It was easy to get it in the past when the competition wasn't this fierce. But nowadays, with increasingly impressive marketing campaigns and brilliant minds and techniques behind them, it's a little bit more challenging. Your marketing team must come up with brainstorming ideas so your business can compete in today's fierce market. 

Attention can be regarded as a currency. Speaking of currencies, here's an effective way McDonald's Lugano got itself talked about last year. The franchise there educated its team about Bitcoin before enabling Bitcoin payments and went on to advertise its new payment option on social media. Besides being loyal supporters of blockchain technology, the new feature would have been less effective in bringing customers in, were it not for its advertising strategy. There are many examples of companies that look to access a broader customer base and market their innovative payment options on social media as the starting point, so don't be surprised when customers register on Binance to buy Bitcoin and get a McFlurry. 

Today, every marketer strives to create a marketing strategy that impacts customers. But before they're affected, they need to pay attention first. Whether you sell clothes, jewellery, sports apparel, or candles, it's vital to pique your audience's interest in what you're saying.

This article is intended to help you grab your customers' attention on social media.

Never overlook social proof

In marketing, "social proof," or "informational social influence," means that people look for reviews, recommendations, tutorials, and ways others have used that product before buying it. This is why online stores encourage and work hard to get their customers to review their products. This type of social proof works wonders at boosting the number of purchases. 

Here's how you can use social proof in marketing:

  • Existing customers and clients. If you partner with well-known companies, publicising that information is another excellent strategy to generate interest in your product or service.
  • Testimonials and reviews. Your business might receive reviews and testimonials online that you can share on social media to let people know what others think of your business.
  • User-generated content (UGC). By sharing user-generated content on your social pages, you let people know you have happy customers. Instagram is the perfect platform for this.
  • Case studies. Find one or several customers you had success with and are willing to answer some questions for your case study.

Build real connections

People use social media to connect with others, businesses included. Having a business social media profile helps build brand awareness, but more is needed to engage with people and drive continued loyalty. To ensure your prospective customers understand your brand's offerings better, there are some steps you can take:

  • Respond to comments, even if they're not positive
  • Like positive brand comments and comment back with appreciation
  • Share fun behind-the-scenes anecdotes about your organisation
  • Provide social media customer service by responding to complaints.

As you build a following, engage with your customers, answer FAQs, and troubleshoot problems through private groups. Responding genuinely on social platforms will show the business empathy that customers are so drawn to. 

Drop your advertising budget

Dropping your advertising budget may seem like a contradictory approach. However, look at how many businesses spend enormous amounts of money on ads and marketing only to realise they didn't get the expected ROI. In this case, you should aim to build a service that helps others and gets people talking, meaning you should strategise your branding in a way that will have internet users talk about your business. 

Word-of-mouth advertising is among the most successful and least expensive forms of marketing. Ensure your marketing focuses on making your company a hot conversation topic among your target audience. 

Make snackable content

Smart, snappy, well-written written content is always in demand, but you shouldn't forget that the modern consumer's attention span is more limited nowadays. Avoid lengthy explanations when you can convey your message in just a few words. Create interactive content to boost engagement and let visuals, research, pictures, graphics, and charts do the talking for you, when possible. 

Snackable content is usually used to attract new customers by offering immediate entertainment and enrichment. It's straightforward and easily digestible, and it should be easy for customers to share. Always remember to add value to everything you put out there. No one likes wasting their time in today's busy and fast-paced world. When done right, brilliant marketing content does not feel like marketing content.

Share relevant content

People looking for your company want to find information that helps them solve their problems, so ensure your content reflects that and emphasises your expertise. Content that helps customers can include the following:

  • Step-by-step instructions
  • How-to videos and articles
  • Explanatory content
  • Product demos.

Focus on what makes you unique 

The digital world is a noisy place where all products and services look alike. You don't have to reinvent the wheel but tell a different story to stand out from the crowd. Your prospective customers have had their goals, worries, dreams, and problems for a long time and are likely still open to addressing those aspects of their lives.

Get to the meat of how your company can approach them and how your service or product is different and is the solution that other businesses don't offer.

Embrace the power of video 

Even though eye-catching photos and written web content are killing marketing strategies that won't die soon, videos are red hot right now and keep getting hotter every day. They catch people's attention as they scroll through their timelines. Even though your videos stand a better chance of being effective if discovered in the evening when people have more spare time, a quality one should make them say, "Wait, what was that?", and then scroll back to find it.

Extra tip!

Everyone loves to unwind sometimes. Memes that create a sense of humour effectively increase brand awareness because they make customers want to share them with their friends.

One thing to remember is that the memes you choose must be appropriate for your target audience and never offensive.