It is a well-documented fact that social media marketing is the best and holistic way to connect with target audience (local or global). Businesses can use a wide range of social media platforms to improve their brands’ reach as well as sales. When utilised correctly, it can help in nurturing leads and dominate online communities as well as significantly expand your business. Since every business is trying to leverage social media platforms to improve their visibility, it has become more difficult and complex to set a business apart. Facts -

• 98% of digital consumers are using Social Media.
• 71% of small businesses use Social Media.

Here are a few ways to gain competitive advantage - 

• Strategy – Many brands have more than one social media profiles, which make it difficult for them to manage. In fact, it becomes quite difficult to align them to achieve a common goal. That is why; it makes sense to develop a strong and focused strategy. For better yields, you must set SMART goals that are clearly defined and measurable, too.

• Competitor research – Social media is an ocean with no defined ends; that is why, it becomes difficult to follow a specific approach. One of the most effective ways is to conduct extensive research and analysis to know what exactly is going on in the market. You can use well-calibrated tools to track competitors, their number of followers, activities, content performance, engagement, growth rate, etc.

• Audience’s response – After analysing your competitors, it is time to know what your audience want and like. You can analyse this by studying the comments and reactions of audiences on your current social media activities. Fortunately, you can do this by using specialised social media tools. These tools will help you to identify engagement rates, content performance, specific types of likes, etc.

• Scheduling – Posting content regularly on all social media platforms is time-consuming; today, you can use the right tools (scheduling software programs) to streamline your entire posting and scheduling process.

• Analytics – Creation and regular posting is not enough, you also need to study analytics (real-time and actionable data) to see the performance of your efforts and optimise the current efforts.

Things to remember -

• Always post content at the right time. (peak time)
• Consistently measure the performance of posts.
• Use a social media scheduling tool like CoSchedule.
• Always share industry-related content.
• Use bit.ly to shorten links.
• Keep an eye on your competitors.

In a nutshell, social media is an essential, effective and efficient tool for promoting any business, improving leads and increasing sales. Are you ready to generate strategic outcomes through social media?