How to Utilize Social Media for Your Brand: Five Simple Tips

With millions of users interacting every day, social media can provide you with widespread exposure, and countless opportunities - if you are engaging correctly.

So what does it take to be victorious in this vast social media jungle? Here are five easy tips to help you become "social media savvy", and gain traction for your brand online.

Provide value. Instead of constantly asking your followers for favors or blatantly trying to elicit business, find ways to provide free value. Give advice, list tips, or provide resources to build trust in your brand and establish a connection with your followers. This will draw attention to your profile and may even lead to future clients. Once the connection has been established, it yields continuous support. Providing value could be as simple as posting information or as extensive as live-streamed educational events to provide followers with a peek into your business without having to purchase tickets or make lengthy trips.

Interact. Reply to Tweets, like Facebook posts, and tag active users in images to become a prominent part of the online conversation. This will help your brand establish a common ground with your followers and potential connections or clients. Engaging in conversations related to your niche also allows you to conduct informal market research, and gain a deeper understanding of users’ opinions and attitudes, and keeps you in the loop about changes in your industry. You can also participate in globally trending conversations by utilizing popular hashtags when fitting, which enables you to expose your brand to millions of potential followers. For example, add the hashtag #WednesdayWisdom to a Tweet, and instantly become visible to any users looking at that trending tag.

Ask questions. Don’t be the friend who drones on about themselves at a party. Start conversations with your followers by asking questions about things they care about, like recent news stories, upcoming events, or trending online topics. This lets your followers know you value their opinions and input. Be sure to keep the questions simple and succinct to elicit as many responses as possible and to ensure you do not sound bias.

Be original. Copy and pasting and retweeting may gain a few followers, but it will not engage anyone with your brand. If you want to stand out among millions of online profiles, you have to post original content on a regular basis. Share your personal opinions, pictures you’ve taken, blogs you have written and so on to create a one-of-a-kind online personality for your brand. Create catchy hashtags and incorporate emojis, memes, and gifs in your tweets to let your unique character shine through. If you're feeling extra creative, you can even create your own memes via mobile applications like Meme Creator.

Keep it professional. Shock value may seem like a great way to gain attention, but it pails in comparison to lasting value. A strong social media profile has a consistent tone, which may not draw an audience as quickly, but it will draw the right audience. This applies to all social medians; consistency should span across all channels to ensure you maintain the brand image you aspire to uphold.

For more simple tips and tricks on getting full advantage from your online presence, follow us on Twitter @_goldmancomm for frequent advice you can use to easily boost your social media channels.