You've heard that social media marketing is important for your business before. Approximately 90 percent of small businesses have a presence on social media, while more than 75 percent of Fortune 500 companies have embraced at least one form of social media. While we applaud companies for joining the digital age, social media isn’t as simple as setting up a site and leaving it to collect dust. Constant engagement, compelling content and frequent interaction are all necessary components of social media, which is essential for the fulfillment of any inbound marketing strategy.

Below are some of the best practices for social media marketing. These tips will help you to further your inbound marketing strategy; you’ll also get to know your customers better, giving you a better idea of what content you should produce in the future.

Choose Your Sites Wisely

Just because there are many social media sites out there doesn’t mean you have to be on all of them. Some social media platforms simply don’t make sense for certain types of businesses. Facebook is a nice starting point for most businesses because it has the most reach. From there, look at how you promote your business and find the site that works best. For example, choose Pinterest or Instagram if your marketing is image-heavy, or go with LinkedIn if you specialize in B2B marketing.

Know Your Customers

Your social media fans follow you for a reason. It’s up to you to identify that reason and follow through with content that keeps people engaged. Look at the activity on your social media posts for some insight into what makes your followers tick. If there’s a post that didn’t click with your audience, see if you can repackage it into something that works a little better.

Focus on Your Customers

It’s easy to brag about how great your company is, but that won’t truly boost your digital marketing ROI. The real key to success with social media, and inbound marketing in general, is to focus on the value you provide to customers. Make sure 80 percent of your content is geared towards educating and entertaining your customers, with the other 20 percent being traditional marketing messages.

Think Viral

Shareable content is the holy grail of inbound marketing. Social media makes it easier than ever for people to share content with others. If you create engaging content with the potential to be seen by a larger audience, you’ll broaden your reach in no time. To increase your chances of having a viral piece of content, make sure your calls to action and content titles are enticing enough that people will want to read more.

Converse With Customers

The beautiful part about social media is that you get back what you put in. If you go the extra mile to communicate with your customers, you’ll get a lot in return. Even something as simple as a rhetorical question can generate a massive response. Not only does this help keep people actively participating with you via social media, but you’ll also learn something new about your customers.

Have Fun

Social media gives you the ability to present a different side of your company, one that isn’t typically seen by the public. Use this to your advantage! Show pictures of your office, your company picnic or anything that will paints your company in a more friendly and human light. Your followers will see your company as a collection of actual people, and not a faceless corporation. When they see that human element, they’ll be even more attached to your brand.

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