In today’s digital world, an effective social media strategy can be an absolute game changer. Whether you’re looking to expand your brand presence, grow your audience, or cultivate sales, the right tools make a world of difference. From automating customer conversations to creating stunning visual content, here are five tools that can help you drive audience engagement in new and expansive ways.
1. Implement Strategic Social Ads
Why It Works: Social ads are fantastic for pinpointing exactly who sees your profile and campaigns. Platforms like Facebook and Instagram let you tailor your ads with advanced targeting options—think demographics, interests, and even user behaviors. This means your ads aren’t just out there; they’re hitting home with the people most likely to find them relevant and engaging. It’s like having a conversation in which you already know what the other person cares about, which makes each interaction more meaningful and likely to resonate.
Example: We set up social ads for many of our clients, to either help grow their audiences or for lead generation and sales. For example, we’re currently helping UBC Sauder Business School promote their new courses and upcoming events by carefully crafting ads aimed at potential students who would benefit the most. Using platforms like Meta, LinkedIn, and Snapchat, we apply sophisticated targeting strategies based on demographics and interests, ensuring that each ad effectively reaches the right audience, subtly boosting their educational offerings and attracting new students into their programs.
2. Using ManyChat to Automate Conversations
Why It Works: ManyChat facilitates communication by automating conversations through Facebook and Instagram. This tool allows brands to engage with customers instantly and consistently, providing on-brand information, answering inquiries, and even qualifying leads without manual effort.
Example: Offset Solar tapped into ManyChat to chat live with potential customers in real time on Facebook, which not only got conversations started but also kept them flowing smoothly. This wasn’t just chit-chat; it helped turn curious clicks into solid sales, boosting their revenue. We’ve seen many brands use ManyChat for lead generation – including Boss Babe in this post and author Danielle LaPorte in this post. For brands with a decent audience size who seek to automate engagement, ManyChat is a great lead gen tool.
3. Offer Lead Magnets Everywhere
Why It Works: Offering lead magnets—like freebies, free consultations, checkllists, webinars or quizzes -in exchange for contact details—is a super effective way to not only build your email list but also qualify ideal leads. The key with this approach is to understand the exact type of lead magnet that will give your ideal customer the type of information or value they need to get to know you and to buy from you. A lead magnet is the powerful tool you can use to build that know, like, trust factor with your potential customers.
Example: Several of our clients offer a ‘free consultation’ to qualify leads – like this free express quote from Cool Air Rentals which we promote across their social media ads, posts and website. A pop up or slider is a great way to offer incoming/outgoing website traffic incentive to book. Depending on your business, a webinar or free training (promoted across your channels) or a guided experience like this are effective ways to give your potential customers a valuable sample of what you can offer. The idea is that once they subscribe to receive the lead magnet, they begin a customer journey where you can connect further, bring them into a funnel, and eventually lead them into a deeper experience of working together. We recommend adding your lead magnet to your social media bios, email signatures, website pop up, and basically everywhere you’re seen online.
4. Use Cutting-Edge Video Editing Tools
Why It Works: Videos are a fantastic way to grab your audience’s attention and new tools like InVideo for beautiful templates and HeyGen for video editing with AI are changing the game.
InVideo lets brands and creators craft high-quality, engaging videos that really speak to their audience. It comes packed with user-friendly templates and cutting-edge editing features that make storytelling visually stunning and a breeze to pull off. HeyGen is a great tool for creating videos of you (your avatar) -as they say: “If you can type, drag-and-drop, copy-and-paste, you can make pro-quality video in HeyGen..”
Example: Here’s a look at InVideo in action – this tool is useful for industries that rely on visually compelling content. Think travel brands or agencies looking to highlight beautiful destinations, potentially increasing bookings and social media shares. And scroll through this page to see different examples of how HeyGen can be set up and used.
5. Pinterest for Inspiration and Visibility
Why It Works: Pinterest is like a visual playground where folks go to spark their creativity across a variety of interests. If you get your content just right for Pinterest, your brand can connect with whole new groups of people and pull more traffic to your website. It’s all about posting those eye-catching, inspiring pins that make people want to discover more.
Example: We help luxury furniture retailer Once A Tree Furniture effectively utilize Pinterest to showcase their exquisite pieces. Their Pinterest page features visually appealing pins that not only highlight individual furniture pieces but drive significant website traffic, too. Lots of brands are leveraging Pinterest in this way. Head + Heart doesn’t post too often, but gets 100K views monthly, leading to thousands of website visits. Bigger brands like Sephora use Pinterest for sales, and marketers like Jenna Kutcher have been using Pinterest since it launched- to sell courses and books.
If you’re looking to boost your social media engagement, the above are five strategies we’d recommend considering. And if you want a little more hand-holding, we’d love to help you. Send us a note and let’s talk about your marketing goals and opportunities. Get in touch.
