The impact that social media has had on both: day-to-day life and marketing is undeniable. In the United States, for example, 7 out of 10 people use some form of social network.
This has represented an opportunity for brands and marketing professionals to reach out to their customers. However, the attention span of users is limited and it represents a real challenge to capture it.
It is common for marketing professionals to write an update on Facebook or a tweet that has been thought and created to be a success, but only face silence on social networks.
This can occur because of different factors that do not necessarily have to do with content quality: shocking news occurred at the time, the tweet was shared at an hour where the audience is not active or any other reason. Because of that is not enough to create effective content.
The most effective thing to do is to have a strategy designed to make the most of each of your posts and that is also aligned with the objectives of the company, especially the ones from the marketing department. The idea is for it to become another communication channel of your brand.
Social media marketing
Social media marketing is a part of the digital strategy.
Depending on your brand you will want to pay more attention, or on the contrary, you will prefer to focus on other techniques that better suit the product or service you are offering. This part is key when it comes to dealing with strategy.
In any case, even if it’s not a priority for you but you decide to open social media profiles, it’s necessary to have a strategy so you can take advantage of them.
Profiles with little activity and interaction don’t do any good to your brand in long-term.
Now, we’ll be talking about some techniques ranging from the basics to the most complex so that your company can excel on social networks.
The best part is that you can start applying them at any time and you’ll see good results in no time.
1. Define your goals
A fundamental part of any strategy is to define the objectives. Without those you have no way of knowing if what you are doing is correct and you will not have a way to evaluate it.
Most strategies fail because they don’t have a clear strategy. In social media it is one of the most common mistakes.
For some, their RRSS strategy is simply based on having open profiles, which as we’ve spoken, in a long-term can weaken your brand image.
Another mistake is to think that the presence in social media is free and you should not invest money in them.
That’s why we recommend that before you start to write down what your goals are: attract visitors, sell through social networks, create community, gain followers, improve your web presence, etc.
The objectives must have two characteristics: to be measurable and achievable. So you can start defining and choosing the strategies that best fit what you want to achieve with your social networks.
It will also allow you to measure the results so you know if the strategy is working or if you need to adjust it.
Some tips to define measurable and achievable objectives:
- Use numbers (reach X number of followers on Instagram)
- Set deadlines
- Align them with the company’s strategy
2. Know your audience
As we stated in the previous point, knowing the audience is one of the keys to success on social networks because it will allow you to better target your audience and reach those users with the greatest potential to become customers of your brand.
To do this you can use different resources, from market research to surveys of satisfaction in physical or by email in case the sale is electronic. What is important is to identify both, your demographics and your patterns of consumption and tastes.
In the end, this information will allow you to choose which social media you should focus on and what tone to use to talk to them or what type of content they would enjoy.
Not all social networks are created equal. Each has a reason to be and has different audiences.
The way users interact is also different so you’ll need to consider these factors before choosing the one that suits you best.
Likewise, as you add resources to your strategy you can also add new profiles to it.
Remember that if your budget is limited then it is preferable that you focus on one or two social networks so that you can keep them all updated and you can reply to users’ concerns.
The content you share, as well as how you interact with users, should be adjusted for each social network. So before you start you should be clear about the purpose of the chosen network and what kind of posts work best for it.
Some of the most important are:
A social network dedicated to professionals. It is ideal for B2B businesses and has its own ad platform.
The social network with the largest number of active users.
News and entertainment posts work very well. In Facebook groups you can connect directly with potential customers.
It is the perfect network for audiovisual content and stunning images. The challenge on this network is to bring traffic to our website from there.
It is the preferred network for small businesses, especially hand-crafts or food. Posts are also visual.
It is usually the most complicated network to take advantage of by the number of messages that are posted minute by minute, however, it can help you improve your reputation and increase your brand’s authority.
As you can see, each one is different and the content must be optimized to connect with the audience.
Whether you’re working with multiple social networks or just one, a manager like Tweetdeck or Sprout Social will allow you to keep them up-to-date and monitored at all times.
From the same dashboard you can view notifications or create a calendar of posts. This avoids the work of having to open multiple tabs at the same time or having to review each network one by one.
This will make your job easier and you’ll be able to see the metrics of your posts in the same place. There are free or paid options that can help you regarding this.
6. Create engaging content for your audience
It seems obvious, but a pretty general mistake is that those who write the content to social media write it thinking about what they’d like to read and not what their audience is looking for. That’s why it’s so important to know who our target audience is and what needs they have.
To achieve this you can use some copy-writing techniques like communicating directly to your audience in a tone that matches the brand, post different kind of content and add a description of what you’re going to find in the link, avoiding copying the headline or the first paragraph of the article.
7. Define your key messages
Social networks are communication channels for the company. So it’s not enough to share interesting or engaging content, but you should be part of the brand’s marketing strategy.
To do this you must define exactly what you want to communicate as a company on your social networks.
One of your goals should be to present yourself as an expert in your sector and promote content that allows you to prove it.
Choose two or three attributes of your brand that you want to highlight and try to reflect that into your posts. This will help you gain the trust of your audience.
8. Don’t abuse the tactics of Sale
In traditional marketing a lot of emphasis is placed on selling the product. However, the market has changed: the customer doesn’t want people to sell to them all the time but rather to create relationships with the brand and the company.
The approach should be geared towards building trust with your ideal consumer and your customers. The more they trust you, the more you’ll be increasing your chances of selling in a medium or long term.
Find the balance between promoting your products and delivering content that helps your customers.
One way to reach your audience is to add hashtags to your posts so that people who are looking for a particular tag related to your brand find you.
You can even find which ones are most visited in a category to build a message with the tag In addition, it is advisable to use those that are active, even if they have to do with larger companies in your field.
It’s a way to earn more followers and interactions on your brand’s accounts while amplifying the reach of your content.
10. Hire paid advertising
If you’re starting out with your profiles and you know who your audience is, then you can take advantage of social media ad platforms.
Facebook and Instagram have a very complete advertising network that allows you to target your audience in a specific way.
With paid advertising you can receive the necessary boost for your social media profiles and even put together promotional campaigns with the assurance that your message will reach your target audience directly. Plus, you’ll be able to get followers at a faster rate than with the organic growth strategy.
11. Interact with your audience
When a user searches for a brand on social media and interacts with it, the minimum they expect is a reaction from the company.
Whether it’s a negative or positive comment, a good social media practice is to respond to feedback left by users.
Another way to interact is by commenting on public conversations about your brand. This will allow you to target your audience at the same time as any of the key messages and help build greater confidence in your product or service.
Always remember to do it in a respectful and friendly tone of voice.
12. Pay attention to Trends
The way you can share content on social media changes frequently. Take advantage of the tools that are added and that can be used without occupying your niche market.
Tools like Facebook Live that allow you to stream live or Instagram stories are ideal for improving communication with the public.
To achieve this, you can keep an eye on the news and statistics of the social networks where you have presence.
In the coming years, an increasing in the use of technologies, such as virtual and augmented reality or messaging bots, is expected. Getting ahead of the adoption of these technologies will help you stay updated.
13. Create stunning images
Image content generates more interactions than plain text. The idea is to create images that have a favorable impact on your potential customers.
To do this you can use tools like Canva or you can directly outsource the creation of images to an agency or graphic designer.
It’s also important that your images are appropriate to the standards and sizes required for each social network for them to display correctly.
You can also update your cover and profile photos from time to time with campaigns or promotions you’re currently running. The idea is that you can catch users attention while they navigate through the social networks of their choice.
In the case of Instagram, it’s important that the photos you use have a professional quality so they can stand out within that network. If you have other networks, optimize the images for each one and add a text that complements them.
14. Re-use old content
Social media can help bring new life to content archived on your page.
If you have a blog or audiovisual content like podcasts and videos, then share them again when you see convenient for better engagement with your audience.
