While content creation and search engine optimization remain major elements of any brand strategy, social media is slowly but surely becoming just as important in its own right. In addition to this, social media offers a unique ability to incorporate all of your strategies into it in order to enhance your overall experience in content creation, marketing and organic search potential. Many people have social media presences but do not optimize them as they should, and this is often due to not understanding how to do so. What are the goals that you should be considering for your own social media presence in the new year? Continue reading to find out about three that can add serious potential and synergy to your overall strategies.

Consistently Engage to Increase Conversions

On most social media networks, the more you post and engage with your audiences, the more likely they are to see any and all of your updates. This is due to some complicated algorithms that rival that of Google’s, but the important takeaway is that activity = exposure. One way in which you can leverage this activity and exposure into something greater is by pinging URLs in the form of conversion bait. You can start out like you would with any comprehensive ad campaign by creating specific landing pages to handle people who arrive from social media. It is here that you will combine your social media messaging into a plea for more email subscriptions, social engagements or other forms of conversions. When you combine this strategy with an active presence on social media, you’ll be both effective and seen.

Encourage Discussion to Augment Brand Recognition

Social media is, at its core, a hotbed of discussion. This discussion can range in tone from positive to negative; from fun to serious; from complimentary to critical. If your brand could use a bit more exposure and recognition from the masses, then social media is perhaps the best way to drive this trend. Many networks monitor how many people are “talking” about your brand and weigh that into who else will see posts and updates from you. Whether you decide to use controversy, awesome deals or a unique, emotional message to get people talking is up to you, but getting outside of the box is vital if you want to encourage discussion that surrounds your brand. In the end, you’ll generate more exposure and recognition, while also driving traffic to all of your brand’s other hubs.

Engage with Users to Boost Brand Loyalty

As social media revolves around discussion, it only makes sense to engage in the discussion yourself. If you merely are pinging URLs to users on a consistent basis but not encouraging discussion on each post, then you’re likely going to experience sub-par results as it relates to the previous section. If, however, you consistently engage with your audience, then you’ll be surprised at how many others decide to weigh in as well. This not only applies in cases of simple discussion, but is particularly important when it comes to inquiries and criticisms about other issues (this is especially true if you are a business with products/services). A potentially negative experience of a customer can be turned into a positive one just by interacting with the individual and attempting to solve the problem. You’ll turn many otherwise staunch and vocal critics into loyal supporters with this strategy.