Being a professional in the digital age means that you most likely use some form social media. Of course, social media acts as a platform for us to communicate and engage with our circle of friends, but it also offers powerful marketing tools. When you consider how many people are on websites like Facebook and Twitter, it would be a massive oversight not to tap into the marketing potential there. Here a few strategies to help you use social media to fill your pipelines and bring in more clients:

Be consistent

You may not be getting the most from your social media marketing efforts because you worry it may take too much time to commit to a real strategy. This is a common misconception for many professionals. Even in 15 minutes a day you can effectively engage in social media. In this small amount of time, you can work at building your network and reaching potential clients. Making a list of a few things you can do each day is helpful to stay on task. For example, your 15 minutes could be spent checking LinkedIn to gain useful information about your prospects, sharing a relevant article, or posting a photo of happy clients. It won’t be the exact same tasks every day, but if you keep up with your efforts daily, you’ll inevitably gain more clients and business.

Optimize your account

Check in with each of your social media pages. Does your LinkedIn page accurately portray your brand to potential clients? Have you shared anything interesting with your followers? Make sure you fill out your bio and other job details thoroughly and thoughtfully. A detailed description can be what convinces a reader who may be on the fence to finally give you a call. Make your profiles appealing to viewers by using a profile photo that gives a sense of your personality. You should also consider the keywords used on your social media pages. Are you including the sorts of keywords that make you searchable? Potential clients often use social media sites to find services they need, so you want to give them every opportunity to find you.

Share relevant content

It’s not enough to have social media profiles if you don’t engage your audience. This is where content marketing comes in. Engage prospects by sharing great content with them, and you’ll form a strong reputation. Sharing links to things that may interest your potential clients is a good way to start. Say you attend a conference or event — share something useful that you learned with your online contacts. Posting or sharing meaningful content on a regular basis is essential to keep colleagues and potential clients engaged.

Connect with people in your industry

Use social media to connect not only with prospects and clients, but also to keep up with others in your industry. Start following colleagues on social media if you haven’t already. Are there any professionals out there that you admire, want to learn more about, and form connections with? Start following and engaging with these people across social media platforms to build connections that could lead to great networking down the road.

Build relationships through engagement

Not only should you share compelling content regularly, but it’s also important to engage with others through liking, sharing, and commenting on their posts. When you like or share content from a potential client, your improve your chances of being remembered when they need to use your services in the future. This “paying it forward” attitude of liking and sharing will help you slowly build connections with your followers and prospective clients.

Though not immediate, using social media can exponentially increase your client base and your business. It’s a powerful way to reach potential clients and to make connections with others in your field; and in this day and age, it’s a necessary part of staying current and informed. It you dedicate the time to it, stay consistent, share meaningful content, and engage with others, you’ll be on your way to getting the most from these sites. Give some of these tips a try, and see for yourself!