There are currently 3.5 billion social media users, or about 45% of the population, according to Oberlo, and social media usage around the world is only going to increase. The simplicity in communication between users and businesses means there are more sales taking place through social media outlets and online.

Social media marketing can help your business reach a larger audience faster than other marketing strategies, like television advertisements and billboards. Social media offers endless possibilities to help your business.

Active social media accounts using paid ads, organic posts, or blog promotion will help increase brand awareness and reach for your business.

The short answer: it depends. While Facebook is a great starting point, we like to get to know each client on an individual basis. Because every brand is unique, deciding which platform(s) to spend time on relies on factors like where your audience is, what products and/or services your business provides and the goals you wish to achieve.

On most platforms, it’s best to post at least twice a week, but some social media outlets are an exception. Twitter and Pinterest can be more frequent if your team has the time and the content to post. At Blue Compass, we post on Twitter daily, whether it’s socializing a blog, office event or relevant curated content. Another great way to stay top-of-mind is utilizing Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram Stories. Stories only last 24 hours, so you have the opportunity to create a sense of urgency and exclusivity with your content without being too excessive.

A post is content you share on social media for your followers to see organically. An ad is a paid post to target an audience outside of your followers based on demographics and interests. Because most social media algorithms limit the number of followers who see your business’ content organically, we recommend promoting important or relevant posts to guarantee more people will see them. Another great indicator of a post that should be promoted is one that performs well organically. If it’s doing well on it’s own, putting money behind it will increase its reach.

It’s difficult to put an exact number on what your social media marketing budget should be, but there are some limitations in certain platforms. For example, you need to spend at least $10 each day you advertise on Facebook. We don’t put ad spend behind everything we release on social channels, but when we do, we put at least $25 behind our content. Obviously, more spend will usually get you more results, but a little can go a long way. We recommend starting with a lower budget and testing ads to see what works best for your brand.

The answer to this question depends again on what your business makes and what your demographic is. Each social media platform is enticing in its own way, but use the wrong type of content on the wrong audience and you’ll be labeled unprofessional.

All platforms support embeddable multimedia content and text descriptions, but on some it’s also acceptable to post text-only updates. Facebook and Twitter also support live video, which is something to keep in mind if your brand has a strong visual identity. Snapchat and Instagram also put a lot of focus on the visual content, but these two platforms are worth considering only if you take the B2C road. Given the main purpose of LinkedIn, updates unrelated to the professional life will be frowned upon.

Here’s where the difference between quality and quantity becomes obvious. Posting frequent updates where you’re asking people to follow you or to bring in more followers is obviously not going to work. Buying followers might sound like an enticing solution, but it’s not a viable one. Paid followers aren’t particularly known for engaging with content, and neither are they loyal.

You can drive engagement by delivering high-quality content to the right people at the right time. Creative and unique content will more than just that. It can also determine your followers to share it with their family members, friends or professional contacts. If this turns into a snowball you can’t stop from rolling (not that you’d want to), your content has gone viral. Read more on how to use 5 ingredients for engaging visual content marketing campaigns.

Social media has changed the way businesses communicate with consumers. It’s no longer necessary for a consumer to pick up the phone to learn about your products or services.

Potential clients can now find all the information they need with just the click of a mouse. Creating a social media presence for your business allows you to connect with consumers in a more personal way than traditional media allowed for. It also allows you to meet them on their terms and in the location they feel most comfortable spending time.

The best thing to do is to be active. Pick a few sites that are well-suited to your interests or to the content that you want to promote, and be active every day. Vote for others, leave comments, add friends, and submit content.

Social media marketing involves promoting your content and engaging with your target audience on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. Digital marketers use social media to increase brand awareness, generate more leads, and improve customer engagement.

Here are our top 15 challenges of social media marketing:

–   Developing a social media strategy

–   Increasing audience engagement

–   Declining organic reach

–   Rising costs of advertising

–   Cutting through the noise

–   Building authentic connections

–   Extending your reach

–   Creating original content

–   Creating high-quality visuals

–   Getting people to share

–   Complying with industry regulations

–   Adapting to algorithm changes

–   Getting noticed in overcrowded feeds

–   Keeping up with the latest trends

–   Lack of people and resources

Social media marketing is right for all businesses, large and small. Many small businesses focus on individual customers and building a community. Social media platforms are ideal for that as you can connect with and engage customers one-to-one or in groups. You can build brand awareness and retain customer loyalty by engaging with your audience.

Try these 7 creative ways to improve your social media marketing strategy:

–   Develop a multichannel approach.

–   Invest in influencer marketing.

–   Engage commenters as quickly as possible.

–   Amplify reach through look-alike audiences.

–   Measure strategy success through on-platform and on-site measurement.

–   Create a clear and unique brand identity.

–   Find creative ways to delight people.

If you define results as followers and engagement, our clients normally notice an increase in followers and engagement within the first 30 days. The results should continue to increase each month.

We recommend our clients to try this service for at least 6-12 months to see a noticeable impact on conversions. This is because the main focus of our social media management service is to develop your brand’s followers, engagement, and word-of-mouth. If you want to focus on driving conversions in the short-term, you should consider using our paid social advertising services.