Social Media Marketing
The action of creating content to promote your business and products on various social media platforms is called social media marketing. Unique content helps in increasing brand awareness on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. A sound social media strategy helps generate leads and boost conversions.
How does one create a social media strategy? Here are some pointers which would serve as a complete guide to formulating a social media strategy.
Research your Buyers
The first step is to determine who your buyers are so that their needs can be appropriately targeted. You need to be clear about the people you are trying to reach and how they could be classified into groups. You would then be able to determine what content will attract customers.
Decide Your Social Platform
It is very crucial for a marketer to determine which platform you are going to share your content on. There is no right or wrong answer here. The choice is determined by the needs of your target customers and where they tend to spend their time online. Social media platforms you could choose from are:-
Snapchat – The 300 million users comprise essentially of generation Z
Facebook – Millenials are the majority of the 2.2 billion users
Twitter – The 335 million users are mostly Millenials
Youtube – Generation Z and Millenials combine to form the largest portion of 1.9 billion users
Pinterest – Older Millennials form a major portion of the 250 million users.
Create Engaging Content
It is crucial to have engaging social media content that stands out. It should provide viewers with a reason to click the “Follow” button and interact with your brand. Have a look at your competitor’s content. It helps to be more creative. Take full advantage of the features offered by the platform you are using.
Schedule your Posts
Use a social media management solution to ensure that your content is shared as planned. These tools allow you to prepare pictures and videos, write captions and schedule posts in advance. These tools share your content on schedule and monitor all post interactions and engagement for you automatically. A few examples of social media management solutions are Hubspot, Sprout Social and Hootsuite.
What should your posting frequency on your social media channels be? You should only post on social media when you have quality content to share. If your posting frequency is infrequent your followers are bound to forget you if you post too frequently your followers may get irritated. There are plenty of resources that explain social media post frequency standards by industry and platform.
Analyze Results and Impact- Social Media Metrics
An important aspect of social media marketing is ensuring that your efforts are successful in helping you meet your goals. This can be done by reviewing and managing your social media metrics. Social media metrics may include data about your level of follows, shares, engagement, and other interactions on each platform. Some of the most important metrics for you to track are Reach, Engagement, Followers, Video Views, Impressions, Tags, Mentions, Profile Visits, Shares, and Reposts.
You can review social media metrics through analytics tools built into various platforms that you use like Twitter Analytics, Instagram Insights, Facebook Analytics.
Certified Digital Marketing Course
A certified digital marketing course would be ideal to learn more about social media marketing strategy. A digital marketing course from IIM, MICA or XLRI would be an excellent option. Talentedge is an excellent platform for a digital marketing course.
More Information:
What Skills Does a Social Media Manager Need?
The Role of Social Media Marketing and its Future
Convince & Convert: Social media & Content Marketing