There’s little doubt that social media is right at the cutting edge of current marketing and promotion strategy for any successful business or organisation, and it’s important to remember that your printed material is a crucial ingredient in helping to maximise its potential.

The range of social media available to promote your organisation is ever-increasing: Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, YouTube  (and those are just the ‘big boys’) – the world is awash with free marketing channels which, if used effectively, can provide a massive boost to any business, charity, social or sports club.

And there are two key secrets to success in the social media marketing game – building followers, and keeping followers. Actively promoting your social media pages using your printed material will contribute significantly to both these aspects.

Here’s an example of how to get it right:

Let’s say, for instance, that you run an independent pub and restaurant. You’ll probably regularly have flyers and posters printed to promote your Christmas party menu, Valentine’s Day dinners, a live music night, Mother’s Day and so on. Every single one of these items of print should also carry a ‘follow us on Facebook’ message (or Twitter, Google+, etc).

And here’s the crucial part – there must be a REASON to follow you on Facebook! Think about it – if you just see a message saying ‘follow me’, your instant reaction is probably ‘why should I?‘ But if that message says ‘follow us on Twitter to get exclusive offers and discounts’ or ‘like us on Facebook for a chance to win a free meal for two’, now there’s a good reason to do it.

This continual use of your printed literature to promote your social media pages will help to dramatically build your number of followers, giving you instant access to a large customer base when you find you’ve got sluggish bookings for an upcoming event, and offering you the opportunity to put out a quick message to help boost the numbers (free glass of wine with every meal tomorrow night) when there simply wouldn’t be time to use printed literature to address the problem.

And it’s this regular feed of interesting and tempting offers through your social media channels which will keep your followers engaged. Never fall into the trap of posting the kind of ‘it’s a lovely sunny morning’ nonsense which simply annoys people and makes them switch off, but try to make your posts regular, relevant, and tempting. And here’s another little tip – the posts which tend to get ‘liked’ or ‘shared’ the most are those involving photos, humour, or both!

Social media can be so effective for any organisation that it’s really well worth producing some printed material dedicated specifically to promoting your social media presence! Whether it’s posters, flyers, cards or vinyl banners, Instaprint can deliver a solution which will boost both your numbers of followers and your profits.

So for expert advice on getting your social media working at maximum effectiveness, call Instaprint today for an informal chat about how we can help.