Cracking The Social-media-marketing Code
People use social media to connect, get news, and share content in the digital age. Social media is far more than just people who want to use it. Businesses have gotten into the game to take advantage of how popular and easy it is to join.
Even though most social media platforms have been around for years, some businesses still need to use them to their full potential. Only some businesses are a good fit for some types of social media, and sometimes a business shouldn’t be on every platform. Some businesses have no reason to be on social media at all. Each business is different. Social media marketing presences should be planned with clear company goals and target groups in mind.
Ask these questions:
Is your brand joining social media with a clear goal in mind, or just to be “socially active”?
What’s the point of each platform? Every post?
Is the goal to get people to know about the brand or to get leads?
Is the goal of your brand’s social media presence to boost sales, use the advertising tools, or share content?
Who is the message meant for? What social media can they use to reach them?
Follow this step-by-step guide to better align the social presence of the company with its goals:
Outline the goals of the company
Look at the company’s goals and each social media site to see which one best represents the brand. Always be true to the brand, no matter what. Use social media to start a two-way conversation with customers so you can teach them and talk to them.
Talk about the company’s mission and brand voice, as well as how they should be shown on social media. The brand can take on different tones based on the channel and the situation.
Social media lets businesses turn and grow weak connections into loyal fans. If the goal of social media is to get more subscribers, interactions, and engagement, then making content and talking about it can lead to more engagement.
Start off on the right foot by writing down your goals. This makes sure that no time or effort is wasted.
Define the Target Audience Platform tools let social media managers narrow their target audience down to specific demographics, such as age, gender, or income, as well as interests, values, and even fears.
Notable advances help marketers understand what their customers want and give them what they want. This creates relationships with customers, which in turn makes them loyal to the brand. The more relevant the content is, the more likely it is that people will share it with their friends on their own profiles.
After you know who your audience is, make sure to build the social platforms for your brand around them. It’s a waste of time and won’t help the brand to make content that people aren’t interested in. Know where your customers are and only advertise in those places.
Check out the other competitors
If the competition already has an advantage on a platform, there are tools that can look at their activity, search engine optimization (SEO), keywords, and content. Use what your competitor is doing that is “working” to change how your brand is approaching the current strategy.
Keep track and measure Continuously
Focus on platforms that give you a direct return on your investment (ROI). If time, money, and effort are being put into a platform that isn’t working or where the audience isn’t, it’s time to change direction.
It’s tempting to decide not to spend any money on social media sites. Even if a platform is cheap or free, that doesn’t mean a brand can use it well without spending any money. Today, you can’t get many people to see your posts unless you pay to boost them.
How to use Social Media Sites
Learn how to use the following social media sites. People are different, but you should focus on the ones that show off your brand’s strengths, audience, and goals.
Facebook is by far the biggest social media site. Every month, more than 2 billion people use it. Facebook’s goal is to bring people together from all over the world.
Businesses of all kinds can use Facebook’s features to their advantage. The site has no limits on how much text, photos, or video it can show (including live streaming). By responding to consumer needs and wants, a company page can help build a community and a relationship between the brand and the consumer.
Live streaming videos get more views and engagement on Facebook than any other type of content.
Without investment, it can be hard for the right people to see a brand. By spending money on ads for a certain group of people through the ad manager, you can reach more people globally and locally and use retargeting.
In addition to paid reach, companies get more organic reach when they post regularly, make good content, and target people who are passionate about the same things they are.
When to use Facebook:
Trying to reach people over 50. Strategic Content Marketing says the following:
Most users are between the ages of 25 and 34.
53% of Facebook users are women and 47% are men.
56% of seniors over 65 who are online are on Facebook, and 63% of those between 50 and 60.
The strategy needs different kinds of content.
In-depth analytical reports are needed for the brand.
Have the money to put money into good ads.
Twitter is the best way to quickly get the word out or make something go viral. It is good and bad because it depends on real-time communication and a quick response. Content is shared over and over again, which pushes it down the feed.
To be heard, share posts that are relevant, well-thought-out, and will hit home with the target audience. has tools for analytics and finding your target audience, but they are not as detailed as those on Facebook. Keep up with popular hashtags and news in your field to give your posts a boost.
