With over 3 billion social media users worldwide, it’s no secret that marketers have focused their marketing efforts on attracting customers online via social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Social media offers a unique opportunity for brands to connect with their existing customers and prospective leads.
By highlighting your brand’s personality and interacting with your audience, social media can be an excellent tool for retaining and gaining customers.
But how do you make your brand stand out in such a crowded landscape?
In this article, we’ll go over 8 tips to help you make the most of your social media marketing efforts in 2020.
1. Identify your audience
One of the best things brands can do to create a successful social media channel is meeting and engaging with their audience. This starts by identifying who your audience is in the first place—are they Millennial women who prioritize health and wellness? Or are they baby boomers in search of retirement resources?
Asking yourself these important questions can help you shape your social media strategy from the get-go.
This exercise is often referred to as “persona development” in the marketing world. Having buyer personas can benefit your company in many ways, but it’s especially helpful in launching—and maintaining—your brand’s social media presence. Why?
Different demographics have different social media behaviors and preferences. Facebook's demographic has a bigger representation at the higher end of the age group than, for example Instagram.
So if you’re selling fidget spinners designed for Gen Z’ers, your social media efforts are probably better spent on platforms who draw younger audiences like Instagram or Snapchat. The key is meeting your audience where they are.
There are several ways to do this:
- Review the data: Several marketing institutions and agencies collect data on the habits of social media users, and how they interact with their favorite brands and businesses.
- Ask your customers: A simple survey of customers online or in-person could reveal the social media answers you need to develop the best social media strategy for your business.
- Look to your competition: Are your competitors active on one platform in particular? There may be a reason why! Take some time to analyze how they’re using social media marketing, what’s working, and what’s not doing so well.
With this information, you can eliminate some of the guesswork of dialing in your social media strategy.
2. Save time by scheduling
Running a small business is no small feat, and you’re often forced to juggle multiple responsibilities, which likely includes marketing your business and generating leads. And in full transparency, marketing can be a lot of work, and keeping your social profile updated is essential to your business’s social media success.
One way to manage the workload is by scheduling out content rather than having to be ready to post at all times. There are several content marketing tools with scheduling capabilities you can leverage, including:
- Sprout Social
- Hubspot
- Buffer
- Hootsuite
3. Create shareable content
Every brand has its own metrics for evaluating their social media success—likes, comments, shares, to name a few—but the overarching goal for most is creating good content that their clients love. But what qualifies as “good content?”
It depends on your business, customers, and goals, but as a general rule, here are some things to keep in mind:
Be timely: You wouldn’t post a holiday gift guide in the middle of summer, would you? Timeliness is key when it comes to creating content that your customers will enjoy and share with their friends. Creating a content calendar is a great way to anticipate timelines and develop great content ahead of the competition.
Create useful content: Think about some of the questions your customers come to you with—“how do I clean my new rug?”, “what colors would compliment my newly painted walls?”—can you answer them with your content? Use your buyer personas and FAQs to help you create content that’s useful for your existing and prospective customers.
Make it visual: Video, photography, and graphical content are all the rage these days. They present an easy way to digest content, which is critical in a sea of limited attention spans. Feel free to mix up your mediums, and don’t be afraid to experiment with these kinds of content, too.
4. Keep current with trends
The digital marketing world is constantly evolving, so being on top of changing trends is key to staying relevant. By subscribing to some of the top digital marketing blogs you can learn about industry changes and adjust your social strategy as needed.
In addition, attending local networking events and joining online forums can create a great opportunity for you to connect and learn from experts in your industry.
5. Measure your success
Monitoring and measuring your social media performance is key to creating a successful social media marketing campaign. The main reason being that data provides you with the insight you need to determine what’s working and what isn’t, and how you can make adjustments to improve thereafter.
Depending on your overarching business goals, one metric may mean more than another. According to 2020 data, most marketers value likes and comments, followed by shares and retweets, when it comes to measuring social media success.
6. Consider paid advertising
6. Consider paid advertising If you’re ready to ramp up your social strategy—and you have the budget to do so—consider how paid advertising can benefit you. Most social media advertising platforms are relatively user-friendly, so you can give it a go on your own if you’re comfortable, or hire some outside support if you’d prefer to have a little more guidance.
7. Try affiliate marketing
Another really popular trend in social media marketing these days is affiliate marketing, also known as influencer marketing. The concept is simple: hire popular social media personalities to promote your product among their base of followers. Of course, you’ll want to be sure that their audience is who you want to target so that you get the most bang for your buck. Instagram is one of the top platforms used for influencer marketing.
In addition to making sure their audience matches your customer personas, you should also vet your influencer(s) to make sure that their values and content jive well with your brand. For example, you probably wouldn’t want to partner with an influencer that posts offensive content or one that doesn’t have a very positive presence.
8. Engage in professional networks
Connecting with your customers via social media can be an effective way to fortify your marketing efforts, but it’s not the only route! If you want to expand your network even further, professional networking can be a great way to do so.
Platforms like LinkedIn enable professionals to forge connections with other industry leaders, prospective talent, and marketing experts. These relationships can help boost recruiting efforts, build professional partnerships, and position your company as an expert in your field—so don’t forget about leveraging these networks, too!
