10 Ways To Monetize Your Social Media Following
Social media has become fundamental to so many aspects of life, including business. By now, every smart business owner should have a social media marketing strategy. The real secret to success is in being able to monetize your social media following.
After all, you’re in business to make money, not just publish content for free all the time. Here are 10 suggestions as to how to turn your posts into paydays.
How To Monetize Your Social Media Following
1. Make Use of Facebook’s Features
With more than two billion users on Facebook each month, this is the best place to start to monetize your social media following. Your Facebook fan page should reflect who you are and why you’re worth doing business with. You should make the most of the special features Facebook offers, including:
- The Like button
- Contact Us button
- Email sign-up tab
- Polls
- Events
Give clear calls to action, such as, “Click the Like button so you can keep up to date with all of the latest news,” or, “Click the Contact Us button and we will be happy to answer your questions promptly.”
FREE Checklist: How To Run Successful Facebook Ads2. Encourage Engagement
Encourage people to like, comment and share posts. This will spread the word about your business, and more traffic means potentially more money. You can do this on most networks, not just Facebook.
3. Promote Your Account to Get Followers
Facebook allows you to promote your account in order to get more likes and followers. You can do the same on Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn and more.
4. Boost Your Best Posts
Go into your Facebook Insights report and look for the content that is getting the most engagement. The turn them into an ad by boosting the post. It should have a link they can click to learn more. Target the audience carefully so your boosted post will be shown to people interested in your niche. You can get qualified customers for pennies per click. You can run ads created via your posts as well on Twitter, Pinterest, Snapchat and more.
5. Create Ads from Scratch
Creating an ad from scratch on Facebook will take a little more time, but give you more control. You need:
- A high-quality image
- An attention-grabbing headline
- An interesting description
- A URL to send them to in order for them to take an action, such as subscribe or buy now
Again, set your target audience carefully and you can get qualifies leads and customer to help boost sales. Track your click-throughs and conversions to make sure you are getting the most for your budget.
6. Use Social Media to Build Email Marketing Lists
Create a range of lead magnets that will entice people to subscribe to one or more of your email marketing lists. This is an effective way to monetize your social media following. Once they are on your list, you can present them with the kinds of niche-related products and offers they will be most interested in.
7. Market on YouTube
YouTube is one of the top five sites in the world and the top video-sharing site. Create how-to videos and informative content. Include a call to action to subscribe to a list, or to buy a product.
8. Pinterest
Pinterest works like a virtual bulletin board. You “pin” images to “boards” that you create. Each board focuses on one particular topic or theme of your choosing. Studies have shown it is 80% women at the site, and that at least half of them buy products they see at the site. Opening a business account on Pinterest as opposed to a personal account provides several advantages. Pinterest provides analytics to the business owner, buy buttons on pins, and other helpful business tools.
You can also create product listings by using Schema.org or Rich Snippets, on your blog. This will give details about your product, price, a link to buy, and more. It does take a little time to set up, but the results will be worth it when you start sharing your product pages.
9. Instagram
The main goals of any online business are to build your brand, get more traffic, grow your email list and generate sales. When you know how to monetize Instagram it can help you achieve those goals. Instagram is all about images and video. Use hashtags to promote your products. Instagram also has stories, which are like the standard posts at Snapchat. They get sent out to all your followers, but are only there for 24 hours and then they vanish. These are a great way to post flash sales and special offers that can help you make money fast.
10. Start A Facebook Group
Facebook groups are great to generate leads, build your email list and eventually sell your products and services. People who are interested in your niche will be attracted to a group that is about that niche. When you start a public Facebook Group anyone on Facebook can join it.
Also, existing members can invite others to join, and can even add their FB friends to your group! Managed properly, a Facebook group can have a viral and positively explosive impact on your business.
Free Checklist: Marketing On Facebook
Facebook is the best place to start with your social media monetization strategies. It’s the number one social network for all ages, except the youngest demographic, the 18- to 24-year-olds commonly referred to by marketers as “Generation Z.” But even 49% of Generation Z use Facebook.
Remember that Facebook wants you to succeed using their advertising platform. This just makes sense. If you accomplish your business goals while spending money on Facebook advertising, you’re likely to use it more in the future. Download my free checklist Successful Facebook Ads and see how easily you can monetize your social media following.