciting just a year or two ago are now old hat. That means we’ve all got to find ways to take our Facebook and Instagram marketing to the next level.

Fortunately, there are still lots of things you can do to “level up” your social media marketing. Here are some suggestions to help you stay ahead of the pack in 2021.

Suggestion #1 – Poll Your Followers  

Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram all allow users to create polls for the followers to respond to. In most cases, we’re talking simple polls with just two or three potential responses.

Even a simple poll can be useful. It’s a way to collect information from your followers. Polls are interactive. They encourage engagement. You can implement these so respondents won’t even leave their feed. It’s right there. They respond immediately by clicking their choice.

If you want, you can take it to the next level. You can poll your audience to split test a page on your site. Include links to two different versions of your landing page or home page and ask people to vote on their favorite.

Smart, right??

Suggestion #2 – Engage in Social Listening

You’ve probably seen a big brand make stupid mistakes on social media. They responding as if they were tone-deaf to a current event or something in the news. That doesn’t mean you should never respond to anything topic. It means you have to do it intelligently.

I highly recommend you listen. Before you post or respond to something, scroll through relevant hashtags. Get a feel for what people are saying. How might it relate to your brand, products, or services? That enables you to craft a response that speaks to your audience’s concerns and the needs of the people who follow you.

Suggestion #3 – Fine-Tune Your Twitter Voice  

Having a clear and consistent brand voice is essential on any social media platform but it is most important on Twitter. All you got are 288 characters to get your point across. You can expand a thought over two or more Tweets (sometimes known as a Tweetstorm) but you still need to fine-tune your voice.

Your voice might be authoritative, funny, snarky, or highbrow. Whatever it is, you should learn how to get it across in a single Tweet. There’s nothing wrong with a bit of experimentation and trying a couple of different options will help you to get it right.

Suggestion #4 – Vary Your Instagram Content  

Because Instagram got its start as an app where people could share mobile photography, it’s common for business owners to get stuck in a rut, posting only high-quality photographs and never taking any chances.

Instagram’s options have expanded and it’s time for you to get on board with the changes. You can try any of the following to diversify your content.

– Create short videos to share with your followers

– Do an Instagram Live video

– Create one or more GIFs from your videos or other sources

– Get creative and make some memes that are relevant to your brand

– Take advantage of micro-blogging and share your thoughts

There’s a lot you can do with Instagram and as users become increasingly sophisticated, they expect more from the brands they follow.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this article where I give you another four suggestions for jacking up your social media game.