Do you handle marketing and communications management for your brand?

Are you a small business owner looking for new and creative ways to expand your customer base?

Do you have social media platforms to promote your product line but you’re not sure how to effectively boost your campaigns?

If you’ve answered “yes” to any of these questions, you’re not alone. These are common issues faced by entrepreneurs and business people all over the world.

Whenever you’re uncertain about how you can grow your list of leads and clients in new ways, you may be hesitant to fully commit to new alternatives.

However, effectively using social media is one of the most rapid and effective ways that you can expand your message to thousands (if not millions) of new ears.

By implementing these seven tips, you will be able to effectively and quickly navigate the world of social media advertising to grow your fan base and build your brand at a rate you never thought possible.

Here’s how to get started:

Tip #1: Know Where Your Target Audience Spends Their Time

The first step in converting customers using social media is to know your target audience.

Depending on your business, you may have more than one target audience.

This means that there may be different social media platforms you need to access each demographic.

Research the demographics of each platform to understand where your ideal customer is spending their time.

For example, if your target audience is older professionals, you will likely find that Linkedin is the way to go.

If it is young teenage girls looking to buy makeup then Instagram or Snapchat are going to be more ideal.

Knowing is half the battle. If you know where your customers are congregating, your campaigns will have a higher success rate right out of the gate.

Tip #2: Set Aside a Budget

When using social media platforms, Facebook FB +0.33% especially, you’re going to need to set aside a decent sum of money (a minimum of $1,000 or 25% of your marketing budget) to truly use the platform to its full effect.

However, you should spend that budget slowly, testing as much as possible to truly get a feel for what works and what doesn’t before you start spending copious amounts of money on campaigns that may or may not convert.

Remember, the bigger the budget, the more people will see your post.

First, however, you must validate your ideas, products, and campaigns.

So start small and experiment with paid promotion to see if it creates the desired results.

Tip #3: Create Stellar Content

A key to converting customers via social media is to post exceptional content that they want to read, watch, or listen to.

Are you selling a fitness product? Show before and after pictures on Instagram and write out free workouts that they can try for themselves.

Do you a run a pet grooming service?

Use Facebook to tell short stories of families and pets whose lives have been made easier because of your service. (Don’t forget the cute pet photos and videos.)

Your social media posts must offer customers value. The more trust you build through incredible free content, the more likely customers will be to spend money with you and your brand.

Tip #4: Tell a Real Story

Social media is all about storytelling. A good story sticks with anyone no matter what social media platform you are using, aim to tell a good story every time you publish a post.

Remember Subway ?

They told the story of Jared Fogle, a man who had struggled to lose weight, and who, through using their product and their product only, was able to overcome a lifetime struggle almost pain free.

Now, because of a story, they forever became ingrained in the minds of the country as the fast food restaurant for healthy people.

You can’t hear the phrase “Eat Fresh” without thinking of Jared…. And that is the power of good storytelling.

Tip #5: Create Incentives

Want new potential customers to give you their email addresses?

Hold a contest or giveaway on social media and make email address part of the entry.

Invite customers to answer a trivia question and leave their answer in the comment section below a post. Pick a random winner.

Hold their hand as they navigate through your site, guiding them every step of the way with interactive design.

Use Twitter TWTR +1.25% to ask potential customers to retweet your post for a chance to win a free service.

You get the idea.

Make it fun and exciting for new customers to participate, and they may end up becoming a loyal customer in addition to promoting your brand.

Tip #6: Just Get Started

Any top marketer will tell you that if you’re not using social media to drive customers to your site to fill their shopping carts, then you’re missing out on a huge profit margin.

With 1.65 billion active users on Facebook alone, and hundreds of millions on other popular platforms like Instagram and Twitter, you are losing money and potential growth by avoiding these platforms.

Social media allows you to easily and sometimes freely reach millions of people with your message, and if you become proficient enough, it will allow you to convert them into loyal, raving, paying fans.

Conclusion

The first step is literally just to try out one platform like Facebook and see how it goes. ‘

Deploy a strategy that makes sense for your targeted audience and don’t be afraid to change strategies if you find things aren’t working.

Give it a go, keep at it, and encourage your new fans and future customers to spread the word about your brand, your products and your services.

The traditional word-of-mouth approach has been revolutionized by social media and by taking the first step and getting started, you are well on your way to maximizing its power.

Article written by Neil Patel of Forbes.