There’s no doubt about the fact social media marketing should be a key part of your marketing strategy. According to Marketing Insider Group, the social media statistics speak for themselves. The growth in the number of users on the main social media platforms shows no sign of slowing down, and the number of people in the world who use social media every month is over 3 billion!

For those of you starting out, it can be overwhelming to work out which platform is relevant for your audience, and how to best to engage with them. For current users, it’s more about switching up your social media strategy to stay current. For London businesses in particular, competition is heavy in such a condensed area. Think of restaurants, café’s, shops, bars and larger stores, and those businesses that don’t have, or cannot rely upon, walk-in customers.

Let’s take a closer look at why London businesses need a social media marketing strategy, and the tips to help create engaging content, to distribute via social media.

Reasons for Investing in Social Media Marketing

Trends are Changing Constantly

No matter what generation you’re targeting, platforms fall in and out of favour quickly. With Gen Z, for example, these spenders scroll through posts so quickly, it’s hard to work out how to make an offer stand out? It’s often more productive to employ the kind of Social Media agency London businesses can rely on to help them achieve their objectives – one that will understand user behaviour, consumer habits, and where your audience hangs out.

Build Brand Awareness

Maintianin

Social media is an amazing tool for staying visible and bringing in more customers. In order to really take advantage though, you need a consistent presence on social networks where people can find your content when they search or browse online.

Increase Visibility

If people don’t know about your business, they can’t become your customers. Social media helps to boosts your visibility to more people, and that’s potentially more customers. You can reach a wide audience quite quickly and easily though posting meaningful content regularly. And it’s free to create a business profile on all the major social networks.

Increase Sales

For years, Pinterest and Instagram have allowed you to click a pin or image and go to a linked website to purchase. Now, the capabilities have evolved, giving sellers the opportunity to create seamless buying experiences directly within their social channels. By feeding into impulse shoppers’ mindset and behavior, you can also increase sales via social commerce.

Now that we’ve explored the common reasons, we can head-on into some recommended tips.

Social Media Marketing Tips & Advice

Be Clear about your Outcomes

First of all, think about what you want your social media strategy to achieve. Are you trying to drum up more business for your brick-and-mortar store? Are you looking to attract new customers for your services? When you develop a good understanding of the objective you want to achieve, it can help you best determine which channels to use, and how to use them for maximum effect.

Communicate and Interact Regularly

Social media is conversational and interactive, so keep in touch with your followers and respond timely. Some big brands have grown their followership by creating interesting promotional tweets, showing their efforts of working within communities, helping unhappy customers resolve issues publicly, and so on. Also, there’s another angle to consider. Think if your London business can tap into influencer marketing. Do you have a famous person who could tweet about you, or leave a review?

Influencers play a huge role in boosting the ROI of social and content marketing efforts, and their support could encourage their fanbase to purchase the same products.

Develop a Customer Loyalty Program

Customer loyalty means repeat customers and it’s so much easier to keep a current customer happy, than to attract a new one.  Loyalty builds a constant flow of revenue, and with discount codes and promotional offers, customers may even spend more than they intended. Offering customer rewards will also inspire your followers to share your brand with other potential buyers.

Adopt a Partnership Approach

Is there another London business you can partner with close by? A hairdresser could advertise a nearby beauty salon, and vice versa. Or, an accountancy firm may partner with a legal firm, by leaving brochures in the waiting area. However, you do need to work with a company that offers complementary services, not a competitor.

Analyse your Competition

Checking up on competitors, especially their offers and pricing, could be a sure-fire way to tap into new ideas. You can read their social media updates and see if there’s any promotional activity you could adopt for your business too.

Your social following certainly won’t take off overnight, but the long-term payoff is well worth the effort, especially in a competitive city like London. The key is to stay consistent, stick to your objectives, and don’t give up! And, if you think you could benefit from expert advice, you should certainly consider using a social media agency to help target and monitor your progress.