Social media marketing seems simple, but it is best done in a structured way. This week: tips and tricks to help you write your own social media strategy!
A social media strategy means growth
Growth on social media, how does that translate? Does it mean more followers? More engagement? More conversions? Probably a mix of all that, but preferably a lot of engagement and conversions. After all, that’s what it’s all about. How do you create more conversions using social media?
1. Provide relevant content
Talk about a no-brainer! Yet this is something that cannot be repeated enough. The importance of valuable content is heavily underestimated.
People go online looking for information. Those who come across interesting content and thus end up on your website organically have (more) potential. Take Dazzle. Not long ago we launched our new website without a lot of bells and whistles. But we provide periodic content creation that appeals to our target audience. The number of website visitors continues to grow and we rank higher and higher in search results.
In addition, we show what we are doing by sharing our expertise. By creating and sharing interesting content , you give something to your target audience that you also get a lot in return. That content enables you to take your prospects by the hand and guide them through their buyer journey.
2. Post regularly and consistently
You need a social media routine. An occasional Tweet or Facebook post is really not enough to create and nurture followers. You are not alone in social media land. You will have to earn the attention of your followers and remind them regularly that you are there with yet another post.
Also consider the nature of the channel. Creating a Twitter account that means something requires much more frequent posting than on Instagram. Want to make sure you have a good reach? Then create a plan in which you have a clear overview of the type of content that will be posted at what time and on what channel. Depending on the tool you use for this, you will be helped by a visual representation of your posts and channels in a calendar. Among others, sproutsocial offers this possibility.
3. Don’t share just anything, be selective
You share with a purpose, which is to provide relevant content for your target audience as part of an inbound marketing strategy. Spreading junk does not add to the credibility of your brand or service. So make sure your target audience has something to gain from your content . Keep it valuable and relevant, entertaining and informative.
Also, beware of automating content posts. A feed based on keyword suggestions is not necessarily relevant. Read what you post first, quality prevails over quantity.
4. Use actionable hashtags to build a community
Hashtags are not just handy tools for quickly finding content . They also help you as marketeer to connect different content, spread over various channels, with the same hashtag.
#BeTech is a good example of this. The hashtag #BeTech is used by Belgian tech startups to build a community. The hashtag is the glue that connects the various startups across social media channels.
5. Analyze the successes of your content
Use Google Analytics or track your campaigns in marketing automation software like Mautic to analyze your published content . It’s not enough to know what’s doing well, but also why. Is it because of the content? The channel? The time of day it was posted? Or a combination of factors. That knowledge helps you make adjustments where needed and create and post content in an even more efficient way.
6. Use infographics
Visual content does well on social media and infographics are no exception. The reason is simple: with infographics, you get a bunch of information processed into an attractive and bite-sized image. Infographics are easily shareable and hold the reader’s attention. People like Anna and Mark Vital have understood this well and built a business with it.
7. Go mobile, so does your target audience
Mobile rules! And that’s what you need to consider the marketeer that takes social media strategy seriously. You will not only be rewarded by Google or Facebook for it, your followers also prefer content that they can effortlessly view on their mobile devices. In that context, also follow the trends and do not lose sight of platforms such as TikTok.
8. Images, images and again images. Go visual!
Visual content scores huge on social media, there’s no getting around it. Personalize your images with a tool like Canva for example. The disadvantage of images is that each channel uses its own format . A landscape format that fits perfectly on your blog, is not suitable for the square format that characterizes Instagram. Do you also have a Pinterest account? Then you’d better convert that same image to portrait as well.
Creating the perfect experience for your audience will cost you quite a bit of time in image optimization for each channel. Do you use Canva? Then you’ll probably benefit from their resize feature that converts your visual content to the right size for each channel in one move.
9. Don’t just look at your target audience but also at your competitors
You want to know what your competitors are up to. And in the case of their social media accounts, you like to go a step further and see what works. Of course, you don’t have access to certain data that they, as an admin, have for the taking. But knowing what an account represents in terms of engagement is not rocket science. If you divide the total engagement of, say, the last 30 posts by the number of followers and use that as a benchmark, you’ll go a long way.
10. Pay for better targeting
Just about every channel offers you the opportunity – for a fee – to do more targeted social media marketing. You select demographic, geographical or other characteristics on a pay-per-click basis, for example. This way you keep your budget under control while you are able to reach a very specific group. Adjustments can be made virtually in real time. An excellent method for small marketing budgets that need to be spent in a targeted manner.
11. Don’t go overboard with your targeting parameters
A balancing act resulting from our previous tip. A targeted social media campaign on Facebook, for example, is fine, unless you are going to select such a specific target audience that you no longer reach anybody. If you go too broad, you might pay too much in relation to the return, but too narrow parameters can result in a useless campaign.
12. Start remarketing via social media
One of the best ways to spend your budget when paying for social media is with remarketing. Here, you pick up a prospect who left your website prematurely by showing them relevant ads on social media. A well-known example of this is Facebook ads, where you see the real estate ad or that hip dress you were looking at on a website when you open Facebook. With remarketing you create a new opportunity to close a sale and you give your product or service extra exposure. Targeted advertising at its best!
These tips are the ideal starting point for making your social media strategy pay off on the social channels. But of course, we are at your disposal for a tailor-made approach by experts.
