SALT LAKE CITY — In 2018, having a good social media strategy is essential to any company’s success. It’s the way businesses reach out to people and show them what they’re all about.

Here are five things every successful brand does on social media. Try out some of these tactics to connect properly with potential customers and build your online following.

1. They do research

Understanding your target audience is vital to your business, and it’s especially important when you’re trying to implement a good social media strategy. If you want your brand to attract followers online, you need to know what people want — and that requires research.

You may intuitively have a decent understanding of your target audience, but it’s important to learn as much as possible about the type of online content they’re likely to engage with so you can adjust your approach accordingly.

2. They’re consistent

A good social media strategy is a consistent social media strategy. Sporadically posting updates whenever you feel like it won’t help you build your brand’s online following. You should have some kind of posting schedule, even if you’re only posting a couple times a week.

The internet is a fast-paced world, and it’s important that you keep up. Consistency on social media also means having a safe and dependable internet connection to respond to comments and messages in a timely fashion.

Facebook has a feature where visitors to your page can see how long it typically takes you to reply to messages. Try to respond within a day every time so people know you’re available to talk if they have any questions, problems or comments about your company.

3. Their voice is relatable

Social media is built on people connecting with each other and relating to their experiences. When brands sound too business-like on social platforms, they rarely get good engagement because they aren’t offering their audience anything of interest.

Spend some time deciding what you want your company’s online voice to sound like. It can be professional but never dry and boring — and it shouldn’t rely on people having an existing interest in your brand.

It can seem daunting adopting a more casual, relatable tone on social media because you don’t want to sacrifice professionalism, but companies like Wendy’s have benefitted enormously from doing so.

Help people learn what your brand is about by humanizing it. Humor is a great way to do this, and it’s an incredibly helpful tool when you’re building an online following for your business, as it can make your content more interesting to a wider audience.

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4. They know how to target content to the right demographics

Tools like Facebook’s Ads Manager have made it easier for brands to connect with the right people, and your company should take advantage of these tools when building an online following. If you’ve done your research, you already know what your target audience is interested in, and you can customize your posts to those people, increasing the likelihood of them engaging with you.

You should also use analytics for each platform to learn if you’re reaching people effectively. Make sure your social media pages are business accounts since this account type will give you access to more of these analytics and better help you measure the success of your strategy.

5. They don’t ignore criticism

Social media is a great way to address your customers’ criticisms. Don’t be afraid to respond to negative comments about your company. Use this feedback as an opportunity to find out what you could be doing better and make it clear to those criticizing that you care about their feedback and want to make things better.

For example, you can say, “We’re sorry to hear about your negative experience, and we appreciate you letting us know about it. Please message us with your information so we can make it up to you.”

A message as simple as this one can do wonders for your company’s public relations and stop you from losing loyal customers.

Whatever type of business you have, your social media strategy can have a big impact on your success, so make sure you devote appropriate time to it. That might mean hiring someone who really knows their stuff or spending more time learning about good social media strategy.

Try to find companies like yours that do a good job with social media and use them as examples to improve your own strategy. Building a solid online presence for your brand may take time and patience, but the benefits are more than worth it.

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