Social media is an important tool for marketing in current times. It is widely used by people, not only for entertainment purposes but also to look for relevant brands. Consumers use social media platforms to gain insight into the most powerful brands and use customer reviews to make their purchase decisions. No matter how big or small your company is, you will have to develop a social media presence to create brand awareness. It is true that bigger companies have more resources and thus better chances to market themselves, but SMEs can leverage the power of social media combined with some other strategies in order to grow. Take a look at some of the techniques that will help SMEs become successful in 2020.

#1 — Use Email Marketing to Increase Followers

Email marketing is becoming more and more important for firms of all sizes. Email marketing is based on finding an ally whom you trust and who will help you grow. Expanding your network in the industry will give you a chance to set a name for yourself in the market. You can use email marketing to gain more social media followers. Below is a list of steps that you can follow to incorporate email marketing into the social media marketing strategy that you have planned.

Include links in the social media posts

If you have a well-established social media, then it is a good idea to use it to grow your network. An easy way to do this is to put your signup link in the social posts that you put up. This will give the social media following that you have a chance to join your list and for you to get their contact information and increase engagement.

Target prospects on social media

You can use social media to interact with your target prospects. Using different chat features available on social media platforms can encourage prospective customers to ask queries. Integrating your list of subscribers with your social networks will help you find social media accounts that are linked to them.

Use tools to create emails

An easy way to create emails is through the tools available online. Effective email marketing, for instance by using email newsletters with social media links, can improve your conversion rate and help you acquire a greater amount of leads.

#2 — Improved Customer Service

The new era is highly focused on enhancing the customer experience. Social media has made everything transparent and there is simply no room to make mistakes. The moment a customer has had a bad experience, they will post it on their social media and things will start to escalate from there onwards. Therefore, to keep your reputation clear it is important to incorporate certain elements in your brand that focus on prioritizing customer demands. Customers expect to be entertained immediately and if you are lacking in that area, you will most likely be sidelined by some other business.

To improve customer service, you could add a customer service option or a helpline that is available 24/7 to answer customer queries. How you interact with your customers is also important. Chatbots may be a great tool to take care of queries. However, they might not be the most effective tool when it comes to humanizing customer experience. It is important to make your customers feel that they are interacting with a human who will understand their issues. Moreover, the data collected through customer services help to create personas that are effective in developing marketing strategies.

#3 — Collaborate with Micro and Nano-Influencers

Nowadays our marketing strategies hugely rely on social media influencers. Being the owner of an SME, you might be struggling with collaborations with the biggest influencers in the field. This is where you should be connecting with micro-influencers. Never underestimate the power of the small-scale influencers in your field. They might be able to benefit your brand more than you can imagine. They might not have huge numbers of social media followers, but they will be able to make a difference.

Each influencer has its fan following. By sharing your products and services with their fans, they would attract an audience organically. Creating a strong network of social influencers is essential for improving your brand image. The best thing about influencers is that they will remain true to your brand once they start believing in your message. For example, you can promote your carpet cleaning Chislehurst business by offering an influencer to try your services, and if they have a good experience with you, this can turn out to be a huge benefit for your business. At some point, you can even offer these influencers to become brand ambassadors that represent your brand.

#4 — Grow your Online Community

As an SME, it is extremely important to grow your community and expand your horizons at a global level. Social media platforms give businesses a great chance to grow. Facebook groups, in particular, can be useful to grow your community which will eventually help to improve your conversion rate and increase the number of leads generated. Here are a few ways to help you lay down the foundations of your online community.

Establish your brand image

Your brand image speaks volumes about your brand. The kind of image you project will be the first step towards establishing an online community. You can even create your hashtag to give your messages and posts a more personalized touch.

Follow influencers relevant to your field

Over time you will discover which influencers are most relevant to your brand. Moreover, there might consider a certain social media platform that is more valid for your brand. Following influencers who are relevant to your field will automatically direct customers to your own social media platform.

Build your community

Once you have perfected your brand image and your vision, you can start to build your online community. Sending customized messages to ask the relevant people to follow is one way to build your community. Make sure you have a well-curated message that looks professional. Being informal is not something that suits most high-end brands.

Originally posted at RuhaniRabin.com
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