Establishing social media presence can be a challenging task for many companies, especially given the rapid rise of social media - not to mention the multitude of marketing channels on each social media platform.

There's no doubt that for your social media campaigns to work, having a strong, solid presence is a necessity. If you feel like stepping into the social media scene is a bit scary and intimidating, then follow along to see how you can build your social media presence.

What is Social Media Presence?

Social media presence is how recognisable a brand is within social media platforms and how connected it is with its community. The stronger your presence is, the more trust you can establish with your audience.

By having a solid social media presence, your brand can:

• Boost brand recognition

• Create a community

• Sell products and offer services

• Check how users feel about a brand and provide social customer service

• Advertise goods and services to a specific audience

• Keep track of how your campaigns are doing and make changes as needed

How to Grow Your Social Media Presence:

Having a strong online social media presence can help your business to grow and prosper. Here are some great ways for your business to improve its social media presence, and help your business to expand in unimaginable ways.

Consistent branding

We all know that one of the biggest reasons that any brand utilises marketing activities is to make their brand more well-known. When brands create content, you want users to read it, interact with it, share it and most importantly be remembered. Having consistent branding across all social media platforms can help to consolidate your brand persona and messaging.

Your brand identity consists of your logo, banners, fonts, colour palettes, slogans, values etc. You should aim to conduct regular social media audits to ensure that your content is aligned with your brand guidelines. Consistency also relates to how you portray your brand as a whole. Be clear within your brand guidelines, to make sure they are clear and concise and are routinely followed.

Get to know your audience

Having a strong understanding of your target audience and who you are trying to communicate with on social media can help you figure out what types of content they want to see. Keep an eye out and listen to what is happening within your audience to help you in personalising your content to their needs and wants.

A tip for building a strong social media presence is to engage and interact only with your current customers or potential customers. Put yourself into your customer's shoes and figure out what they share, who they follow, and how they engage with content on social media platforms. You can even ask for feedback through a follow-up or post-purchase email.

Maximise each social platform separately

When your brand creates a well-integrated multi-channel social media strategy, you'll be able to:

• Get your audience more involved

• Spread the word about your business

• Increase the number and quality of conversions

• Build your social media presence where it really matters

The number of platforms that you are active on with the social media space is irrelevant. Instead, try optimising each account so that it is fully utilised. Think about which social platforms are well-aligned with your current brand persona and industry.

Create positive and engaging posts

Think of your interactions and content as a resume of your work and a reflection of your professional attitude and personality as a whole. To make interesting content, you need to think of new ways to share updates with your network. Try to create content concepts that are out of the box. Avoid focusing on a single topic for an extended period.

By interacting with your audience on social media, you can get them to buy from you again and again. Take your audience behind the scenes or show them what activities you are up to in your community. The modern-day customer looks for brands that are transparent with their audiences and this should be reflected in your content.

I am sure that we have all seen companies using trending hashtags on Twitter to promote their products. Even though it can be embarrassing at times (guilty as charged), it's a great opportunity to join a global conversation. Think about incorporating popular, specific hashtags like #WorldMentalHealthDay or #CharityTuesday to reach a specific audience.

Manage your community

Managing and interacting with your community is one of the most important parts of building your social media presence. If you don't manage your social media community, it's like trying to drive a car that is nearly out of petrol. Take initiative and action towards driving purposeful conversations with your audience.

Keep up with new features and updates

Keeping up to date with social media news and updates can help you stay on top of the algorithm and align your content with what types of content are being prioritised. Have a go at jumping on trends as they can help boost your brand awareness and drive short bursts of traffic. You may be asking, “well how can I utilise trends in my original content”? The answer is simple - always revert to your brand identity and guidelines.

In a nutshell

To build your online social media presence, you need to know what your brand needs and what your audience wants. It may take a long time, but like anything, it can’t happen overnight. Use the tips above and you might just see a whole lot of improvement.

If you need help establishing a solid social media presence, give us a call!

Elephant in the Boardroom is a leading digital marketing agency that can cater to all of your online marketing needs. We have experts in web design and development and talented social media marketers, willing to help you!

You can reach us through our website: www.elephantintheboardroom.com.au