Creating quality content is no easy task. Whether you do it yourself, have employees handle it for you or contract a firm to create it, creating blog posts and other types of content that people actually want to read takes a lot of hard work. Because of the work involved in creating great content, when you publish it, you want to ensure that as many people as possible see it. That’s where social media marketing comes into play.

Although some people believe that great content will magically get exposure on its own, even the best content requires a push. When content isn’t actively marketed, it’s never going to get as much attention as it would if it were. In terms of what to focus on with your social marketing efforts, shares are a very good metric.

While shares themselves aren’t going to translate into new leads or customers, when the number of social shares for a piece of content continues to grow, it greatly increases the likelihood that more people from your target demographic will come into contact with your business. So if you want to put your brand in front of as many potential customers as possible, let’s take a look at six different ways to increase social media shares:

Write a Great Title

Regardless of how good a piece of content is, if it doesn’t have an awesome title, it’s not going to receive maximum exposure. In addition to spending enough time to come up with a great title, you may also want to use social media to test the effectiveness of different titles.

Share Through Relevant Sites Like Reddit

Even though your blog post may not be a good fit for the Reddit homepage, chances are there’s a subreddit with people who would enjoy reading and sharing it. By taking time to identify relevant subreddits and other forums, you can give your content a big social media boost. Just remember that it’s considered a social media best practice to spend some time contributing to an online community before you do anything that may be considered self-promotional.

Have a Keyword Strategy

Although keyword stuffing isn’t an effective strategy, doing your research to find relevant keywords and then incorporating them into a post will maximize its short and long-term exposure. If you’re concerned that you don’t have the resources to do keyword research, enlisting the social media services of an agency can take care of this issue for you.

Reach Out To Contacts

Since momentum can play a big role in the total amount of shares a piece of content receives, don’t be afraid to directly ask people in your network to check out your latest piece of content and then share it with others.

Choose the Right Time

A key social media marketing strategy that many people overlook is the impact of when an item is shared. As a rule of thumb, sharing earlier in the day is the best way to get as much exposure as possible.

Add a Picture

Pinterest isn’t the only social media site where images are important. Since data shows that pictures increase exposure on Twitter and Facebook as well, be sure to include at least one really great image in any post that you publish.

By putting all six tips into action, you’ll be able to get even more mileage out of your social media for business strategy!

While social media can definitely drive sales, many businesses forget that these platforms are generally at the top of the funnel. That’s why the businesses that do best with social media, make engagement their top priority. Once you find the best ways to interact with your audience, you’ll create a loyal following that will convert into sales.

By redistributing content, working with influencers, getting comfortable with video and focusing on engagement, you can put all the pieces in place for your social media marketing efforts to thrive.

Need help with your Web Strategy? We offer a free instant web strategy score. You may also request a consultation and live website review to help you identify the exact areas of your marketing plan that need improvement. Web Strategy Plus provides a “one-stop shop” full-service digital marketing agency where all of your marketing efforts are tied together to drive more leads to your business. We proudly serve local businesses and franchise networks of all types worldwide. Whether you require a professional website or need help promoting it, we can help you with it all. Our main goal is to provide cost-effective web strategies that drive results. You may also Request a Quote. If you need to know more about our website development and website designing services, you can reach us at 1-877-224-0478. You may also schedule an appointment to talk to us when it is most convenient for you!

Michelle Hummel is CEO of Web Strategy Plus a full-service digital marketing agency focused on Franchise Marketing. She was recently nominated for the Woman-Owned Business of the Year! She’s a passionate Social Media Trainer with 15+ years of successful online business development, sales, and marketing experience. She also holds a valuable Internet Marketing Degree however with the ever-changing world of web marketing she strives to learn something new every day. 

She travels Nationwide visiting her 22 Social Media Enthusiasts Chapters she developed Nationwide delivering in-depth social media training. She also provides Social Media Certifications through founding Web Media University. A current contributing editor to The Franchise Dictionary Magazine and she has written 3 books in her series called, “The Social Media Magnet: Everything You Need to Know to Attract Customers with Social Media”, where she shares her best-kept secrets to success. She also specializes in helping Franchisors and Franchisees develop an integrated web marketing program to drive leads. She’s available for interviews via email, telephone, Skype video, news segments on location and more. Just let her know how she can help!