How can I create a social media marketing strategy?

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The way businesses use marketing has changed drastically throughout the years, especially with the invention of social media platforms. The sheer volume of people you can reach through social media means that you must consider creating a social media marketing plan when trying to promote your business. 

A social media marketing plan is a simple plan that a business will use to outline steps to promote their business through social media. Social media plans can be as complicated or simple as you want them to be, but you simply cannot ignore social media in your marketing strategy. If you want to find out how to create a simple but effective social media marketing plan, then read on!

Choose your Platform(s)

One key element of social media marketing is creating a presence across multiple platforms. This means creating a profile or a page on different social media sites. Something to consider when setting up your business on social media is to create a business email, as you will need an email to register with these various platforms.  Below are some of the most commonly used social media platforms and how they might be more beneficial for some businesses than others: 

Facebook: With over 2.5 billion monthly users Facebook is one of the biggest social media sites globally. Facebook is often the first point of call for many social media users as accounts are easy to find and can often be more information heavy than other sites.  

Instagram: Instagram is particularly useful if your business is reliant on visuals, like a photography business or a beauty salon. Instagram allows you to post photographs with captions, but you cannot add multiple links within captions. 

Twitter: Twitter can be a really useful tool to promote your business. Comprised of short “tweets” of 280 characters you can easily share updates on your business and can add photographs or videos should you wish to. Most businesses should have a Twitter account, but for businesses who need to correspond directly with customers (such as event planning) it is an essential tool. 

Linkedin: Linkedin is a networking platform for businesses. Once your profile is created you can make valuable connections with businesses and people that have skills that could complement your business. 

Other Smaller Platforms:

  • Tumblr: an informal blogging platform, good for visually focused related businesses such as art and travel 
  • Flickr: another visual platform, particularly used by photographers 
  • Pinterest: good for creating an aesthetic or developing a brand image

Other factors to consider when choosing which social media platforms to use are:

  • The age of your target market – generally speaking slightly older audiences are found on Facebook and Linkedin, whereas teenagers and Gen Z individuals use sites such as Instagram and TikTok more. 
  • The type of business you are – do you need somewhere that is image-focused or information-focused?
  • Do you have the time to dedicate to multiple platforms? 

Complete Your Profile

The best social media marketing plans have a completed profile to work with. Ensure you fill out every possible section of your social media platform to give visitors the most information possible. Also do not ignore the profile picture, make sure to use something that relates to your business or a logo.

Link to Your Website

Another aspect many social media marketing strategies use is linking your social media to your website. This can be done easily in your profile bio or about section, and can be reiterated in various posts as well. Your web design should also include a social media bar, which many website builders have as a feature, so that readers can easily share your content across various social media platforms. 

Create a Posting Schedule

As mentioned in our blog on how to make your blog stand out,  if you are creating content, posting regularly will give your social media more momentum and give you a larger following. Whether this is once a week or every day, having a posting schedule that you stick to is incredibly important in a social media marketing strategy. If you need more information about when you should be posting, check out this blog on how often to post to each social media platform

Use Promoting Features

Sites such as Facebook and Instagram have features built in to allow you to promote certain posts or images to visitors to their site. You do have to pay for some of these features, but they can be a great way of spreading the word on your business. You can also use features such as hashtags and location to increase the chances of people seeing your posts. 

If you need a great website builder to back up your social media marketing plan, then look no further than Go Sitebuilder. With a wide range features to link to your social media, our simple website builder design means you can have a professional looking website up and running in minutes. Try our 14-day free trial today!

How to make my blog stand out?

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In order to create a successful website you need an effective blog. A blog allows you to communicate with browsers to your website in a more informal way. This keeps them updated on any new developments in your business or personal life (depending on the type of website you have.) If you need more information on blogging, check out our post on What is blogging and how can I start my own blog?

With over 77% of internet users regularly reading blogs, updating yours regularly can help significantly boost the number of visitors to your website. Blogging can also be incredibly useful in increasing Search Engine Optimisation; find out more in our blog on the benefits of creating a blog for SEO purposes. 

To engage the most visitors on your website there are critical success factors to creating a unique, popular blog. Read on to discover how to make your blog stand out from the crowd! 

Professional Web Design

No blog will be successful if the website is poorly designed. Think about key aspects such as layout, colours, fonts and images to create a professional website that reflects your business. 

Ensure that your blog is easy to find on your website, with links to recent blog posts and a clear blog heading in your menu. Adding a search bar is a great way to make it easy for visitors to find blogs that align with their area of interest. 

Effective Titles

For your blog posts to have the most views, effective titles will go a long way. Ensure you keep your titles short and to the point and that they relate to your blog post. 

The content of your blog posts can be as varied as you like. However, if your website focuses on a specific topic or is for a business you should ensure that your blog posts link directly to it. Some examples are: 

Beauty Salon Blog: 

  • “Tips for creating the perfect manicure”
  • “Hairstyle trends you need for 2020”
  • “The skincare trick everyone is raving about”

Lifestyle Blog:

  • “How to interior design like a pro”
  • “My favourite fashion trends this year”
  • “How to organise your busy schedule”

Travel Blog:

  • “Countries to visit this month”
  • “The best ice cream I’ve ever tried: Rome’s food scene”
  • “Top tips for backpacking”

These are only a few titles for different types of blogs, but they all have one thing in common. They directly target an audience and tell you exactly what the blog post is going to be about. Using titles which will directly relate to and impact the reader is sure to gain you more views on your blog. 

Use Different types of Media

By using a variety of media you are more likely to engage a wider range of browsers to your website. Large portions of text can also put visitors off, so adding subtitles or different media like images and infographics can keep visitors on your blog and reduce your bounce rate.  Images are also a way to help engage your visitors with your content by illustrating the ideas and concepts in the blog.

You can include media such as:

  • Photographs 
  • Infographics 
  • Illustrations/paintings 
  • Longer produced videos 
  • Shorter informal videos 

If you need more reasons to include media in your blog posts, check out this blog on 8 data driven reasons why media is important to blogging success.

Create Unique Content

With so many different blog posts online, creating unique relatable content is paramount in making your blog stand out. Do some research on what competitors or similar blogs are posting about and think about how you can improve on this or offer a different perspective. Is there a topic that you are particularly knowledgeable or passionate about? If so focus on that for a number of blog posts to show your understanding of it. 

Another key aspect is to ensure that you are posting regularly to your blog. This is one of the critical success factors of your blog’s popularity. Without a regular schedule you will lose following and regular engagement with your blog by visitors to your website. Each time you post a blog, search engines will re-index your site and hopefully boost your page up the search rankings.

Some people will write a chunk of blogs at once (for example 10 blog posts on the same topic) and then make a schedule for posting them. Whereas, others may post on a schedule and write as they post. Whichever option works best for you, ensure you stick to it to get the best results. 

If you need a great website builder, then look no further than Go Sitebuilder. With a wide range of blog friendly features, our simple website builder design means you can have a professional looking website up and running in minutes. Try our 14-day free trial today!