In terms of digital marketing, there are a handful of tricks that will always yield viable results. Examples include proper keyword research, developing a mobile-friendly website and curating quality written content. However, many experts still argue that embracing a strong media presence is the most powerful tool at your disposal. The associated statistics certainly do not lie.
Were you aware that in some cases, social media marketing may be able to increase your return-on-investment (ROI) by up to 600 percent? When we consider that the total number of global social media users is expected to top 3.3 billion by 2024, the importance of leveraging these channels becomes clear. Let’s take a look at how you can utilize social media to your advantage by examining the latest industry trends.
Appreciate the Platforms at Your Disposal
While the notion of omnichannel marketing is useful, we need to remember that it is important to avoid spreading your efforts too thin. This is why enterprises should make an effort to determine which platforms are the most appropriate for their marketing goals. This often revolves around the type of audience they hope to engage.
For instance, headhunters will often leverage the reach of professionally oriented sites such as LinkedIn. Firms wishing to produce viral media are likely to employ portals including Twitter and Instagram. Media revolving around videos can benefit from a strong presence on YouTube while Facebook may represent the best option when engaging with an international demographic. Therefore, perform a fair amount of research to identify the type of audience attributed to your business.
Clarify Your Goals
What is it that you are trying to achieve with the help of social media? Do you wish to gain more followers? Might you wish to take advantage of a viral trend? Do you instead want to establish a transparent brand identity? Similar to procuring a map before undertaking a journey in unfamiliar territory, starting off from a strong foundation is crucial if you wish to enjoy future success.
Identifying the intention(s) of your efforts can also help to spotlight the most appropriate audience. Highlighting what it is that you are trying to achieve is one of the core tenets of content marketing in general and it is just as relevant when referring to any type of social media campaign.
Interaction and More Interaction
As this content marketing article observes, social media is an excellent way to keep your finger on the digital “pulse” of your audience. However, let’s remember that this type of engagement needs to be encouraged if you hope to experience positive results.
This obviously involves the curation of quality content (we will delve into this more in the following section) and yet, a proactive approach can work wonders. There are several ways in which social media can be used to enhance levels of online engagement. Here are some tried-and-tested methods:
- Include a call-to-action (CTA) within each post.
- Ask followers their opinions and provide them with the option to leave feedback.
- Reply to any opinions/feedback that you may receive (even if negative observations are encountered from time to time).
All of these steps will clearly illustrate that your brand cares about what its audience has to say. As a result, they will be more likely to engage with what you are offering in the future.
Post Quality Material
In terms of social media marketing, more is not always better. Let’s examine two fictional scenarios in order to prove this point:
- One company creates numerous posts and yet, these posts are of little value to the reader.
- Another firm publishes material on a moderately frequent basis that offers targeted and stimulating content.
Which social media profile would you be more likely to follow? High-quality content has always represented one of the core tenets of online marketing and this is just as true in reference to social media.
This is why elements such as keyword research, quality images, infographics and authoritative hyperlinks should always be present. While you are not likely to encounter any HTML issues when posting on social media sites, always keep in mind that the posts themselves should be visually appealing. Perhaps most importantly, quality content must captivate the audience while simultaneously encouraging them to take further action (such as signing up for a newsletter or contacting a customer service representative).
Take Advantage of Optimisation Tools
Some businesses fail to develop a strong presence on social media. Ironically, many of these very same organizations fully appreciate the benefits that await. Why have they not yet “jumped on board?”. One common reason involves the time and effort that can be often required to curate high-quality posts and to disseminate these across numerous portals. Thankfully, you can circumvent these issues.
There are countless third-party optimization software packages that will come in handy when overseeing a marketing campaign. Some of the most respected include (but are certainly not limited to):
- BuzzSumo
- Hootsuite
- CoSchedule
- Tagboard
- Canva
In the same respect, always include Google Analytics within any optimization package. This software is free to use, highly intuitive and capable of providing you with second-to-none levels of marketing insight when it is needed the most.
A Balanced Approach to Public Relations and Promotions
According to a recent study conducted by HubSpot, 54 percent of all consumers will employ social media to research a product before making a purchase. This is perhaps one of the reasons why some businesses constantly inundate their followers with advertisements, bargains and similar promotions. They have adopted the mantra of “throwing enough jam on the wall” in the hopes that some will stick. However, this approach can actually be counterproductive.
The average consumer is bombarded with publicity campaigns daily. As a result, they have become somewhat desensitized to the material itself. This is a very real issue, as it can ultimately harm your brand identity. It is better to schedule posts regularly and to flavor these posts with promotions when appropriate. Some professionals have adopted the “one-in-seven” rule. For every seven content posts, include one offer or PR promotion. Readers will be provided with useful material without feeling as if they are being laden with spam.
Use Video Content to Your Advantage
The e-commerce firm Oberlo has recently discovered that no fewer than 88 percent of marketing professionals utilize video content as a facet of their overall advertising strategies. There are several logical reasons behind this approach:
- Videos are able to imbue a human characteristic to a digital firm.
- Videos are excellent ways to quickly highlight the benefits of a specific product or service.
- Calls-to-action can be included within this type of media.
- It is easy to like and share multimedia.
When an individual scrolls through a news feed, he or she will be much more likely to click on an embedded video as opposed to a standard (and perhaps somewhat generic) hyperlink or block of text. This is why creating quality videos should represent yet another facet of your content marketing strategy.
Curate a Ground-Up Social Media Community of Followers
It can be rather attractive to fall into the trap of targeting as many potential consumers as possible. The problem here is that your efforts may very well be falling upon deaf ears. This can result in wasted time, energy and money.
Building a strong and loyal community of followers is a much more logical approach from a long-term perspective. As these individuals will be interested in what it is that you are promoting, they will also be more apt to like and share the posts themselves. This can provide a much-needed impetus behind an ongoing campaign if you feel that it has fallen short of the anticipated results.
Follow the Competition
The frenetic world of social media can be difficult to follow: particularly when dealing with other content marketing concerns. It is still crucial to appreciate what actions the competition may be taking. Here are some questions to ask on a somewhat regular basis:
- What keywords are they employing within the content?
- Which products or services seem to resonate the most with their target audience?
- Where are their customers located and does this coincide with your niche demographic?
There is absolutely nothing wrong with learning from the mistakes of others as well as capitalizing upon their perceived success. Thankfully, it is quite easy to analyze the actions of your competition due to the open-nature configuration of social media networks. Let’s once again mention that free utilities such as Google Analytics will play an important role here.
Smart Social Media Marketing: Ensuring that 2024 Will Bring Success
Before we conclude, it is a good idea to reinforce some of the best practices mentioned above. This succinct list will help to ensure that nothing is left to chance. Keep these tips and tricks in mind:
- Choose the right platforms in accordance with your objectives.
- Clearly identify your goals.
- Make it a point to interact with your followers.
- Curate quality and engaging content.
- Use third-party content marketing tools.
- Do not inundate your audience with promotions.
- Include video content.
- Target your niche market.
- Analyze the actions of your competition.
These are some of the many ways in which you can enjoy a profitable and fulfilling 2024 with the help of social media marketing. As these platforms are more pivotal than ever before if you hope to make your presence known, it pays to follow the steps outlined above.
