The importance of a social media strategy is a given in today’s age of rapidly growing digital networks. However, the best way to approach your social networks isn’t as obvious.
Tackling sites with such a large audience requires a bit of research and careful planning. To bring your social media campaign to the next level, here are a few steps you should take.
1. Be Consistent Across Platforms — but Don’t Replicate Content
A key piece of advice to keep in mind for any business using multiple social media networks is to be leery of sounding repetitive. Remember that your clients are likely to follow you on more than just one site. If you copy and paste the same posts across all platforms, it looks lazy and can contribute to losing followers in the long run.
With that being said, it’s still important to keep a sense of consistency across your platforms. What is your business’s tone? What is the message you want clients to receive about your company? Keep it consistent — but don’t be repetitive with your posts.
2. Research Your Audience Thoroughly
Even the most well thought out social media campaigns can fall flat when they fail to reach their audience properly. Before you initiate any marketing tactics on your social networks, you should learn more about the people you strive to turn into paying clients.
While 69% of U.S. adults use at least one social media site, find out which network is most relevant to your target audience. You should also investigate the characteristics that define followers across all your social channels. The more you know about your audience, the more successful your marketing initiatives will be.
3. Create Unique and Fun Content
Why do social media users follow you on your networks? In many cases, they don’t want to be on the receiving end of aggressive sales tactics. Instead, many will follow a business that posts relatable, fun and shareworthy content.
Are you not sure how to make your content interesting? One of the best ways to get social media users talking about it is by triggering emotional reactions that make your posts even more shareable. Tap into your audiences’ interests and create your content accordingly.
4. Run Contests and Exclusive Social Media Promos
Whenever you develop a social media strategy, you should be actively thinking about the ways you can grow your following, too. Besides establishing a strong brand and creating killer content, offering social media-exclusive material and promos is a great way to bring attention to your page.
Not only do contests and giveaways draw more eyes to your network, but they also demonstrate the gratitude you have for your current clients. An example would be a post explaining the details of your giveaway with any rules you may have for contestants.
Invite social media users to follow your page for an entry. Your social media following will rapidly grow — and your followers’ interest in your networks will, too.
5. Interact With Social Media Users
Social media isn’t just a space for a business’s advertisements and promos. For every company, social networks should serve as a channel for communication with their clients, too.
Over 90% of social media users say they’ve already used social media to reach out to a business or brand. If your followers contact you and never receive a response, it sends a less-than-ideal message about your company.
Whether you receive criticism or praise, make a point to respond to the messages you acquire. Do so when social media users leave comments on your posts, too. When you interact with your followers, it demonstrates your business’s superb communication skills and gratitude for its clients.
6. Investigate Trends
Nothing evolves quite as rapidly as the internet. This means that while digital marketing trends transform, social media users and networks change just as quickly.
Keep the momentum going with your online social media success by staying on top of the latest trends in both your industry and social media. To get started, investigate current viral trends and social media posts. Keep your content engaging by incorporating these popular social media trends into your own content.
Whether it’s on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn, having a social media strategy is key to your digital marketing success. With these details in mind, you can amp up your online presence and reap greater rewards.
