Social media has gradually become an integral part of the fabric of urban life, which gives brands and online marketers substantial business opportunities. But considering the dynamic changes in the online marketing realm, social media success seems to be a little baffling.
Since the early 2000s, social media has evolved exceptionally, and today almost 7 out of 10 Americans use social media compared to only 5% in 2005. And businesses took notice of this paradigm shift, which thus paved the way for social media marketing.
With a well-thought of social media marketing strategy, the benefits are endless! Nearly all brands, small, big and medium- leverage social media to drive awareness and engagement, as well as conversions. Worldwide, there has been a massive surge in social media ad budget and it is projected to reach $110,628 million by the end of 2021.
And this spending is predicted to hike up by 73% by the next 5 years, making the social media platforms a quintessential podium for online marketers to reach their audience at large-scale.
But, there have been a few challenges in utilizing Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and similar platforms, owing to their mass usage among marketers. There are more than 50 million SMEs who use Facebook for their marketing efforts. So until and unless you are Apple, or Coca Cola, or McDonald’s, you need to fight for your place out there. Their social media success stories have several layers that can well be considered as case studies.
Apart from the millions of competitors, on top of that, every platform has its own set of algorithms that are changed every now and then. Facebook’s changing algorithms are great for baby photos, cat videos and your vacation photos; it means less visibility for marketers, though. If you are not updated enough and keep your social media strategy up-to-date, social media success will be a little elusive for your business.
Let’s dig into some of the actionable tips to uplift your social media presence and improve engagement across all your brand channels. These bite-sized tips can help any marketer or Blogger gain the upper hand in their 2021 social media calendar. Keep scrolling!
1. Create your Content around Trending/Viral Memes and Online Jokes
Jokes and funny content have taken a quirky form on social media, and they are called ‘memes‘. They have become a massively popular way of capturing the attention of social media users, owing to their effectiveness and inside jokes.
If you want to boost your Facebook posts and content, or drive greater engagement on your Instagram handle, think of utilizing an original meme, with relatable content. You can either create an original meme or tweak an already viral meme in your own way, that has a connection with your brand and your products/services.
Memes and online jokes make people laugh; and adding a splash of humor in your brand content can stimulate user actions and can even be shared a thousand times across social media channels. Keep an eye on the latest memes and jokes shared online and give it a spin.
2. Engage your Audience with Predictive Text Games
Often we find brands coming up with interactive content wherein the target audience could involve. Such an interactive content are predictive text games, where you prompt them to engage with your brand. The format is simple, just ask them to finish a sentence with their Smartphone’s predictive text. Encourage them to post it.
And there you go! If you can hit the right spot, your comment section will overflow with comments. This is a fun way to communicate and connect with your prospects and bring humor into your feed, without actually being overtly funny. This tactic goes surprisingly well with Twitter, since it is primarily a word-based social platform. Stir up your content creation to come up with more such social selling techniques.
3. Think of Scoping out SMART Goals
You are utilizing social media sure enough for certain goals, right? Not because everyone else is on it. Setting your goals straight is of paramount importance if you are up to amping your social media presence up. In social media jargon, these are called SMART goals – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound.
For e.g.’ “Increasing our Facebook engagement rate by 30% by the end of the second quarter.” These are the kinds of goals that every brand leveraging social platforms must set.
The concept has been around for many years, but its significance has never been as prominent as now. Having SMART goals guarantees zero random posts and add more context.
4. Build Quality Relationships with your Audience, not just Inactive Followers
No matter how burly your follower count is, it doesn’t really matter if they do not engage with your brand. Having only 100 followers who regularly engage with your brand and share your posts, is far better than having 100 followers who are indifferent to you.
Social media gives every marketer a fair chance to create an amiable relation with their audience and prospects. Never forget to @mention the individual you refer to in your post. Never forget to respond when you have been @mentioned. Make sure to thank them when they share your post. Don’t just Retweet and Like someone’s post; leave a comment too. These are the eternally tried and tested hacks of relationship-building.
5. Don’t Forget to Share Practical Tips
Sharing inspiring quotes said by others does not work well anymore. Quotes-sharing have been done to death and has lost its prior effectiveness. An inspiring quote might gain a few Likes, one or two Shares; but that’s just it!
Nothing happens beyond that. No connection established. No engagement generated.
Publishing practical tips related to your industry, can provide immense value to your audience. Turn the tips into short video content, mini Infographics, or post them directly on your Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn handle. Successful social media marketing implies sharing content that are engaging, fun to read, and are out-of-the-box.
