Using Social Media to Gain And Retain Customers

Do you ever come across a young person’s Instagram profile with millions of followers and wonder how they got to be so popular?

Is it really the choreographed dance moves, parent pranks, or melodramatic selfie video confessionals that garner and maintain all that attention? Or is there a patented content formula that strategically influences follower retention?

While it’s practically undeniable that cute puppy and cat videos can unlock hundreds, thousands, perhaps millions of views or likes, attracting and maintaining customers to your company’s social media accounts requires a little more of a game plan than adorable animals.

It’s essential to think of your company’s social media presence as a means of building and enhancing a personalized relationship with customers – a way to humanize your brand, increase engagement with customers, and get to know them better to understand what piques their interest.

Your company’s approach toward social media can make the difference between intriguing a few customers here and there to building hundreds of long-lasting customer relationships. There are many strategies to consider, from the type of social media content your company produces to the scheduling and timing of social media posts.

Here are a few ways your business can utilize social media to help your company attract new attention and generate more leads – all while retaining your current customer base.

1. Post Original, Meaningful Content

One of the biggest misconceptions companies have with social media is that these mediums should only be utilized as channels for advertising or customer service.

You’re not going to gain any new customers with the occasional Facebook post showcasing your new weed wacker product or a buy-one-get-one-free coupon. You have to put in the work first to show that your product or service is valuable and that your company should be the one to provide it.

No matter what products or services your company provides, you have an opportunity to produce original, intriguing social media content with the potential to increase brand awareness, engage your current customers and followers, and attract the interest of new ones.

If your website maintains a weekly or monthly blog, be sure to share new articles across your social media platforms. If you’re a lawn care company, produce a tutorial video on how to keep your grass looking as green as possible. Or, if you’re a used car parts retailer, write a “How to” article on knowing when it’s time to replace your car radiator.

The more meaningful and original content you can produce and share, the more attention, interest, and engagement you can generate amongst existing and potential customers alike.

2. Make Every Character Matter

In addition to creating engaging, compelling content, you also want to avoid making any posts that are too lengthy or wordy. Be sure to keep the character count to a minimum and make every word count, as multiple paragraphs tend to be a visual red flag for followers.

Here’s a general rule of thumb for character count across multiple social media platforms:

• Facebook: 30-60 characters
• Twitter: 70-125 characters
• Instagram: 120-150 characters
• LinkedIn: 200 characters or less
• Pinterest: 175 characters or less (for descriptions)
• YouTube: 1-3 minutes of video

3. Posting Frequency & Schedule

Another common social media issue most companies tend to experience is failing to post content in a frequent or timely manner. The more dormant your Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest accounts are, the less retainment you can expect from current customers.

But it takes more strategy than simply bombarding your customers’ social media feeds with generic content.

There’s a rhyme and reason to sticking to a strict posting schedule on social media. Experts routinely recommend weekday mornings around 10 am as the best times for companies to make a social media post in terms of reaching the biggest audiences and experiencing the highest engagement.

Posting one piece of content every weekday is also the suggested maximum for many companies, as some studies have shown that posting multiple times a day everyday can lead to a possible 50% decrease in engagement.

Bottom line: Create a social media calendar and schedule and stick to it!

4. Track & Analyze Your Metrics

Once you’ve gotten your content production and posting scheduling squared away, the next step is tracking and analyzing your audience metrics to gain an understanding of what’s working and what’s not in regards to how customers are reacting to your social media presence.

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube – all the major social media platforms offer intricate and resourceful analytical data and results, including:

• Times of the day and days of the week where the audience is most engaged
• Total number of added or lost followers per week
• Primary age and gender groups your posts are attracting
• Number of likes and shares every post is averaging
• Total engagement and traffic figures
• Social media metric comparisons with competitors

Tracking and analyzing social media metrics allows you to see the times and days that your posts receive the most attention and break down the demographics of your social media followers, providing insight into which avenues are creating the most engagement with your customers – and which strategies don’t seem to be adding any customer traction.

6. Supplement with Paid Social Media

While everything mentioned above is essentially the long-term strategy of gaining and retaining a social media following, there are certainly more efficient avenues to explore that can provide immediate social media results.

Paid social media campaigns allow your company to target your preferred audiences effectively and help your social media posts reach their feeds. Paid ads also allow for a more customized digital marketing strategy – perfect for helping your business enhance its social media presence and build on its existing following.

Paid social media campaigns will work toward improving all of the following aspects of your social media presence:

• Reconnect with previous customers or past website visitors
• Increase website traffic, lead conversions, and brand awareness
• Increase and expand your social following
• Spread awareness in regards to promotions, opportunities, and sales
• Reach new audiences and build long-lasting customer relationships

This is a social media marketing strategy that’s perfect for companies that are just starting to focus more on expanding their social media presence.

7. Gain & Retain More Customers With Social Media Management

Social media allows companies to directly engage, communicate, and cater to their customers’ interests, concerns, and habits. Your social media channels can provide a direct bridge toward connecting with your existing customers while also increasing your online visibility to attract new clients.

At Triton Commerce, we provide companies with custom social media management strategies, tools, and solutions, to ensure that you’re retaining and reaching customers of both old and new.

Contact us today to learn more about our social media management services and how they can help expand and enhance your brand!