It’s 2022 and social media have fully penetrated daily lives of people all over the world.
In fact, more than 4.6 billion people are online, and in just 12 months, the number of active users grew by 400 million.
With these stats in mind, it’s no secret that businesses use social media marketing (SMM) to boost their exposure. Having quality content, active engagement with the followers, and targeted ads allows companies to establish positive brand equity.
Fortune 500 companies dedicate a special attention to SMM strategy.
At this point, you might be wondering: What makes SMM so important?
Why go social?
Social media marketing is the use of social media platforms, driven by the effort to engage with users to boost sales, increase website traffic, and enhance brands. Therefore, it forms a strong connection with the growth metrics of a company. Given that more than 50% of consumers get to know brands better on social media, it’s a mistake to neglect the effectiveness of SMM. Needless to say, simply posting photos/videos/GIFs will not help productively grow a community on platforms, like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc. There needs to be an intricate strategy in place to convert goals into excellent results.
SMM strategy that works
An effective SMM strategy includes several steps that help organize and launch a campaign aimed at generating needed results.
Set a clear marketing goal
Depending on the main needs of the company, the goal could be increasing the number of followers or perhaps growing sales. Before putting the strategy to action, it’s important to understand what potential outcome the campaign should focus on. Evaluating projected budget and expenses happens at this stage as well.
Research your competitors
So many business out there have already entered the online realm and even established their successful presence. Hence, the next stage of the strategy requires a thorough investigation of competitors in the field and their social media game. There is nothing wrong about seeing which posts perform better and trying to follow the content approach that works for other companies.
Tailor specifically to each platform
The top social media sites/apps include Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and Pinterest. Even though many of them are similar and contain similar types of content, the image format and the length of the text could be different.
You should also consider the amount of resources you allocate to each platform. Because some of them have more users than the others and your audience could be spending more time on a specific site, the strategy should be uniquely tailored to each platform.
Engage with your audience
Posting the most fascinating content will not help achieve marketing goals if the company itself does not engage with its audience. Replying to and liking comments, doing questionnaires, and reflecting the preferences of users in the following posts are all great ways for a business to show how much it cares about its community.
Have a content calendar
There’s no better way to organize and manage content than having a content calendar in place. It’s a must that allows categorizing each post, planning ahead, keeping track of important holidays, and making it easier for all stakeholders in the process to stay on top of the SMM game.
Try influencer marketing
Most social media users are following influencers whose opinions they trust and listen to almost everyday. A smart trick that many businesses use is collaborating with these influencers or asking them to promote a product/service or the company page itself.
Track performance
Any kind of strategy requires constant refinement based on its performance which should be tracked on a regular basis. In content calendar, you can create a tab specifically for measuring progress through likes, comments, mentions, and views. It will also help seeing which posts outperform the others and stick with the approach you used for creating it.
The list of SMM strategy pillars does not end here but the stages described earlier should help you launch a top-notch social media campaign to further grow your community and improve the brand’s image. Thumbs up if you are in! :)
