We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Social media is king in the world of modern marketing. With a wide audience reach and relatively easy use for businesses, there are few industries that haven’t given in to the world of tweets and status updates.
But just because your company is using social media doesn’t mean you are doing it effectively. There are many moving parts to a social media marketing plan which makes misuse much easier than one might think. As with anything you do, you should strive to make your social media marketing efforts as beneficial for your company as possible.
Here are six ways to make your social media marketing more effective.
1. Pair it up:
This is one of the easiest things you can do to increase visibility for your social media marketing. Many companies make the mistake of separating their marketing for social media sites from other marketing efforts. If it’s effectiveness you’re looking for then you need to fix this disconnect ASAP, explained Entrepreneur contributor Brett Relander. Try including your Twitter and Facebook handles in marketing emails to customers. Switch this strategy around by asking your social media following to subscribe to your mailing list. Combining your efforts allows for maximum exposure and ultimately increased efficiency.
2. Stockpile:
Have a little downtime? Hootsuite suggested taking advantage of this time by stockpiling future content. The world of social media is fast-paced. Costumers need updates weekly if not daily for your company to stay on their radar. However, getting approvals for marketing content is not always a speedy process. Avoid the wait time by having an arsenal of pre-approved content to dish out. This helps efficiency levels by assuring your social media platforms never go quiet.
3. Use your team:
Look beyond your marketing department for tips in efficiency. The other departments in your office are an invaluable tool when it comes to marketing tactics. We touched on this in common marketing mistakes but it’s worth mentioning again. Tap into your sales department for information on best selling items or hit up IT for some social media hacks. There is a whole emporium of knowledge beyond your typical marketing bubble; use it to your advantage. The process of including other teams in the brainstorming process can improve your content and save time. Remember, two heads are better than one.
4. Sharing is caring:
Encourage your users to share things they liked about your company through social media. Whether this takes the form of referring a friend to your sites or retweeting a favorite product, sharing can do wonders for customer acquisition. Praise for products from friends is a more trusted source than product pushing from the company who will profit from your purchase. In this same vein, Relander suggested enabling customer product reviews directly on your social media sites. While many businesses fear negative reviews, the benefit of positive online reviews may trump that. Relander reported that 90 percent of people were influenced in their purchasing decision by positive online customer reviews. Help yourself out by letting your customers help you out on your social media platforms.
5. Demographics:
We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention audience at least once in this article. A quick way to tweak your social media strategy is to refocus on your audience. Social media platforms can largely be sectioned off into some form of demographic box. For example, American Express reported that 31 percent of seniors 65 or overspend time on Facebook. Pinterest is dominated by females and Twitter is a hot spot for 18 to 29 year olds. Aim your efforts towards the correct platform for your target audience’s demographic and your marketing will undoubtedly be much more effective.
6. Pick & choose:
One concentrated effort is better than a hundred half-hearted ones. If you haven’t done your research on which social media sites hit which demographics then you should get on it. Truth is, there is a good pool of platforms that will hit any demographic. So, once you have figured out the right platform for your audience, decide on the right platform for your content. Are you a restaurant that primarily shares pictures of new dishes? Give Instagram a shot. Maybe your company is a shopping outlet with long and voice-y content. If so, Facebook could be your go-to. Try a few different outlets on for size and decide where it makes the most sense for you to focus your efforts. The more research you have done beforehand the more likely your content will hit the correct mark effectively.
