There are around five billion users of social media worldwide.

With a few simple strategies, you can effectively tap into this vast potential customer base for your business.

If you’re looking to grow your client list, perhaps the best place to turn is social media. With its accessibility, this tool can be incredibly effective for building your credibility, showcasing your expertise, and standing out from the crowd. Follow these guidelines to broadcast your message and significantly expand your reach.

Understand your audience

A key aspect of attracting your target demographic is creating content that will appeal most to them. To determine what that is, look at your competitors’ pages, directly ask your followers what they’d like to see on your pages, and read their comments on your posts. You can also examine the analytics of each social media platform you use or utilize an external tool like Buffer or Zoho Social to access helpful information like your followers’ location, age range, and gender and when they’re most active online. You can then tailor what and when you post according to your findings.

Use video

To get the most engagement, share shortform videos no longer than a minute. These mini clips can efficiently convey information while quickly capturing your audience’s attention and are more likely to go viral. They’re most ideal for showcasing your brand’s personality and introducing new products. You don’t even need expensive equipment to get started; you can create your videos with your smartphone, use the provided editing tools to perfect them, and upload them directly to Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, or another platform. To finesse your videos even more, try a free or low-cost editing program like iMovie or Canva. (For even more tips, check out our guide to improving your videos in this issue.)

Instruct and inform

Providing quality content that educates and inspires can help establish you as a credible expert in your industry and snag new clients. Take, for example, Doug and Elizabeth Simpson, owners of Tenderfoot Natural Dog Training in Boulder, Colorado. Their no-fuss, straight-to-the-point videos feature their adorable pets and demonstrate fundamental dog-owning basics, such as how to hold a leash, feed your pet, and soothe your dog. Through regularly sharing their dog-training insights online, they have amassed more than 63,000 followers on Instagram, along with clients from around the globe.

Be consistent

Growing your following and, consequently, your customer base, requires sticking to a consistent schedule, such as by posting every Monday and Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. When you’re predictable, your followers will know when to expect new content and will come to see you as a reliable and trustworthy resource. Examine your topperforming posts to determine which days and times get better results, then use that information to create a schedule. To help ensure that you stick to it, plan your content in advance and consider using a tool like HootSuite or Sprout Social, which will allow you to preschedule and automate posts across multiple social media accounts at once.

Entertain them

Getting people to stop on your posts as they rapidly scroll through their feeds can be difficult. You’ll need a way to catch their eye, whether it’s by using engaging photos and videos, adding trending or popular music, or displaying a quirky sense of humor. Jess Rona, a dog groomer in Los Angeles with more than one million followers on social media, creates all sorts of unique reels and posts to promote her business, including a video that shows her intensely grooming a client to The Godfather theme, which ends with a windblown glamour shot of the freshly coiffed canine in a dapper collar and tie.

Be personable

Today’s consumers value personal and authentic content, so don’t forget to show your company’s human side. By highlighting the story behind your mission and the people who make up your team, you can help consumers better relate with and trust your brand. There are many ways to do this, including sharing a behind-thescenes look at your company, posting live during important events like product launches, and sharing the work you do for the charitable causes you support.

Engage with others

Social media isn’t a vacuum—rather than simply composing posts, you’ll need to meaningfully interact with your followers and others in your niche or industry. Make it a priority to answer questions promptly, which can both position you as an expert and boost the rapport between you and potential new customers. In addition, share the testimonials and success stories clients disclose about your brand. Doing so can encourage others to convey their own positive experiences with your brand, in turn attracting even more customers to it.

Offer more

Continue the conversation with your followers by including a call to action in your posts. This could include asking them to visit your website or including links to your products in your posts. For instance, the Simpsons highlight their four-part, eight-hour training video in their Instagram profile, encouraging followers to check it out. They also include a link in their bio that allows visitors to get access to multiple resources, such as their shop or latest blog post, with just one click. Social media can powerfully boost your brand, but it can take time. With persistent effort and some trial and error, though, you can grow your following and turn these followers into loyal customers.

TAKE ACTION:
Brainstorm ideas for a short video you can create to express your brand’s personality.