Every startup tech company wants to build a social media empire around their business, but there's one secret you'll need to know in order to do it.
Social media marketing is becoming increasingly important in the realm of business growth. While some analysts suspect that social media might be a temporary fad in terms of its marketing potential, in actuality it's more likely that social media will continue to grow in influence as more platforms emerge. It's tough to stay on top of every trend as they come out, but without a baseline social strategy, odds are your startup tech company will get lost in the dust of your competitors.
Social media isn't some magic remedy for your marketing dilemmas. It's also not something you can just "turn on," and expect to see results. But with regular updates and enough time and strategy invested in your efforts, you can turn your presence into a widely influential empire.
That being said, there is one secret that most brands overlook in a mad rush to try and establish a dominant social presence. All social media strategies need to have a bank of quality content and some sort of peripheral value for followship, but the one secret that drives a successful social media empire is engagement.
Engagement can take many forms, but without it, your social media presence will undoubtedly fall flat. While there isn't a hard set of rules that defines how and how often you should engage with your audience, you should pay close attention to the type of audience you're working with and how they decide to respond.
Some of the best ways to engage with your audience include:
•Responding to any and all posts and comments on your profiles
•Sending friendly direct messages to followers you know--not sales requests
•Offering deals or discounts for loyal followers
•Encouraging conversations with thoughtful questions or topic introductions
•Sharing content from influencers and top followers
When you commit to an engagement strategy, you'll gradually build up a host of loyal, attentive followers and create a social media empire that will grow and sustain your company for years.
Jose Vasquez is the founder of Quez Media Marketing and author of Build. Brand. Blast. Jose graduated from Goldman Sachs' 10,000 Small Businesses program. Goldman Sachs is a partner of the What Is Working: Small Businesses section.
Follow Jose: