It's clear to many marketers that social media is a powerful way to connect with their target audience and drive brand awareness, lead generation, and ultimately sales. Millions of people log on to social media platforms each day, and many of them make purchase decisions that are influenced, at least in part, by the content they consume once there. For instance, one study found that Twitter ads are 11% more effective than TV ads during live events.
Of course, any tool is only as useful as its user. With that in mind, how can you optimize your social media marketing strategy for the best results? Here are nine tips that can help.
1. Choose Your Platforms Strategically
First of all, it's crucial to invest in the social media platforms that are most relevant to your target audience. For example, suppose you are a B2B company. In that case, it may make a lot more sense to focus your social media efforts on LinkedIn instead of Instagram or Twitter, since an estimated 80% of LinkedIn members drive business decisions at their companies.
2. Don't Bite Off More Than You Can Chew
It's better to do one thing well than many things poorly. If you don't have the time or resources to post across 4 or 5 platforms consistently, then you may need to reduce the scope of your efforts — maybe by focusing on the one or two platforms that offer the most potential in terms of reach and engagement. If that's the case, you need to ask yourself: "Where should I prioritize my social media marketing, and why?"
3. Plan Out Your Strategy
Some 44% of marketers have cited content production as their #1 challenge. In other words, they struggle with which topics to focus on and how to do so effectively.
To avoid this and related issues, it's a good idea to plan out your content strategy well ahead of time — and that includes your social media content, as well. Anticipate seasonal fluctuations in the market, look forward to seeing which subjects will grab the interest of your audience, and always stay focused on your "ideal customer persona" for inspiration on what to post.
4. Stick to a Content Calendar
One of the fundamental tenets of social media marketing is: "Post consistently." Showing up in your target audience's social media feed consistently is ultimately the key to engaging with them.
For that reason, develop a workable content calendar (for the entire year, if possible). Then, stick to it. Granted, you don't want to be so rigid that you miss out on unexpected content creation opportunities. However, a content calendar will provide you with a helpful framework for posting consistently.
5. Base Your Content on Your Target Audience
If you're not writing for your "ideal customer," then who are you writing for? You must base your content around the needs, concerns, and interests of your target demographic. For instance, a shoe brand specializing in athletic wear shouldn't be chasing after consumers looking for dress shoes. If you want to generate a loyal fanbase and high-value leads, you have to match the desired demographic content.
6. Incorporate Storytelling
The best marketing content always incorporates an element of storytelling. After all, stories not only help us to retain key facts; they also allow us to forge emotional connections. Social media is the perfect platform for telling your brand's story. However, don't discount the power of storytelling even in more promotional content. For an example of humorous social media storytelling at its finest, look no further than the classic Old Spice campaign from 2010.
7. Analyze Your Insights Regularly
If you can't measure your social media efforts, then you can't improve them. For that reason, take some time to regularly evaluate your brand's performance in the social media world, both macroscopic and granular. It's usually a good idea to give more weight to engagement metrics and "hard data," like shares, likes, comments, and clicks, then "vanity metrics" like impressions.
8. Humanize Your Content
Consumers generally don't visit social media sites for purely informational purposes. Instead, they are looking for human interaction via videos, chat forums, etc. With that in mind, always do your best to humanize your content, even if it's meant to be 100% promotional. For instance, use informal language, contractions, and even tasteful colloquialisms (if they are "on-brand" for your company).
9. Don't "Post and Ghost"
Finally, you never want to post content and then turn around and ignore any consumer comments about the post. A study from several years ago found that 71% of users who experience positive customer service over social media channels would recommend the brand in question. If you enlarge the principle of "customer service" to the concept of "customer experience," then it's easy to see why you should promptly respond to any questions posted in the comments section, as well as any feedback (positive or negative).
In summary, these nine tips can help you to take your social media marketing to the next level. And if you need some more help, consider reaching out to an experienced media partner for additional insights.
