One of the first steps that a consumer takes when researching a company is to research online. The internet is a place for discovery, and social media holds many answers. You may feel confident that your website checks off all the boxes they’re looking for, but you might be surprised to know that social media also falls into their search radar.
What do they see when they stumble across our platforms?
Is it something that best represents our brand?
As a business, these are all questions that we need to ask ourselves.
Optimizing your Social Media Marketing Strategy
Whether you are a new brand or a well-established brand, you must understand that there is always room for improvement. to build rapport and connect with your audience effectively. If you’re looking to learn some social media marketing tips to optimize your marketing strategy, keep reading.
1. Hone In On Your S.M.A.R.T. Goal
One of the tips we cannot recommend enough is to set specific goals that are attainable AND measurable. Start by choosing a S.M.A.R.T. goal:
- S is for Specific. The more detailed your goal, the more transparent the actions you need to take will be.
- M is for Measurable. How will you measure your success? Think numbers.
- A is for Attainable. Is your goal realistic? Make sure you’re not in over your head.
- R is for Relevant. Your goal needs to be aligned with your business objectives. Otherwise, there is no point in tracking it!
- T is for Time-bound. Give the goal a specific deadline. This can be as short as a few months or longer such as a year. There isn’t a limit as long as the other steps are met.
Here’s a simple example for a new brand with several thousand Instagram followers: We will double our Instagram follower count within the next six months.
To get started on brainstorming some goals, think of social media components such as follower count, engagement or share counts, how often you choose to post, and more.
2. Find Your Target Audience
Another important aspect that you need to consider is how to identify and understand who your target audience is. Think of their gender, age, income level, race, education, religion, marital status, and geographic location.
Once you have identified these bases, you need to dig deeper into their online viewing habits. Do they tend to use Facebook more than Instagram? Do they prefer videos? These can all be answered by monitoring how they interact with specific hashtags or other similar posts such as your competitors’. Another beneficial method is to survey your target audience and collect their feedback.
This information is necessary to build your social media presence effectively. Do not skip this step!
3. Research Trends
We all understand that social media platforms have their own algorithm, and they can change often. It may sound overwhelming to stay up to date, but it is imperative that you do so. By keeping up with new updates and trends, your social media posts are more likely to be promoted organically and have more engagement. Trends can range from anything specific such as memes to broader aspects, such as utilizing more videos. If you notice any patterns or strategies that are rising in popularity that align with your messaging, hop on board before it becomes stale!
4. Plan in Advance!
As Benjamin Franklin once said, “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” Now, read that again. This is a concept that you need to familiarize yourself with.
We all know that time is key. By planning in advance, you have ample time to gather information, collaborate with your team for content ideas, and research trends. Use the 80-20 rule to create your content. 80% of your posts should be used to inform, educate, or entertain your audience. Keep these relevant to your brand and products, but do not promote your products or services too often. In fact, those promotional posts should be limited to 20%.
However, planning too far out in advance may cause problems if you are an outlet promoting current events. This is why you need to find out what works best for you and your audience. Is it a week in advance? Two? Or even a month?
5. Use a Social Media Management Tool
Now that you have ingrained the concept of planning content into your head, save yourself from future headaches and look into using a social media management tool. These tools come with content calendars that help you plan on multiple social media platforms in advance, help you distribute and share resources effectively, collaborate on revisions together, and even measure analytics.
Many of these social media management tools may also introduce you to your new best friend, the automated scheduler. This tool suggests better times to post based on your audience’s activities to maximize your engagement. Unless there is a launch that is time-specific, these tools understand the algorithm of social media platforms well. Social media has become an everyday activity for many. Even if the scheduler suggests a seemingly odd hour, someone will be viewing your content, whether that be locally or worldwide. Plus, you’re now freeing up time to engage with your community!
6. Engage Your Community
Remember that social media is not a broadcasting system, but it is a way to engage with your community and build a relationship. Approximately 35% of people find it annoying when a brand lacks personality.
The most common way to engage with your audience is to reply to any comments on your social media posts, but there are other methods that your fans will love.
- Collect user-generated content and tag them in your posts or stories. People love the idea of being shared and in the spotlight. Who wouldn’t love to wake up and see that they’ve been promoted on one of their favorite brand’s pages?
- Keep an eye out for tags and reshares. If you notice that others are posting about your brand, jump into the conversation. It shows that you pay attention to your community and care.
- Go LIVE. With the growing popularity of videos and streaming, people love to tune in to their favorite brand’s live videos. It’s a great way to feel close and personable with your community.
- Share employee voices. Shout out your employees, use real quotes, and share behind the scenes. As mentioned, people love to feel connected to the people behind their screens.
- Host a giveaway! It doesn’t have to include a large monetary prize. It could be a simple 10% discount, a sneak peek at a new product or service, or samples. People simply love free gifts, and these posts will bring more awareness to people that may not know about your brand.
These social media marketing tips help you humanize your brand. The trust and loyalty within your community is the pillar of your social media success.
7. Measure, Analyze, and Refine
Over 40% of businesses don’t accurately track their social media ROI. This can be damaging to your brand if you’re unaware of how effective your social media strategy is. Be consistent and find a time to measure and analyze your social media metrics. This could be weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc. During this check-in, keep an eye out for impressions, retweets, reshares, mentions, clicks, likes, comments, and views.
Find out what has been working and what needs a little tweaking. Then refine the strategy.
8. Recycle Your Older Content
You don’t always have to start from ground zero. To help save time, look at your older content that may be outdated. These can be older blog posts, portfolios, testimonials, videos, and more. Refresh them with more current information and voilà! Not only did you create a new social media post, but you’re also boosting your SEO.
9. Share The Strategy
While your marketing team plays a key role in implementing your social media strategy, your whole team working together garners a far more powerful reach. Be sure to keep your sales team involved in the messaging strategy, so your customers are having consistent conversations. By having more people involved, you can also gather feedback and brainstorm post or campaign ideas.
Let’s Get to Work!
While social media marketing can be hard work, the benefits are difficult to ignore. We can help you implement all of these social media marketing tips for your business. Let’s get to work and develop a social media strategy! Reach out to us today to discuss.
