5 Ways to Sharpen Your Social Media Strategy

You must have a social media strategy for many reasons. But the essence of all of them is this: people sit in social networks. The rumors are true.

And studies show that 26% of people use social media to find products to buy. So not only are they there, but a quarter of them want to spend some money.

So how do you cash out? You think I’m going to say that you need to learn how to dance TikTok in order to sell your motor oil, right? Wrong. In fact, all you have to do is follow this guide and we promise that TikTok dance lessons are not included.

Why promote your business on social media?

Okay, but first of all, why bother with social media promotion at all?

To start with, there are currently 4.62 billion people worldwide using social media. This is 10% more than last year, and your promotional materials have a lot of potential viewers. Even that alone is a big business advantage of social media.

It’s one thing to have a huge audience of carbon-based lifeforms, but here are the real benefits of social media.

Attract new clients

Guess what? Customers are already looking for you on social media. 49% of all internet users regularly search for brands on social media.

All you have to do is be where they are (on social media), provide the quality content they want, and have a semi-decent (okay, quite decent) product or service. These are just three things!

Increase brand loyalty

Consumers vote with their wallet. A whopping 82% of shoppers said they want consumer brand values ​​to match their own. Inclusion, for example, is integral to 73% of Generation Z and 72% of Millennials when it comes to purchasing decisions. This way, as a brand, you can promote content that aligns with your corporate values.

People don’t want 500 posts about your latest sale. They want to know what your environmental and charitable commitments are. They want to see what you stand for and how you treat your employees. So don’t be shy; One of the best ways to promote on social media is to shout your values ​​from the rooftops.

Social media is the perfect way to communicate your values ​​and increase brand value to customers throughout your marketing funnel.

Attract leads and sales

Many companies use social media to promote their business goals, including increasing revenue. This provides a great ROI and I can’t lie friends. What’s the point of gathering an audience and showing off your wares if it doesn’t lead to money?

With an integrated marketing strategy, you can use social media to influence buying decisions. During the COVID-19 pandemic, much of our day-to-day focus and spending has shifted online, and this is expected to continue. In 2022, 58% of all Internet users bought goods or services online weekly.

How to promote your business on social media

What is the best way to take advantage of the huge pool of potential online customers? Here’s how it works with a social media marketing strategy.

Here is your roadmap to social success (at least for your business).

Create a social media marketing strategy

You need a plan, man.

Creating a social media marketing plan doesn’t have to be difficult. At a minimum, your plan should include:

• List of measurable goals
• Client personas (Who are you trying to contact? What do they like or dislike? Who are they? You will probably have multiple personas)
• Competitive Analysis
• Content strategy for the topics and types of content formats you will be sharing
• An editorial calendar showing the frequency of publications, as well as those responsible for creating content.

If you have 9 minutes, you can learn everything you need to know about creating a social media marketing plan from the video below:

Use a social media management tool

Automating social media marketing with tools means you can achieve more with a small social marketing team. This saves time and money, but also, let’s face it, your sanity.

Hootsuite allows you to plan, schedule and track the results of all your content across all social media channels. It also has other great features like social listening to see what people are actually saying about you online. You can even reply to comments and messages across all your accounts from one central inbox.

Determine the best social media platforms for your business

Social media has a place for every business, but not everywhere. It’s in your best interest to know a select few platforms that will bring you the results you want and focus on those.

“So what are the best social media sites to promote your business?” This is what you’re dying to ask me, right?

It’s not something you can google, my dude. But the answer is simple: Where do your ideal clients hang out online? Chances are only 1 or 2 key platforms will deliver a 90%+ ROI on your social media investment.

If you’re not sure where your ideal user base hangs out, research the market first. We recommend using Hootsuite’s handy (and free!) Meet Your Audience download.

Attract!

Social networks should be social. People are looking for a conversation, a chat, a way to escape from the daily routine through online communication.

Don’t hide behind boring promotional content. Go outside and talk to your customers. Ask for opinions about new product launches or fresh new ideas. Then acknowledge the feedback received and show how you implement it.

Taco Bell impresses with examples of social media promotion. Their Twitter feed is full of interesting content. For example, they heard a lot of screaming about the favorite and lost menu item “Mexican Pizza”. Taco Bell then re-marketed the dish due to high demand.

You and Mexican pizza will soon be back together. Be ready for his return tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/yce574sIu0

— Taco Bell (@tacobell) September 14, 2022

There is no better recipe for building brand loyalty than making your audience feel heard.

Progress monitoring

You cannot know what you do not measure. You need to take your subjectivity out of the equation, and to do that, you only need to look at the numbers. Track your progress with data and analytics.

By keeping a close eye on your analytics, you will know what your audience responds to best. And identify areas for adjusting your strategy.

At least monthly check:

• The basics: number of followers, profit or loss, engagement rate, reposts and reposts, comments and likes.
• Enhanced capabilities: Omnichannel campaign performance, social media marketing-related sales, and brand equity development.