Use to stay in front of people who are using it. Answer questions directly and let customers know about new products or releases from the company as well as trends and resources in the industry. Follow thought leaders and your ideal audience to find opportunities to network with them, and keep an eye on your competitors.
It helps spread the word about a brand and can improve its SEO ranking. You can share links, photos, GIFs, videos, and text, but you can only use 140 characters (though they are testing 280 in some markets). Images and videos are the most engaging and get the best results. Hashtags get people to follow you if they are useful and not too many.
When to use Twitter:
Providing help to customers in real time.
Sharing content that is both informative and short.
Trying to reach young people.
Strategic Content Marketing says the following:
32% of people ages 18 to 29 use Twitter.
49% of 15–17-year-old girls and 34% of boys use Twitter.
Instagram is a social network for sharing photos and videos. It is owned by Facebook and is mostly used on mobile devices. Instagram lets people get so involved in a brand’s story that, according to ThriveHive, users are “58 times more likely to share an Instagram post than a Facebook post and 120 times more likely than a Twitter post.”
Instagram is a bit different because it lets a brand tell a story or show off a product visually. Most artistic brands do well. Brands can also get more followers by using hashtags that are popular at the moment. They can also build relationships with their followers by following them and talking to them. Studies show that people remember 55% more information from a picture than from text. This is a helpful platform.
Because Instagram is linked to Facebook, it offers similar analytics and insights. Instagram is hard because the algorithm doesn’t show posts in order of when they were made. This makes it hard to figure out who sees the content. It’s also hard to get people to visit the company website because Instagram links can’t be clicked on.
Use Instagram to connect with people on an emotional level. Post high-quality photos, use “Story” to show followers what goes on behind the scenes, and interact with your followers.
When to use Instagram:
Focusing on building a brand means putting the spotlight on a company’s culture, events, or raffles.
Providing a certain look, way of life, or activity
The focus is on pictures and art.
Trying to reach young people. Strategic Content Marketing says the following:
49% of Instagram users are women and 51% are men.
55% of people in the U.S. between the ages of 18 and 29 use Instagram.
28% of users are between the ages of 30 and 49.
LinkedIn lets professionals connect and network with each other. DMR research shows that “59% of LinkedIn users don’t use Twitter and 13% don’t use Facebook.” This means that LinkedIn users are a huge, untapped market.
LinkedIn is a great place to set up a company page to get the word out about your brand. When people use LinkedIn, they usually have a business mindset and share promotions or job openings. Users are usually interested and expect ads, which is good for marketers. The cost of advertising is high because it depends on getting people to buy something.
Use LinkedIn by posting content often, sharing whitepapers, ebooks, videos, and case studies, and talking with groups.
When to use LinkedIn:
B2B marketing.
People of all ages who work in business.
DMR says that of the people who use LinkedIn, 44% are women and 56% are men.
According to data from Sprout Social, 61% of LinkedIn users are between the ages of 30 and 64, and 23% are between the ages of 18 and 29.
Here is a list of tools for managing social media that may give your brand an edge over the competition.
SimilarWeb: This tool looks at the online marketing strategies of competitors to find opportunities, find weaknesses, and give the user new ideas.
AgoraPulse is a tool that combines social media channels into one platform. This makes it easy for businesses to share content, interact with followers, track the success of their campaigns, and keep an eye on what people are saying on the web.
Sprout Social: This tool optimises and combines social media tools into one platform. Most of the numbers in this post about social media come from Sprout Social.
Buffer is a tool with a simple dashboard that makes it easy to write a message and choose which channels to share it on.
Shakr is a tool that makes making videos quick and easy. It has a collection of professionally made video templates that users can drag and drop photos and videos into.
BeLive is a tool that lets you stream through Facebook Live and also show text and graphics onscreen.
Scoop.it is a tool that cuts down on the time it takes to collect and sort through blog posts.
MeetEdgar is a tool that helps you plan and organise both new and old content.
When it comes to social, there is no one strategy that works for everyone. Continue to measure, be creative, act honestly, give value, and connect with others.