Over the past two decades, the marketing industry has transitioned from an emphasis on print advertising to digital. Online marketing is no longer just a fad; it is necessary component to every marketing strategy. One of the fastest growing facets of online marketing is social media marketing. Social media provides a huge opportunity for businesses of all sizes to market themselves and reach their audience.
If you are still struggling with your social media efforts, it’s time to clean up your strategy and start reaping the benefits of social media. Here are our five tips for a successful social media strategy.
1. Have Clear Goals
The number one reason most companies do not achieve digital success is because they do not have clear and measurable goals. You need to identify exactly what you hope to achieve with your online marketing efforts. For example, are you looking to increase visits to your website? Or are you looking to increase traffic in your brick and mortar store? Or perhaps you are looking to strengthen your brand’s presence and identity. Each of these goals are remarkably different form one another and require different tactics. By setting clear goals, you will know whether or not your social media marketing efforts are working.
2. Know Your Audience
Once you have established clear goals for your social media marketing strategy, you need to know your who is in ideal audience. Who are the people who normally purchase your products and what do you know about them? Knowing where your audience is located, their age range, their gender, their interests and how they spend their time will help you build the perfect strategy to reach them online.
3. Find The Right Platform
The third ingredient to creating a successful social media strategy is finding the right social media platform for your business. There are many options to choose from: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, Snapchat and the list goes on. Each of these platforms has its own unique strength and target market. For example, millennials and younger audiences are more likely to be on Instagram or Snapchat. Pinterest is a popular platform for women and Twitter can be great for businesses who want deeper one on one engagement with their audiences. It is not necessary to be present on every social media platform. You just need to find the right one for your business and your audience. When you understand your goals, your ideal audience and each platform’s strengths, you will be able to determine the best social media platform for your business.
4. Be Consistent
Consistency in content and posting is one of the most important parts of a social media strategy. You want to ensure that you are regularly posting on your chosen platform, whether that is Facebook, YouTube or any other site, so your ideal audience can regularly connect with you. This might mean creating a content calendar or hiring a digital marketing agency to help you create and post your content. There are many tools to help you schedule content in advance or you could find a digital partner to help you keep your content consistent.
5. Measure your performance + Experiment
Social media offers powerful tools for you to measure your efforts. A key part of your successful social media strategy is measuring and analyzing how well your social media marketing is working for you. When you are aware of your goals and are able to measure your efforts, you can then experiment. The best way to manage your online marketing is to be aware that the landscape is always changing and leave space for experimenting with the different tools, platforms and content. If you are unsure of how to measure your social media marketing, a digital marketing agency will be able to assist you with analyzing your metrics.
There are 2.3 billion social media users today and without a doubt, many of those are your customers or could become your customers! Do not miss out on major opportunities for digital success and create your successful social media strategy today.
Are you ready to achieve results from your online marketing? Contact us to schedule a free consultation!