Seven ideas for making social media deliver commercial gains

Representative image

In the previous two issues of Smart Growth, we have discussed the planning stage for social media activities and five simple steps to promote your business. In this edition, I am going to discuss how commercial gains can be made from social media activities. It is not for mere branding that Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) should use social media. Meta, formerly Facebook, has introduced several initiatives to capture the SME sector business.

The social commerce market in India is around $1 billion, driven by Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, Trell and Chingari. More than 65 percent of users traded on these platforms, and the remaining shopped at Meesho, GlowRoad, Dealshare, Shop101 and so on.

So, how do you go about capitalising on a social media foray? Here are some guidelines:

1 Experiment with different formats

Sticking to just one format is not good as many things are dynamic on social media. Do not just post texts; mix them up with video, digital images and so on. Reels are good for Instagram, for instance. The idea is to learn what works in your case for different content and platforms. Although messages with pictures or video are expected to fare better, well-planned texts can work well in some cases on Twitter.

Most social media platforms use algorithms to check content diversity while placing the feeds on a user’s page. Sticking to one format may endanger your chances of getting placed in your target audience. Keep rotating your formats for better targeting and Opportunity To See (OTS). In addition, keep captions for your video, etc for better viewership.

2 Identify the best tools for your commercial success

Successful social media marketers use tools that can automate and simplify their work. Increase your efficiency by using tech tools such as the ones that manage engagements, data analysis, graphics and content. You can check online for the right tools for each. For content management, there is Pocket. There are tools like Hotsuite, SocialPilot, Buffer and Loomly for multiple function management.

3 Watch out for new trends and shifts

Do not follow all the trends that come up for the sake of getting “viral-lucky”. Evaluate each trend and go back to analysing how it could be made useful for you.

One mutual fund company recently tweeted a love story video, calling it a story only trading folks can understand. Most people watched it for the challenge and curiosity only to find that it was just ploy to watch their ad. Such tricks won’t help in driving a commercial outcome.

By monitoring what others are doing and what audiences are “liking” on social media, you can curate your content in the right for commercial gains.

When global travel was constrained in 2020, most social media users were reading about local travel ideas, and that is a trend that stayed for almost two years.

4  Focus on quality and not quantity 

There are several marketing options in social media but not all need to be used by SMEs. Focus on the key platforms and stick to quality content rather than all possible posts or options. Be clear on the value proposition that will attract your customer segment and follow or buy your offerings.

Building relationships takes time before getting converted into commercial gain and so quality is the key. It may be tempting to try all possible options but that is impossible and futile from a return on investment point. Just use one or two platforms well for each segment and drive it well with what the users frequently see.

5  Start selling via social media

Many social media platforms allow e-commerce and SMEs should take advantage of this. FaceBook has started a major initiative for SMEs. WhatsApp has its own payment wallet.

Online commerce is anyway big – upwards of $ 100 billion per annum and social commerce will start growing next.

Instagram projects to get $2 billion from social commerce in India by 2025. The selling tools available on social media platforms will come in handy for you even if you don’t have your own website – a boon for microbusinesses.

6 Increase engagements with the audience and use more tech

Follow the activity calendar you would have planned before you started the social media activities and to make the most out of it, use appropriate tech tools.

Critical for commerce is the quality of engagements with the audience.  Create content well in advance and schedule them as per the calendar, using the tech tools mentioned earlier.

This will allow you to focus more on the management of audience responses rather than scheduling and creating content every week. Make use of chatbots for freeing up more time on your side.

7 Monitor, analyse and improve 

It is always important to measure your social media performance from a commercial point of view. You can pinpoint your returns using precise analytics. You may want to revise or fine-tune your social media strategy, depending on this analysis.

To improve success of your postings, you may want to make minor tweaks based on A/B testing.