Browsing old magazines is a pastime that tends to spark curiosity, especially because they contain singular information that makes us think and “update ourselves” without meaning to. A primary attribute of these publications is the advertisements, which with abundant text and large photographs tried to sell a product or service, giving it a character of distinction.
Our reality shows us that in the market, which is not only local but also global, large corporations coexist with those small, medium or micro companies that are gaining ever more importance in the economy and which, far from costly advertisements, have social media within reach to grow their business.
According to the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI), in Peru there are almost 2 million companies, of which 99.6% are micro, small and medium-sized. By activity, 44.4% of microenterprises are engaged in trading goods, while 16.2% provide administrative, support and personal services.
With social media as allies, a developing brand that wants to give continuity to its positioning can expand its range of reach, bearing in mind that 78% of people heed “word-of-mouth” recommendations, get immediate feedback and also stay on top of the latest trends in their field.
Is your brand focused on positioning itself and broadening its range of action? Read these 5 tips for boosting your presence on social media and growing your business.
- Permanent monitoring. Listening to and analyzing the market, the competition and your own brand on social media, and searching by topics and keywords similar to the product being sold, is key when betting on an internet presence. This is a good way to find out what interests the public. An important tip is not to lose sight of the online tools that detect the keywords used on the most important search engines.
- Optimize the content. It is advisable to include keywords in posts, since content is indexed in search engines (Google, Bing, etc.) and on social media; with this, the brand will be easy to find.
- Social media as business allies. By running special offers through social media you not only get greater interest in posts and products, but also seek to encourage those members of the community who don’t yet know the brand to join the customer network.
A perfect example to illustrate this point is the membership created by the Brooklyn Museum, where for US$20 a year the user can have access to all its social media profiles (Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, etc.), which provide exclusive content on museum events, art, and more.
- Build trust. Don’t sell, communicate. Take part in conversations and win followers’ trust; it is easier to listen to customers’ needs and then offer them a solution. Taking the customer-supplier relationship to a “human” level is key.
- Don’t generate spam or junk mail. The best way to reach potential customers is not by bombarding networks with advertising; this activity known as spam is not appreciated by internet users; instead, generate original content. A valid option is to use “memes”, creative and original images, in order to attract users.
By keeping up fluid communication with our followers, creating offers and promotions focused on social media, creating exclusive content and not generating spam, we can intelligently take advantage of this free tool and turn it into our most important ally.
