Social media has become a phenomenon. With 3.8 billion active users worldwide, there is no faster way to spread a word around. People today spend more time on social media than search engines like Google. And why not? It’s more entertaining and catchy, with lesser distractions.
Statistics suggest that upto 93% of marketers utilize this opportunity for marketing their brands on these platforms. If you are still contemplating, then we recommend you get on with it now.
How?
Read the blog till the end, and you will get a clear idea about the basics of social media marketing and how you can promote your brand on various social media channels.
Six Social Media Tactics to follow for Marketing Success:
Choose your content wisely
You already know that social media channels are popular because they are entertaining. So, the content you post must be exciting and appealing. However, do not ignore context, trying to make it engaging.
While posting something on social media, try to keep it tied to the product you sell or the services you offer. Keep the essence of your industry intact. You can create exciting explainer videos, or share customer experiences; you can even share your work process.
Video content, images, blogs, and podcasts are among the top contents that audiences engage with.
Treat each platform as an individual entity
Just like you need different IDs for each of these social media channels, you need to have a different approach for each of them as well. You may argue that you can see the same content on different channels, but you have to pay attention to the finer details as a marketer.
Notice that different channels cater to different forms of content, while Facebook is a better fit for written posts, Instagram likes images better, on the other hand, if you want to target professionals, you have to focus on LinkedIn.
That’s not it; there is a right time to post each of these platforms that is different from the other.
Source: entrepreneur
Besides, each of these platforms has a majority and minority in terms of their audience base. While some are accessed more by teenagers, others are popular among middle-aged consumers.
So, when you start using social media to promote your brand, segregate your target audience and get an idea of what they like to see and which platforms the visit more often. This will increase your chances of getting discovered.
Create a full-blown execution strategy
Relentless posting on social media may work for teenagers, but it will only earn a bad reputation for a company. If you don’t have a well-planned execution strategy for your social media marketing, your campaigns will fall through the cracks.
The process of creating this strategy is quite similar to any other marketing campaign. Set a primary goal, defining what you aim to achieve. This goal may be the number of followers on Instagram, the number of shared on a Facebook post, or retweets.
Following that, devise a campaign to achieve the same, which defines the type of content you will be sharing, and the number of posts each day. It also includes determining the specific channels you are going to target.
The next step is consistency. Social media is not instantly rewarding at all times. However, you must not give up. Consistency is the key here. You have to keep posting till regularly and maintain relevance.
Pro tip: if this is a new start for you and you want to blend in, it will help you monitor your competitors to see how often they are posting and what kind of response they are getting.
Ensure impeccable customer service
Source: smartinsights
To succeed in social media marketing, remember why it was created in the first place. Social media is only about connecting. These channels connect people that are worlds apart. So, when marketing on them, remember to address your customers and their queries.
Try to realize that no one has the time to wait in line to explain their issue with your service or ask you for help. Your clients are busy, and all they would do is drop a tweet or a comment mentioning the fall out on your part. You may choose to ignore it, but your followers won’t.
Thus, whenever you get a chance, deliver a thoughtful response to the queries that are addressed to you through social media. You can take the following steps to ensure that:
- Assign a responder to monitor each channel that your brand has a profile on.
- Create a troubleshooting library to fix common bugs and complaints that arise.
- Be creative and engaging: organize contests, arrange giveaways, draw polls etc.
- Don’t ignore the comments whether they are good or bad.
Embrace your mistakes
There is no shame in admitting your own flaws. In fact, it is humane to make one or two mistakes once in a while. What isn’t acceptable, however, is a lousy cover-up or absolute denial.
Many brands try to hide their mistakes by deleting social media posts. We recommend not to do that. You may have missed a comma or ignored a typo in a tweet, that is only normal, and your audience will relate to that for sure. But if you delete the tweet entirely, you will lose a possible engagement and appear rather uptight.
Try to address the fall-out by being creative and humorous, and you will be able to mend the damage cleverly.
Keep a close eye on the metrics
Source: sproutsocial
We admit that tracking can be tedious and time-consuming. However, it will only help you in the long run. Take out some time each month to review the metrics that are vital to your business. Focus on the following statistics:
- Follower growth
- Number of posts
- Pageviews
- Links to your site/ products
- Number of likes and shares
- Impressions
Measure the progress on each sight separately and draw a comparison with your competitors to figure out how you are catching up.
If you don’t wish to spend time on the analysis or lack the workforce, you can use free social media tools like Google Analytics, Hootsuite and bit.ly. Share these results with your marketing team to evaluate your campaigns’ success and come up with better ideas for the future.
Wrapping up
It is vital for business owners and marketers to keep pace with time. Today, traditional outbound marketing methods fail because the consumer is becoming more careful about their purchase decisions.
By the power of the internet, consumers today can access any kind of information they want about a brand. To ensure this information is authentic and serves the purpose of your brand; you must utilize the platforms that the consumers are indulging in.
It is in your best interest to follow these tips and market on social media. So, stop thinking and start socializing.
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