It’s okay to change your goals over time or change strategies when your original plan doesn’t work the way you hoped. Just be sure to back up your decisions with data.

Social Media Promotion Ideas

Think only “cool brands”are killing him on social media? You don’t need to have a fancy tech product or make the world’s best Mexican pizza to attract a valuable audience. You just need to promote your brand consistently and consistently.

If you’re stuck looking for social media post ideas, we’ve got a lot of ideas you can just steal. In the meantime, take a look at these social media marketing ideas to incorporate into your strategy.

Schedule a draw

There are many types of social media contests you can run, from a simple “like and comment to enter” to asking people to share your post, tag a friend, or fill out a form on a landing page. The sky is the limit. You can even ask people to jump up and down while reading Doja Cat songs. You can’t be sure what they will be, but you can ask.

You need to make sure that the competition is in line with your goals, whether it’s promoting your brand, gathering information about your target audience, or getting feedback on your product offerings.

Before running a contest, make sure you read the platform rules and abide by them.

If you’re short on ideas, steal one of these sparkly Instagram gifts.

Steal this strategy

• Decide on a goal. Want to get more followers? Get email addresses? Go viral? Collect user-generated content?
• Format your competition to fit this goal. To attract more followers, just like and share the photo in your feed. Other contests may require more planning.
• Analyze the results after completion. Have you reached your goal? Why, why not? What could you improve next time?

Working with influencers

Influencer marketing isn’t going anywhere. As of 2022, the global market value of influencer content is currently $16.4 billion, doubling from 2019.

Some people say that influencer marketing seems disingenuous, and in some cases it is. You definitely want to stay away from product placement. Yes. But when done right, influencer marketing is a true and effective type of digital marketing.

Let’s take Mac for example. They decided to collaborate with trans activist, fashion model and makeup fan Lauren Sandström. With 30,000 followers, Sandstrom may not have as many followers as Mac, but choosing an influencer that fits your brand is much more important than one with high reach who might not.

Notice how Sandstrom doesn’t try to hide the fact that this is an advertisement? Her followers value openness and know that she can be trusted.

Steal this strategy

• Start small: reach out to micro-influencers (10,000 subscribers or less) and offer free products in exchange for publishing. This strategy can work well for smaller companies looking to build a cohort of brand ambassadors.
• To achieve great results, allocate an influencer marketing budget and develop a single campaign to run simultaneously with multiple influencers.
• Select influencers who align with your brand values ​​for a genuine partnership.
• This works for all companies, not just fashion. Get creative!

Use User Content

What is the hardest thing about managing social media for business? Keep up with social media’s insatiable demand for new content.

So why not let your clients do it for you?

Not only does this save you time (and brainpower), but it also helps build a community around your brand. If you have a genuine connection with your customers, they will love seeing their photos on your page.

This is how you promote your services without yelling, “Hey! That’s what I’m doing!”

Article, an e-commerce furniture supply company, does it well. Without a physical store where people can check out Article products, they rely solely on digital marketing. In order for people to actually submit articles in their homes, the brand actively encourages the use of user-generated content.

They created the signature hashtag #OurArticle, which has over 27,000 tags on Instagram. The article constantly reposts content from this hashtag, asking for permission to do so and citing the original accounts.

Steal this strategy

• Ask permission before sharing customer photos.
• Focus the caption on your buyer, rather than advertising yourself.
• Tag your client to give them credit for the photo.

Strengthen your brand

Okay, it’s a long game. And this is not only social media advice for small business owners and large companies, but also a strategy that will pay off in all aspects of your marketing.

One of the best things you can do for your business is to establish your brand. You’ll need a brand book or set of brand guides that you and anyone you hire can easily reference to ensure your content fits the story you’re telling.

When everything points in the same direction, visually and narratively, consumers will be able to recognize you and understand what you’re talking about with minimal effort. Eventually, your brand will be imprinted in their minds as a product or service that fulfills a specific need.

You only need to look at giants like Coca-Cola, Mcdonald’s or Nike to see this in action. What does the white silhouette of a bottle on a red background remind you of? What do red and yellow remind you of? Have you ever seen a flying tick and didn’t think just do it?

These brands are nothing but incompatibilities and it pays off.

Connect your organics with paid advertising

Your organic content strategy won’t help just yet. To really capitalize on the reach that social media is capable of, you’ll want to incorporate a paid advertising component into your social strategy.

In 2022, social media ad spend exceeded $173 billion! The market is crazy for him for good reason; with a solid advertising strategy, you usually get more than you put in. In addition, there are many statistics to back this up.

Social media advertising can be inexpensive if you’re on a small budget. But if you have money to spend, you can do that too. Social advertising has quite flexible rates; it’s really up to you to decide how much you’re going to bet for it. And they offer powerful targeting options so you can reach your target audience without wasting valuable dollars.

Source: Coco and Eve