The problem with marketing on social media is that everybody tends to follow the same strategy. From paying for advert placement to using keywords to reach your ideal audience, the fact that all of your competitors are doing the same things as you means that all too often, success has nothing to do with the quality of your campaign. Instead, it all comes down to your advertising budget. That’s why the biggest players remain the biggest players, and it’s difficult for newer or smaller businesses to break through.
It doesn’t make good business sense to try to beat the biggest companies at their own game, because their superior resources make that a battle that you usually can’t win. Instead of wasting your time and money trying to do that, the smart thing to do is come up with a campaign or strategy that none of your competitors are using. That requires a little ‘outside the box’ thinking, which is why we’ve put this article full of ideas together for you!
As positive as we are about the potential usefulness of these ideas, do please remember that none of them is a guarantee when it comes to breaking through or connecting with your audience. There’s no ‘magic bullet’ with marketing – every time you try a new tactic, you’re doing the equivalent of taking the reels for a spin on an online website like Rose Slots. The two processes are highly comparable; when you pay your money and take your chances on a game of online slots, you don’t know whether it was worth your cash to do so until the spin is over. Smart players always check the odds before they play online slots, but even then, there’s no guarantee you’ll walk away a winner. These tips aren’t guaranteed wins, but they might just improve your odds a little!
Host An ‘Any Questions Answered’ Session
The best social media marketing campaigns shouldn’t just look good – they should engage with your audience, open up conversations, and attract responses. The best way to open up a conversation is to start one, and what better way to start one than hosting an ‘any question answered’ session? This idea has been proven to work on Reddit’s ‘Ask Me Anything’ forums, which have attracted participation from some of the world’s biggest names in both entertainment and technology. You can either do this as a video call or by text alone, using a well-placed Facebook post or a hashtag on Twitter. Consider using a moderator to weed out any unpleasant or unwanted responses, and advertise your session before it happens to give you the best possible chance of finding a large audience.
Start A Series
The best box sets you’ve ever binged were enjoyable because the end of each episode got you excited to see the next one. That’s why you end up still watching them at 2 am, long after you promised yourself you would go to bed! We don’t mean you have to come up with scripted drama videos, though. Think about what aspect of your business or industry could be reviewed or explained over a series of informative clips, and broadcast them on the same day and the same time every week. When people know when and where to expect something, they’re more likely to make the time to watch it.
Host Regular Competitions
People love winning things, or receiving goods or services for free. That’s why it’s important that you come up with something that you can give away regularly to attract new customers to your brand. Even people who’ve never interacted with you before will be drawn to your brand by a competition; some people even latch on to every competition that rolls through cyberspace and make a career out of it! If audiences know that you host regular giveaways, they’ll keep checking your accounts to find out when the next one is. You might even get some free press coverage from this – if the prize is big enough, your local newspaper might want to cover the contest and present the winner as a ‘good news’ story. That’s why it also makes sense to tip the local media off that you’re hosting the competition.
Interview Experts
If you or someone who works at your company is the ultimate expert in your chosen field, you should consider yourself very lucky. That isn’t the case for most companies or people, though. There’s usually someone else out there who’s perceived as being an ‘oracle’ for your industry, and reaching out to them for an interview is never a bad idea. The worst thing they can do is say no! Depending on what you or they are comfortable with, you could either host the interview as a video on your social media feeds, or conduct the interview in text and put it on your website with links to it from social media. Your chosen expert doesn’t necessarily have to promote your company – even just a general chat about the latest news and opinions within your sector should prompt interest. You’ll also pick up a few new followers from the followers that your interviewee already has.
Host Polls
People love to be asked their opinion on pretty much anything, and some will even give you that opinion whether you ask them to or not. That’s why any poll posted on social media has a good chance of gaining traction so long as it’s seen and shared widely enough to get off the ground. Not only will the poll get you some much needed social engagement, but it should also prompt a conversation in the replies to your post as people debate the answers. You could even join in with this conversation and engage with people on a personal level. The best thing about this tip is that the poll doesn’t have to be about anything connected with your company – you could ask people what their favorite biscuit is, and you’d still get responses!
These are just a few little ways to attract a buzz online without spending big money on clicks or views. They’ll help you to build a following organically and attract natural, conversational responses. Engaging with people is how to get your company’s name into their heads without trying to sell them anything, and that might be the most effective type of marketing there is. Try it out and see how you get on!
