5 Social-Media Hacks to Boost Your Brand Starting Right Now The work you are doing already can bring far more results with a few artful tweaks.
By Brett Relander Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest are slowly moving toward the concept of ecommerce integration. Savvy brands have already found creative work-arounds that make it possible to hack social media sites to fuel their growth campaigns. Take a look at the social media hacks that you can implement today.
1. Sell products on Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook.
While you are not allowed to actually sell items directly on social media posts on these sites, you can take advantage of the opportunity to utilize an in-stream social media storefront to draw attention to your products on these heavily trafficked sites. Shoppost is one tool that makes it easier for store owners to do just that. Along with helping you to get noticed, ShopPost also provides insight into your audience by providing detailed statistics and analytics. Another similar tool is the Like2Buy button, made available by Curalate. With this tool, you can link to products from sale on your Instagram, Pinterest or Tumblr profile.
Related: To Sell Products to Millennials, First Invite Them To Help Develop It
2. Live stream a video.
Live stream videos are becoming increasingly popular as a marketing device. With tools such as Brandlive, you can take advantage of the opportunity to leverage the power of video and your Facebook page. According to Brandlive, they are bridging the gap between physical products and digital audiences. In addition to a live stream video, you can also share links to items that you choose to include in your broadcast.
3. Highlight your reviews.
It is no secret that consumers are drawn to reviews. eMarketer reports that 86 percent of consumers feel that reviews are trustworthy. With so much emphasis placed on reviews, why not take advantage of the opportunity to share your reviews on social media? An easy way to do so is with tools such as ServiceKick or GetKudos, both of which provide the opportunity to collect and share reviews online.
Related: How to Best Utilize Your Positive Customer Feedback
4. Ask your fans and followers to help.
It's not enough to just assume that your fans and followers will take action on social media. You need to be precise and tell them what it is that you want them to do. Politely, of course. Just taking a few simple steps can help to increase your growth and your engagement on social media platforms. On Facebook, use such words as comment, share and like in all of your posts. If you are using Twitter, ask your followers to retweet and help to spread the word. To make Call To Actions (CTAs) even easier to implement, include easy sharing buttons on all of your website and blog posts. Another great way to grow your fan base is to include a Facebook Like box on your website. By adding this tool, any time someone visits your website and they are logged into Facebook, they will also see their friends who are fans of your site, and can opt to also become a fan with just the click of a button. Even better, they do not need to leave your site to do so.
5. Monitor trending hashtags.
Trending hashtags can provide a gold mine of opportunity, if you monitor them carefully. By making a connection with your brand, you can ensure that your social media handle will be visible when users search tweets and other posts related to specific hashtags, ultimately enabling you to acquire new users. Remember to make certain you actually understand what the hashtag is about to ensure relevancy. Tools such as SproutSocial can help you to stay on top of trending hashtags.
