In today’s digital world the social media experience is about more than sharing updates. It’s a place to pass around ideas boost stories and concepts and provide that all-important social proof for consumers.
For this reason social media can be a powerful tool to grow your business. Whether you’re a small startup or an established company curating a basic social media experience can enhance customer engagement build brand loyalty and drive sales. And you don’t have to invest a ton of time and effort in chasing the latest trends to do so.
In this blog we’ll cover five basic tips (and maybe a few bonus ones) to help you improve your business’s social media experience. That way it’ll be more effective and enjoyable for you and your audience alike.
Life in the Social Media Experience
Whether you’re on one of those pillars of social media past like Facebook or possible trends of the future like Threads having a social media presence for your business can offer numerous benefits:
- Increase brand awareness. Your mere social media presence can be enough to start making waves for your company. Plus it’ll demonstrate your brand identity to potential customers.
- Enhance brand authority. Showcase your expertise and build credibility with your social media experience.
- Provide information and social proof to potential customers. With reviews comments and other forms of organic feedback you’ll be able to showcase the quality of your business to potential customers.
- Boost online engagement. When you interact with people online it generates activity. Then you can direct users back to your website to put your sales funnel into high gear.
- Improve customer loyalty. For fans of your brand interacting with your social media can be a fun way to share their experiences. And for your business it means great digital word of mouth.
Overall a well-managed social media experience can play a pivotal role in growing your business. It can increase visibility help you build relationships and drive conversions.
What If We’re Anti-Social?
If you’re already stressed about the time effort and resources you’ll need to build even a basic social media experience… don’t worry. You don’t have to be a constant trendsetter to maintain your accounts well. In fact businesses that try too hard will usually end up looking like try-hards—which can be counterproductive.
In reality all you have to do is provide a platform for people to interact with you from wherever they already find themselves. That way you’ll create an accessible portal for prospects and customers to see what your business is all about.
5 Tips for the Basic Business Social Media Experience
With that in mind let’s keep things simple so you don’t waste time and effort chasing trends. Here are our five basic tips for creating a social media experience that reflects your brand well and optimizes your online presence.
Set Up Shop
“But where?” It doesn’t really matter which social media platforms you create your business accounts on. However we do recommend verifying that you use the platforms with the best—and most current—reach for your audience.
For example Facebook’s current majority age range is 25- to 34-year-olds. That’s a big contrast compared to the average TikTok user who is typically aged 16 to 24. And folks ages 35 and younger make up nearly half of the TikTok audience. So if your primary audience is generally outside of this age range you might look for another platform to start with.
However if you’re not interested in that kind of research we understand. At the time of writing we recommend going with the current top social media platforms that are also used by businesses: Facebook Instagram and X (formerly known as Twitter).
Maintain It Regularly
Again you don’t have to post every day or use the top trending filters. Instead post little bits of on-brand informational content at regular intervals to show that you’re active on your account. That way you’ll slowly build a long-term presence. This instills confidence in your audience that you’re dedicated to your work.
Plus the added bonus of taking your time means that you also get the opportunity to learn what works for your business. Then you can improve your social media experience over time—without wasting precious time and effort.
Interact Positively with Your Audience
Once you’ve got your accounts rolling you’ll likely start getting engagements. Whether it’s through comments reactions or inquiries take that chance! After all this is the purpose of your social media experience. Make sure your reactions are platform-appropriate on-brand and technically correct.
Overall however the most important element is to keep it positive. At some point everyone who’s online will receive negative overly critical incorrect or seemingly nonsensical comments. But don’t bother to engage negatively with these “trolls”. This will only reflect poorly on your brand—and more often than not invite more negativity.
Use Your Natural Connections
Are you a local business? Do you have strong B2B relationships? Where do many of your customers also shop? Find natural connection points and work those together to enhance your social media experience. This can boost both searchability and social proof.
For example a regional wedding photographer could collaborate with a cute nearby bed-and-breakfast for a joint giveaway contest on their social media pages. To enter applicants must follow both companies’ pages as well as comment on the post with tags for three of their friends. The randomly-selected winners receive a free night’s stay and some gorgeous engagement pictures… and both companies get new followers for future marketing. Plus in the meantime both the photographer and the venue will likely get more business from the cross-promotion.
If it applies—and you’re willing to go above and beyond—you can get creative and generate some phenomenal promotional campaigns.
Turn Interactions into Actionable CX Data
Many businesses fail to realize just how much data can be found on social media. However it can be a customer experience (CX) informational goldmine!
Once you establish your social media experience start gathering all the data points you can. What patterns can you find? Aggregate that information with what you already know and use that intelligence to improve your CX strategies.
Bonus Tip: Improve Your Social Media Experience with a Survey
Want to get even more CX data about your online presence? Try a customer survey. With some carefully-structured questions you can get even more specific information from your users. Learn about customer satisfaction the cohesiveness of your brand experience and possible issues that need resolving. A CX agency like CustomerOptix can help you with that.
Don’t Fall for Business Thirst Traps
Arguably this is the most important advice we can give. Many businesses especially solopreneurs and smaller companies fall for the trap of paid social media advertising. Either they’re not ready to provide the quality assets needed for a good return on investment (ROI)... or they don’t have the funding skill and patience to see it through. Just because a social media platform has a lot of reach doesn’t mean you should dump your whole marketing budget into it.
In summation be very careful when purchasing ads.
- Do your research first. This is one place where you should absolutely do the leg work. Otherwise you won’t have a marketing leg to stand on.
- Don’t buy lists (or do anything illegal). Scammers and unsavory corporations are more than happy to take your money and do almost nothing with your content. Know your rights and applicable laws.
- Evaluate the ROI yourself to make sure it’s worth it for your business. Even after all that careful research you’ll still have to check the progress for yourself.
Create a Positive Social Media Experience for Your Customers
Curating your business’s social media experience doesn’t have to be overwhelming time-consuming or costly. By focusing on the strategies outlined here you can create a powerful and effective online presence. Choose the right platforms maintain regular activity engage positively with your audience leverage natural connections and turn interactions into actionable data. Remember it’s all about quality over quantity.
With a thoughtful and measured approach you can build a social media experience that complements your brand engages your audience and drives meaningful results.
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