Not a single person who owns a smartphone that is not on social media. Well, most of them are. The opportunities are endless. We can reach more with social media nowadays.

Tech companies are offering detailed targeting to help you reach customers that are interested in your products or services. And these ads are cheap too.

Simply say, we live in an age where social media is a huge part of our social interactions personally, commercially and professionally.

Research has shown that about 70% of consumers search for products they need to buy on Instagram and Facebook. The numbers will only increase as time goes on.

Social media has become a tremendous influence on our lives

Social media was initially created to connect people with their friends and families. They can always connect with each other anytime no matter where they are in the world.

Social media totally transformed the way we communicate with each other. Businesses got creative and jumped into the trend of connecting with consumers through social media in ways we could never imagine.

We now buy through social media and many other places online. Brands are spending their marketing effort online where their target customers are hanging out.

Social media is a trend that keeps moving up and if you're not investing your effort in building a successful social media presence, you're basically leaving money on the table.

Social media presence vs social media marketing

There's a difference between social media presence and social media marketing. And you should not confuse the two.

The end result of marketing is always sales. Always. That's why brands invest a substantial amount on social media marketing because they are super targeted and the ROI is high.

In social media marketing, brands usually sell online. They have their funnels in place to make sales. It's different from social media presence.

Social media presence simply focuses on presence. Your objectives may not include sales but it will always include meaningful engagements. Focusing on social media presence is actually better when competitions are sky-high.

Social media presence simply work on getting attention. You don't have to move your audience down the funnel because they will move by themselves if you do it right.

That's the difference. Social media marketing will constantly promote content that moves your customers down the funnel to make sales.

Social media presence builds trust and credibility with your followers and fans. And that eventually leads to sales. That's a model I prefer in all my marketing efforts.

Give value and build trust first before selling. But that doesn't necessarily work for every business. You have to find what works for you.

Practical steps of growing your social media presence

Now we dive deeper into how to grow your social media presence. Keep in mind that these steps won't show you how to eventually get sales in social media. What we focus on is the engagements and the impact of your social presence.

#1 Find out where your audiences are

Different industries have different audiences. And these audiences hang out at certain places online. You can always do some Google searches to answer this question.

Let's say you're in the creative writing industry. The best platform where your audiences might be hanging out would be LinkedIn. Because that's where most business owners are hanging out.

As a creative writer, you should target these businesses that have a higher chance of needing your service. That's why LinkedIn has greater success in growing your presence.

Your audiences might hang out on other platforms. But the key here is the intent of your target audience.

They won't be looking for your service on Instagram as they would when they're on LinkedIn. Because the intent is not the same. That's one of the key considerations.

You don't have to be present on all platforms. Find one that will bring you the best chance of succeeding.

#2 Understand the channel you're using

Every social media channel has its own way of socializing. Facebook is different from Instagram just as Twitter is different from Snapchat.

No matter what channel you're using, it's important that you study how it works and what is the trend that you can use to triple the impact of your presence.

• Facebook - groups and pages that promote engagements
• Instagram - user-generated content to maximize social proof
• Twitter - memes and thoughtful tweets to get people talking
• Pinterest - pins that help people to solve their problems

These are some examples of how the platforms work best. It's also important to study the types of content that are trending and working on those platforms. Creativity is your only limit.

#3 Research the types of successful content

There are definitely people who do well on the platform you choose. These are the people whom we call influencers.

Their average post would receive three times more engagements than yours. That's how successful they are on the platform. They dominate it.

But there's no time for despair for if you work hard enough, you'll get there eventually. Go over those influencers' profiles in your industry and study their content.

• What are the types of content that are working well?
• What topics are engaging to your audiences?
• How will I create similar content and get more engagements?

These three questions will bring you a long way in creating your content strategy. Why content? It's to attract the attention of your target audience.

You're not trying to sell or promote your stuff. You're just trying to get attention and possibly socialize with them to grow your presence.

#4 Make your content interesting

Many articles out there will tell you to research and create something similar but better. I say to create something unique but similar.

There's a difference and let me give you a relevant example.

So, you know who are the influencers in your industry and you studied why their content worked so well.

Let's say a how-to post works very well and people are liking and commenting and sharing the post. What should you do?

Most people will simply write what's on the post and add in a few key points to make it longer. Not a good idea.

What you should do is to imitate the style of that post but in your own words, your own experiences. That's unique but similar.

Every now and then people complained that they have seen this article or content somewhere. That's boring for some of your audiences. They want something fresh and new.

And that's how you get their attention if you do something unique but similar. People become curious and interested in something they don't already know.

Create content around your business and how their problems can be solved.

#5 Pay attention to your distribution

Different platform favors different types of content. So you have to pay attention to the details here or face the consequences of getting zero engagements.

You should create different types of content for different platforms as the intent is different. And make sure you put the effort to distribute your content accordingly. It's not a post-and-pray kind of thing.

That won't work. Content distribution is as important as your content quality. And the most effective way to content distribution is leverage.

There are profiles or accounts or pages or groups that are more successful than yours. You can find ways to collaborate or piggyback their followings to reach wider audiences.

Of course, they have to be relevant. You can't expect to get more engagements when you post something on marketing on a fashion blog, right?

Another efficient method of content distribution is word-of-mouth. You should include your audience in your content creation strategy. They'll probably share it out to their friends and families.

There are other ways to distribute your content. But I found out that these two methods are by far the most effective way in my content distribution.

#6 Measure, optimize and repeat

The best optimization is to simply do better versions of your content. But do pay attention to the trends on the platform you're using.

Use your analytics tool to measure your content performance so that you can produce more and better content like those.

Don't go all over the places to measure your analytics. Set a goal in mind and measure based on those goals. Make your analytics simple.

Your analytics are based on your goals and objectives. It's a mistake to optimize based on pure analytics. Sometimes, you don't get what you want.

The ultimate goal is social presence not so much of likes and comments.

Nowadays, content = presence

If you're not making content, you're non-existent in the online world. You may have an account or profile but if you don't post anything or commenting or liking other people's content.

You don't exist. Enough said. The Internet is noisy and crowded. We are fighting for attention. You have a wonderful business and you should tell the world you exist.

You have to make yourself known to even have a fighting chance. And your success depends on your online presence which is your content.

Social media is all about engaging content and socializing. You should always be posting and engaging to be on top of your audiences' minds.

Conclusion

Your social media presence will do wonders for your business. However, your success depends on the effectiveness of your social media presence. Social media presence requires more than a post-and-pray strategy. So sit down and map out the stuff that you need to make your social media presence a success.