10 More Ways to Make Your Social Media Marketing Efforts Pay Off—Part 2

In a post from earlier this week, I discussed a few strategies that companies can use to help their voice rise above the fray when using Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms. Once you’ve started incorporating those techniques in your online marketing strategy, try using some of the ideas below in your tweets, statuses, and pins.

• Fill in the blanks: This kind of post encourages creativity and interaction with your audience. Not only will they talk with you, but they may also start talking with each other. The topic can be anything, from weekend plans to biggest pet peeve. You can also make it company related such as: “My favorite flavor of (insert your company’s product name here) is _________.”
• Photo albums: So you put on a huge concert/game/networking event. If there are no pictures from it, did it really happen? To show your fans and followers exactly how enjoyable your events are, post a photo album of pictures from them. Encourage those who were there to add their own images and tag themselves. Now the ones who missed out can see for themselves just how informative/wild/crazy/fun/productive your events are. They will probably not make the mistake of staying home next time.
• Giveaways: There are few things that social media users love more than giveaways from their favorite brands. Even if you’re just giving away something small, like a $10 gift certificate, you will get significant crowd response. However, don’t go overboard with this. If you start handing out gift certificates every day, it will seem less special and exciting to win.
• Contests: Any form of contest is well received on social networking sites. Whether it’s a “#1 fan” contest or a major trip giveaway, users like to feel like they gain something by interacting with you on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Make the contests easy to enter and you’ll get a good response from your audience.
• What’s on your desk? As I mentioned before, people have a fascination with “behind the scenes” information, even if it’s not top-secret. People also enjoy seeing how others work and live. Take advantage of this by doing a “what’s on your desk?” post where you show exactly what your workspace looks like (may want to clean it up first). To keep the engagement levels high, ask others to share a picture of their own desks.
• How to’s: Using the resources found within your company, put together a quick tutorial on some aspect of your company. Even a short, one-minute video will be interesting.
• Trivia: Social media users love trivia. Post a question and encourage them to answer. You may even consider giving a prize to the first person to answer correctly. Whether it’s trivia that relates to your business or not, competitive fans will enjoy getting involved.
• A playlist: Many people enjoy listening to music as they work. Keep your business on a potential customer’s mind all day by preparing a Spotify playlist that they can listen to as they get their daily tasks done.
• Celebrity gossip tie-ins: If a star is making headlines that day (you can probably count on Justin Bieber or Lindsay Lohan to take care of this) find a clever way to tie your product into the news. Keep it funny, but still tasteful.
• Use a meme: Everyone knows Grumpy Cat and the Dos Equis man. Why not use these popular viral sensations to help to brand your own message? There are many “meme generators” that allow you to place your own text over these famous images.

If you have a social media post that did well in the past, don’t feel bad about updating it and reposting. If it was loved once, it will be loved again!

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