Having a presence on social media is important for businesses. No matter who your customers are, people buy from businesses they trust, and social media is an excellent way to build up that trust. That said, it isn’t always easy for brands to successfully use social media to the best of their ability. Here are the top social media challenges businesses face and how to overcome them.

1. Developing a Strategy

For brands, having a social media strategy is a crucial part of using these platforms successfully as tools to further their business.

What is a social media strategy?

Businesses have a social media strategy to organize and plan their presence online. While individuals can haphazardly post on social media, businesses don’t have the time or resources to do the same. Instead, having a strategy gives your brand, team, and social media manager guidance on how, when and why to show up on social media.

What are your goals and how will you get there?

A key part of a social media strategy is your goals. Are you looking for a particular follower count or engagement rate? Will you be tracking sales that come from social?

Once you have your goals in place, you need to address the personnel and technological needs that will help you meet those goals. Begin with human resources. You can choose to stay in-house by employing a social media coordinator, or outsource the work to a social media agency. 

No matter which personnel option you choose, the person managing your social media accounts will likely use planning apps such as Later, Hootsuite or Planoly. There are many tools that help you save time and create better posts online.

You’ll also want a plan to track your success. To do this, look back at your goals and determine which social media metrics apply. Then, track them each month or week to see how well your posts are performing to meet your goals.

2. Growing your Following

Once you have your strategy, it’s time to grow a following. No matter your goals, you need to have enough people following you to make an impact. To grow your following, you need to use social media best practices to attract people to your page.

Use an Instagram growth tool like Kicksta.

Choose the right tool that can help you grow your following organically with real followers, not fake bots or spam accounts that won’t engage with your page.

Post consistently.

When you decide your social media strategy, choose how frequently you intend to post and on what schedule. You’ll teach your followers when to expect posts from you.

Create quality posts. 

On top of being consistent, your posts should be high-quality and either give your followers something to think about or some new knowledge they didn’t know before.

Make engaging content.

No matter what platform you use or what type of content you create, it needs to be engaging. Your captions, Stories, IGTV, and more should all be captivating and make your followers want to engage.

Implement a quality bio.

Your bio is critical to growing your following. Every potential follower will check it out when deciding if they want to follow you. Have a clear profile picture, a description that tells who you are, and resources like highlights and call to action buttons that show who you are.

3. Converting Followers to Customers 

Now that you have your followers, you can convert them into customers in a few ways. First, you can use a link in bio tool such as url.bio to easily connect your followers to shoppable pages on your website.

It’s also a good idea to take advantage of shoppable posts and Stories. Create a catalog and link your products directly within your Instagram posts and Stories so people can buy from the app. 

You can also use IGTV to promote new products and services, as well as share tutorials to showcase how best to use your products. Finally, by partnering with influencers, you can help broaden your audience with people who are ready to buy.

Putting it All Together

By having a plan, growing your following and using clear calls-to-action, you can use social media to the fullest for your brand. Businesses might have to be strategic when it comes to social media, but it can still be an incredibly valuable tool if you use it correctly. By following these steps, you can easily overcome these challenges and find new followers and customers online.