6. Use Automation the Right Way!
It’s only for simplifying the complex manual tasks, and thereby save time, effort and cost, that marketers are now leaning on marketing automation tools. At the same time, smart application of automation also improves social media presence.
For e.g., beginners can start using automation tools like TailWind, Sprout Social’s Bambu, Buffer, Hootsuite, for scheduling or curating content, to create content calendar. You can reduce the time spent gathering posts or responding to several comments, and channelize that time into other business development ventures.
However, never fall into the trap of using automation tools to buy followers/subscribers. This can severely tarnish your online reputation and damage your SEO.
7. Conduct Social Media Contest to Boost Engagement and Conversion
This is a kind of engagement tool that you were neglecting as of now. There are several marketers out there who still don’t consider running contests on their social media handles, much to their detriment.
But believe it or not, conducting social media contests can strengthen your marketing efforts and help you connect with your audience– both existing and potential. With engaging contests, you can acquire qualified leads and ultimately turn them into paying customers.
However, do not just do it because others are doing it too. There are certain rules to make your social media contest a success. First of all, determine the contest’s objective- as in, figure out the goals you want to achieve. More page likes? More subscribers? More website enquiry?
Freeze upon the channel you want to conduct this. You might have 4-5 social media accounts, but it is simply not logical and cost-effective to invest in every single one, at a time. So find out the platform wherein your target audience is most active, and start hosting the contest.
Create a format of the contest; pinpoint your budget and prizes. Think about giving away a cash prize, or a promo/discount code, product or anything else. Just ensure that the prize is relevant to your target audience. And lastly, promote it vehemently. The more people know about your contest, the more leads you get. Ask your page followers to “Share on Facebook”, “@Mention on Twitter”, “Pin on Pinterest”. Keep your customers engaged and make them feel rewarded!
8. Admit, Apologize and Offer a Solution
We are humans. So it is most likely for us to commit mistakes at some point in time that could cost us reach, engagement, conversions. Most importantly, being active on social media implies exposing yourself to the world. And while carrying out social media activities, mistakes are natural.
But the more you admit and acknowledge, the more your target audience appreciates you- the ultimate keys to social media achievement. Often big brands find it hard to accept their fault, instead they go into denial. Which is extremely bad from a brand PR perspective.
Professionalism doesn’t mean being impeccable but admitting your fault, rectifying it, and learning your lesson.
9. Reach out to Social Media Influencers
Some years back, before the advent of social media, we could only watch advertisements on TV. And brands were endorsed by our favorite actors whom we could trust. The sentiment behind promoting or endorsing a product by a familiar face is to instill confidence in the audience.
Fast forward to 2020, the same concept has got a new name, Influencer Marketing! We see Instagram/Facebook/YouTube influencers with millions of followers, promoting a product or brand. And influencer marketing is all set to become even more popular as consumers trust them and respect their recommendations.
Such marketing tactics influence their purchase decisions and build brand credibility, provided you find the right influencer aligned with your brand.
10. Invest Wisely, but don’t Flinch from Investing
Initially, you may avail yourself the free advertising options and generate buzz about your brand. But as time flies and your objectives expand, think of investing more in your social media activities. Because with minuscule investments, there’s no guarantee of any desired outcome.
Paid advertising works well for brands in spreading the name and acquire new leads. With meticulously designed targeted advertising, you can speed up your paid campaigns.
Bonus:
Make your Employees your Brand Advocates
Stats say that 54%of prospects trust a regular employee, and 47% trust a CEO!
Your employees are the first to experience your brand value and business ethics. Keep them engaged and make them your brand advocates, so that they share information about your specific products or services.
Some of your employees may have more followers online than the new influencer you have hired. By utilizing their social networks, you can reach more people online and create a strong social presence. Identify your employee advocacy leaders and establish guidelines. Leverage their experience of your company’s culture and let them share your brand content.
Back to you now:
Every business has its own set of objectives, so there’s no one-size-fits-all formula for social media success. Keep your priorities set and pay close attention to your social media insights to be ahead of the social media game. Also, give priority to your audience as well, what works for one set of demography, fails for another. So build a data-driven social media campaign that caters to every individual you want to target.
Remember, your brand is the long-awaited outcome of endless branding strategies and development processes combined. So make social media work for your brand success and start scoping out your campaigns ahead.
Leave a comment if you feel any tips or tactics have been missed out. And if you stumble in the journey, reach out to a professional team who can fine-tune your marketing strategy and create a signature social move custom-made for you!