On November 19th, Matt Astifan, the founder of Web Friendly, held a bootcamp at Science World called 4 Steps to Social Media Profits, where both he and Shane Gibson educated everyone on how to use social media to boost your business. Along with healthy refreshments and interesting people, this is definitely a must-attend event for all those who would like to know more about the techniques for implementing your social media strategy to help your business grow.
If you missed the event and can’t wait for the next one, here are 4 key takeaways from 4 Steps to Social Media Profits:
Make people think you’re cool
Even if you’re not actually cool, making others think that you are is an incentive for them to want to connect with you. This helps you grow your audience. It’s wise to invest some money to create a good logo because this logo represents your company and is probably the first thing that people see. For your personal brand, this could be shown by what you post online, such as your profile picture. Let’s use Matt as an example. He hired a professional photographer to take his current profile picture, where he is dressed well and portrayed as a cool man. Now if you look back to his photo from 2007, there’s a picture of him dressed casually and holding a cigar. Which of the two images makes you want to reach out and connect with him more? Try to aim for this result with your own profile picture or logo so others will be encouraged to get acquainted with you or your company. By the way, you should ‘like’ Matt’s old photo on Facebook…
Social media platforms and advertising
Facebook is the largest social media network out there. It is the most targeted advertising platform and unlike other social media sites, it collects data on your audience. When creating an ad, there are a lot of targeting options to choose from, such as location, age, interests, and more. Plus, there are three different types of Facebook ads that you can run: desktop newsfeed, mobile newsfeed, and right column. Generally, it’s a good idea to run ads to get fans, and then also run ads to your fans. Instagram (which is now owned by Facebook) and Snapchat both have a young audience. Since advertising is still quite new for these two platforms, there’s a high engagement level. If you start growing your audience now, then you’ll be in business for the years to come. For Twitter, advertising is not as great as Facebook because it provides less criteria for targeting your audience and it doesn’t collect as much data off of them.
Engage your audience
Post as often as you can on Facebook without annoying your fans. If you have a popular page, this could mean posting hourly. Amplify your existing network by boosting ALL of your posts, even if it’s just for $1. Boosting your posts enables you to post less throughout the week. Ads that receive more engagement rise to the top of the newsfeed. Something simple like clicking on whitespace on a post is considered as engagement as well. A good rule of thumb to keep in mind is “Before you post ANYTHING ask yourself: How will my audience respond to this?”
Create a compelling offer
There are 4 methods for creating a compelling offer that will capture your audience’s interest. The first method is to create something new. Make sure you use the word ‘new’ in your marketing campaign. Adding that will grab people’s attention because everyone wants to get their hands on something new. The next way to make a compelling offer is to discount it. The price of everything is rising (especially in Vancouver) so people love to find deals that allow them to save money. Every bit counts. Scarcity is the third method and this can be achieved by limiting time and quantity. When people know time is running out and that there is only a set amount available, they’ll be motivated to take action and buy quickly. Lastly, you can create a compelling offer by liquidating it. Provide a generous discount and fans will flock over. Even if you break even or lose money in the short term by doing this, you’ll gain loyal customers in the long term.
Review by Sabrina Chiu