In the case of the blog content you can take the opportunity to update and optimize them as part of your SEO strategy, so you’ll not only be refreshing the content but complementing the digital marketing of the brand.
It is important to make the entire strategy in a comprehensive way to make optimal use of available resources.
15. Create video content
It is estimated that by 2021 at least 82 of consumer traffic is video content. Although it may represent additional expenses compared to other types of content, it is important to take advantage of the raise of this content and offer the kind of video your consumers are Waiting for.
Currently, you have several options like creating tutorials or product presentation kind of videos.
One of the most attractive options for consumers is Facebook’s live videos as they allow an interaction level that it’s impossible to achieve by other means.
The ideal recipe is a mix of live presentations and pre-recorded videos, also remember that Facebook Live save this content for you to reuse on other occasions.
16. Show your brand
Once you’ve established your social media presence with a defined audience, you can take advantage of giving your brand and image more diffusion.
One of the most common ways to do this is to add the logo to publications, following the company’s corporate identity manual.
The idea is that the user can quickly recognize your image and get an idea of what the personality of the company is when entering your profile.
This will allow you to a better connection with your audience and position the values that you want to highlight of your brand.
17. Take advantage of the benefits of interactive content
One of the techniques that you can apply to generate a greater connection with your audience is publish interactive content such as Twitter surveys or questions and answers on Instagram. This will allow you to get to know your leads and followers.
If you don’t know what to ask them, you can try simple elements like what kind of content they prefer to see or what are their favorite products from your brand.
The goal is to make your client feel listened so you can offer them solutions to their problems using social media.
Interactivity is a key to success on social media. Once you have enough customers you will be able to take advantage of the content they generate as product reviews, photos or videos with your brand, comments, among others.
You can even use hashtags so your customers can show their creations.
Some illustrators often make drawings of your brand that you can share on social media and giving credit to the author. This generates a multiplier effect as users respond well to this type of content so they are motivated to create and view their shared work on social networks.
19. Measure and analyze
Among the advantages of social media marketing there is the possibility to know if your efforts are paying off.
However, this has its science because in order to do the analysis you must define what metrics you will be monitoring and at the same time these must be adapted to your objectives.
Not doing it will prevent you from making the necessary corrections in order to reach your goals, as well as wasting time and money.
Depending on the social networks you’re on, you’ll be able to measure: visits, interactions, impressions, view numbers, and how many times the content has been shared.
20. Partnerships with influencers
Although the impact on sales that influencers can have is still unclear.
It’s true that building alliances with personalities who can identify with your brand can help you gain the trust of your target audience. In this way you can get to a niche that may not know your company.
It’s important that when choosing the influencer, the influencer has an audience that looks like your ideal customer. You may also want to make an alliance with those who have a very specific niche, even if they have few followers.
21. Teamwork
In the digital marketing strategy the whole company should be involved.
The responsibility for publishing and updating content must lie with a single department or employee, however, other employees can actively contribute to the creation of sharing content.
For example, if your products are aimed at a specialized audience then take advantage of the expertise of your technicians to create content related to your latest developments.
You can also invite them to participate in social media campaigns and even participate in the video content you’re producing to promote your business.
22. Promotions and contests
Another technique that will allow you to increase interactions with your customers is to design promotions which can be discount codes for your next purchases, raffles of products or virtual gifts such as profile pictures and e-books about a topic related to your products or services.
Before using this resource, it is important that you define what is the objective and how it aligns with the brand strategy.
In this way you will avoid unnecessary expenses. This will allow you to increase the reach of your brand and even generate leads that transform into sales for your company.
Final considerations
As you can observed throughout this article, social media marketing is a very broad term that encompasses different techniques and ways to reach your target audience.
By following our recommendations you can choose the ones that best suit the personality of your brand, as well as your budget and objectives.
The goal is that you can get the most out of your social networks and expand your audience and then turn them into customers.
This post is also available in: Español
