By Jennifer McDougall
New and existing companies use social media to build their following, create leads, and enhance sales. With all of the channels accessible, building a brand on social media may appear to be a daunting task. However, it is now simpler than ever to use social media to interact with people and naturally develop your business.
Whether you’re just starting or have been using social media for years, there’s always space for growth. Each platform serves a distinct purpose.
In this article, I will go through various helpful social media ideas and tactics that you may use to improve your marketing approach.
Make a distinct strategy for each social media network.
You must have a particular and purposeful strategy for each platform you utilize, just like you would for any other component of your marketing campaign. Each platform has its quirks and best practices for increasing interaction. Your business may not need to be present on every platform. Still, for your postings to be targeted, you must have a platform-specific approach.
Evaluate to see whether you can answer questions like:
- What is the purpose of my use of this platform?
- Who will use this platform?
- What sorts of posts perform best on this platform?
- What differentiates my posts on this platform?
If you find it difficult to answer these questions, it may be time to reevaluate why you’re spending time there. Answering these questions will also aid in the development of your platform strategy.
If you’re just getting started, but the quality of your material is ahead of the number of posts and sites you utilize. Unfortunately, trying to address a new strategy on five separate social media networks often results in a subpar performance with little to no returns for most organizations, tiny enterprises.
Maintain consistency.
The frequency with which you publish should be tailored to each social media platform you use. Some networks, such as Twitter and Instagram Stories, need you to be active many times each day to get the most out of your following. Other post kinds, such as ordinary Instagram posts and Facebook updates, do not carry the same level of urgency and can be utilized less frequently. Consider variables such as how each platform’s algorithm operates and whether material is posted chronologically or selected based on other characteristics when choosing your post strategy.
This relates to your social media marketing strategy. You should provide the following details:
- How frequently do you want to publish on each social media site by best practices for that platform?
- What kind of content do you intend to post on each platform?
- On each platform, who is your target audience?
Keep in mind that your followers are probably following hundreds or perhaps thousands of other people. It’s simple to get lost and forgotten if you don’t publish new content as frequently as the other accounts out there.
Concentrate on your message.
Each platform will have its own distinct demographic. Although the individuals you’re targeting on each platform likely overlap, it’s still important to understand your demographics so you can adapt your message to have the maximum impact.
Having a clear message will assist you in producing higher-quality content that is on brand and resonates with your target audience. When you have a consistent theme that you stick to, your social media postings will always be relevant to your audience.
Suppose you want to share a post on LinkedIn that is aimed towards the financial industry. Your followers who work in IT or the medical field may not find it relevant. Instead of flooding their feed with useless material, you can opt to show that post to people in your finance network.
Keep an eye on what’s trending.
Once you’ve decided on your primary messaging, keep an eye out for popular trends that emerge on each channel. Suppose you find a popular trend or technique that matches your messaging. In that case, it’s a good idea to capitalize on it to increase interaction.
Be careful of jumping on every new online fad you come across. To look relevant, creating posts that do not match your overall narrative is a simple way to alienate your target audience. Likewise, you should never develop specific content only because you see other businesses doing it.
This is why it is critical to develop a targeted message that you can use as a standard against which to assess all future social media postings.
Analyze and measure the outcomes
To obtain the best outcomes from your social media marketing, you must track and measure your efforts correctly. Unfortunately, over 40% of businesses do not correctly measure their social media ROI, which means there is no straightforward way to determine if your plan is working.
Identify essential indicators that are crucial to your brand to streamline your tracking procedure. Some of the metrics you should check for are:
- Facebook reach and engagement
- Twitter impressions, retweets, and mentions
- LinkedIn clicks, impressions, and interactions
- Pinterest engagement and impressions
- Instagram likes, comments, and mentions
- Instagram Stories views and engagements
You should monitor these metrics weekly, monthly, and quarterly to determine when and if your social media strategy needs to be adjusted.
Invest in video content.
The truth is that video content is currently exploding. With the introduction of IGTV and the quick expansion of YouTube, Facebook Live, and other video platforms, social media users are watching more video content than ever before.
Over the last three years, video views on YouTube have risen by more than 99 percent, while Facebook video views have increased by 258 percent. In addition, a video in a tweet is six times more likely to be retweeted than a photo or merely words in a tweet.
Not only is video content getting more interaction, but networks like Facebook and LinkedIn are giving users who publish video content a greater priority in their algorithms. This means that brands that use video gain greater exposure and reach than businesses that use text and images.
Engage with your audience.
Social media users want to engage with the companies they follow genuinely. So, in addition to providing high-quality and relevant material, make sure you’re monitoring each platform and engaging with your audience. Respond to questions posed by your posts, handles, or hashtags.
If you observe other people conversing about your brand or product, don’t be hesitant to join in and provide value. Users want to know that there is a human on the other end of the computer, not simply a robot that sends out links all day.
Make it a point to respond to questions made on each platform as part of your social media strategy. You should reply to individuals who mention you as soon as possible, thank those who share your content, and offer value anywhere you notice people referencing your business.
You may also initiate discussions with your audience by asking them questions and then replying to or adding to that conversation. Most platforms make it simple to ask individuals questions and react to them in the post’s comments.
You want your social media presence to be a two-way conversation. Engage with people instead of simply talking to them.
Don’t be put off by algorithm changes.
Social media platforms are infamous for altering their algorithms randomly and without warning, leaving many users dissatisfied with their lack of visibility. It’s easy to slip into the trap of attempting to “beat” the algorithm with different content hacks. Instead of seeking a quick cure, try to figure out what changed in the algorithm and modify your content strategy — in many situations, keeping high-quality content will help you escape severe penalties from algorithm changes.
When algorithms change, it’s critical to be everywhere and follow your audience to where they find the most significant value. Instagram is an excellent example. Instagram’s newsfeed algorithm is constantly changing, and many users have experienced a substantial reduction in interaction on their photos as a result. Instagram Stories, on the other hand, has stayed constant and continues to post in chronological order. In addition, Instagram Stories has over 500 million daily active users.
So, if your photos aren’t getting as much attention as you’d want, try reaching out to individuals using Instagram Stories. When you have a new post on your feed, you may publish a Story to encourage people to go over to your profile and like your photo. This will inform the algorithm that people want to read your content, and it will do a better job of presenting them to those who engage with them.
Join forces with influencers and micro-influencers.
Gaining the trust of your audience on platforms that are so flooded with content is one of the most challenging aspects of sustaining a social media presence. Partnering with influencers in your field to help you market your goods more naturally is a beautiful approach to target your audience on a more personal level.
When you collaborate with an experienced influencer who has a large following in your niche, you expose your brand to a new audience who may not be familiar with your business.
Include everyone on your team.
Your social media employees don’t need to be the only ones who contribute to your social media postings.
Encourage staff from different departments in your organization to assist with your social media marketing efforts. The more active your team is, whether it’s producing material to the blog, sharing photographs, or bringing followers behind the scenes, the better.
Showing your audience a team behind the brand they follow will increase transparency and trust in you as a business.