As a small business owner, you have probably seen firsthand that social media is more of a marathon than a sprint. That's why it is so important to celebrate highlights along the way!
This 5th Annual Social Media Day, take a few moments to recognize all that you've accomplished thus far. Perhaps one or more of the following are highlights you can add to your list.
1) Your posts are reshared by influencers in your niche.
It always feels good when someone reshares one of your posts. But it feels great when one of those people is an influencer in your niche.
Influencers not only have a significant social media following. They also create and share relevant content that resonates with those in their field. If your business is within that niche, having them reshare one of your posts can be a very big deal indeed, as it often results in many more reshares from the influencer's followers.
Who are the influencers in your niche? Have they ever shared your content? If not, are you sharing (and engaging with) theirs?
2) Your customers give you positive reviews.
We all have favorite products and services we use all the time, but how often do we make it a point of talking about them online? It's only something most of us do now and then when we are particularly happy customers, for which companies should be ever-grateful.
Positive reviews can come in all sorts of formats, from formal Yelp reviews to more informal shout-outs in a tweet or Facebook post. It could be a deliberate endorsement of your business or simply an indirect compliment about using one of your products or services.
Have you had your customers (or clients) leave you positive reviews online? Are you responding to them with thanks? And are you using Google Alerts to track mentions of your brand name and products/services so that you don't miss anything positive (or negative) that needs your response?
3) Your company event's hashtag was trending.
One of the best ways of promoting your offline event is through your social media platforms – before, during, and after the fact. It can prove an especially effective tactic with the use of an event-specific hashtag, like the use of #SMDay for Social Media Day.
Hashtags make it easier on anyone who is interested in participating in, or following, your event. All they need do to do is type #SMDay into the search box – on Twitter, Google Plus, or Instagram, for example – and every single mention of it turns up in the results.
Best-case scenario is when your event hashtag starts trending, meaning it is one of the top-used hashtags of the hour, day, or week. While reaching this milestone is a tall order on a worldwide or even national level, it is absolutely possible relative to hashtags being used in your community.
Do you use hashtags for your company events, be it an in-store promotion, fundraiser, trade show, or the like? And are you using hashtags in general, taking the time to research popular hashtags relative to the topic of your post?
4) Your social media platforms are driving traffic to your site.
As important as social media engagement is in and of itself – for building your brand and connecting with customers – the bottom line of your business requires concrete results. Within the realm of social media ROI, that means tracking how much traffic your platforms are driving to your site.
That said, it is imperative that you give your social media marketing the dedication it needs to build traffic over time. It will not happen overnight, but instead takes many months to see signs of notable growth relative to website traffic.
Are you tracking your traffic from your social media platforms via Google Analytics? And are you devoting enough resources toward its growth?
Whether you can mark every one of these highlights off your list, or you still have a ways to go, Cybermark can help take your social media marketing to the next level.
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