Everyone knows that social media is a crucial aspect of business marketing, but many businesses fail to implement effective social media strategy.

As a result, their social media profiles become a pit where they throw hours and hours of valuable time.

Let's take a look at a few simple strategies that can make social media more effective, so you can grow your brand without wasting time.

1. Find the platform your audience is most present & active on

This is a crucial step in making your social media strategy effective. If you’re posting on platforms that none of your potential customers are using, you are essentially giving a speech to an empty room.

Consider your target demographic - what is their age & gender, and what content are they looking for?

A fashion boutique would likely want to use visual platforms like Instagram and TikTok that appeal to younger audiences.

A financial advisory firm, on the other hand, would want to opt for platforms like LinkedIn and YouTube, where they could attract professionals looking for industry insights.

With any content you create, you have to be mindful of who it’s being created for, and where those people are looking for it.

Many business owners end up posting on every platform possible, thinking that it will get them more views. But this will become overwhelming quickly. If you own a retirement planning firm, then posting on TikTok will likely be a complete waste of your precious time, because your audience is not present on TikTok.

Instead, pick 1 or 2 core platforms that most of your audience is present and active on, and create high quality, engaging content specifically for those platforms. Then, you can always experiment with other platforms down the road if you have extra bandwidth.

2. Lead with value

Businesses often think of social media as a tool used to promote their products and drive more sales. I believe there needs to be a mindset shift here.

Instead of just selling your services, think of how you can use social media to provide as much free value as possible to your client base.

Businesses should prioritize providing value to their audience over solely focusing on selling because value-driven interactions build trust, foster loyalty, and establish long-term relationships.

By offering helpful content, solving problems, and engaging authentically, businesses can position themselves as trusted advisors rather than just another sales pitch. So instead of posting another promotional product photo, try posting a piece of educational content that is relevant to your industry and that could benefit members of your audience.

Value driven content also taps into the psychological aspect of reciprocity. When you give something valuable to something without expecting them to give anything back, they’ll naturally feel an obligation to return the value to you.

So if you can give your audience free, valuable information, they’ll be more likely to reciprocate by purchasing from you.

By focusing on providing value to your client base through your social media strategy, you can build stronger relationships, foster trust and loyalty, and ultimately drive business growth and success.

3. Focus on photos and videos, not graphics

People like seeing people. It’s as simple as that. If you post a photo of a person, it will get way more engagement than posts of text.

When I visit your Instagram page, I want to see photos of real people enjoying your products and services. I want to see your employees enjoying their work. I want to get an authentic view of what your business is really like.

Graphic posts are any photo you post that is text based, like an infographic or an illustration. These are usually designed on apps like Canva.

While Canva is an incredible tool that I use often, you have to be careful to not become over-reliant on graphic posts.

If you aren’t seeing much growth on social media, try simply posting more photos of people, and chances are you’ll see a strong uptick in engagement.

4. Keep it consistent

To build an effective brand, you have to build a consistent brand. Making your marketing consistent tells your audience “this is who I am, and this is what you can expect from me”.

By maintaining consistency in visual elements (colors, fonts, and imagery) across your social media, you establish a strong brand presence that fosters familiarity and loyalty, professionalism, reliability, and credibility. It also makes it easier for customers to connect with your brand and distinguish it from competitors.

Once you find success in certain types of social media content, post more of it consistently. If you do post graphic posts, use the same branding and colors every time to make your social media profile look natural and well curated.

That's it - 4 simple and effective ways you can use to ensure that the time you spend on social media will make a strong impact on the growth of your business.

You already know how great your business is, but you have to be intentional in building a social media strategy so that people can find you and discover how great you are, too.