Social media is no longer merely an option for businesses but a requirement for success. Social media helps you create relationships with bloggers, social media influencers, and brand advocates who can help promote your content through their social channels, blogs, and networks. If you are looking to develop an effective social media marketing strategy for your start-up or growing business then this guide is perfect for you.
1. Choose the Right Social Media Platform for Your Business
The first thing you should do is forget the silly notion that your business must be listed on every social media site. There is no magic number when it comes to the amount of platforms a business should have. Don’t feel pressured to be on every platform. Start with the one you can effectively manage, that connects you with the right audience and aligns with your business’s needs.
Related: 5 Ways to Use Snapchat for Business
2. Decide How Much Time to Spend on Social Media Channels
If you have selected a few social media platforms for your business then your next step is to see which will give you the highest ROI. Use the simple principle of return on investment (ROI) to decide where to spend your time. If you are a B2C business then you may need to spend less time on LinkedIn than you would Facebook or Instagram. Another way to figure out which platforms to focus on is to compare conversion rates across all of your social media channels. You may find that Instagram may lead to a lot of likes but Facebook leads to more purchases.
3. Determine your Social Media Brand Identity and Voice
The last thing you want to do is have four social media accounts that sound like four different businesses. Everything you post, from your tone to the content should fit with your brand’s identity. This means that you shouldn’t blindly post articles you have never read. What you post is just as important as how you post it.
4. Create Great Content for Social Media
Social media is often used to link to longer form content, which can include stories; however, a story in this context could be a photo, e-book, blog or video clip. Sharing news, interesting stories and viral videos can be a great way to get followers and engagement. A big drawback of sharing other people’s content is that your website or landing page does not get the click through. Make sure you are creating and promoting your own great content to increase traffic to your site. Mix it up with original and found content to ensure a full post queue and consistent engagement.
5. Use Social Media Automation and Dashboard Tools
If you’re one of those people who can remember when and what to post to your social media channels then I applaud you. But, if you are like most people, you may not be so efficient. Enter Social Media Automation. This magical tool allows you to sync all of your channels in one place, post to them all at once and schedule posts for publishing at a later date. Free and easy tools like HootStuite and Buffer can get you started.
6. Analyze Social Media Metrics for Better Results
Data is everywhere and it is the social media marketer’s best friend. Social media insights provide a greater understanding of your audience as well as insights into what kind of content your audience engages with the most. Here are a few metrics to get you started:
- Conversation rate: This is simply the number of conversations per social media post. On Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn, this would be comments. On Twitter, it’s replies.
- Amplification rate: This measures the number of re-shares or retweets on average for each post.
- Applause rate: This accounts for the various ways a user can promote a post on different networks—Retweets, Likes, +1s, etc.
Most social media automation tools come with analytics built in. If you need backup some great options are Google Analytics and Cyfe Marketing Metrics.
The Perfect Social Media Strategy
Stick with it. Social media takes time and an investment of your time over a sustained period in order to achieve results. Once you’ve got all that set-up you are well on your way to social media fame and notoriety! At the very least you will have large communities of fans and customers eager for your content and offerings. LMS can help! On top of managing Influencer Marketing we also provide strategic social media management.
Contact us now to learn more!
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Why Social Media is Important, Even if it isn’t Driving Traffic