8 Tips To Improving Your Social Media Marketing Strategy
Your social media marketing strategy is an important piece of the puzzle when it comes to your overall business plan. In fact, internet users are likely to spend 1/3 of their internet consumption on social media. That being said, social media is one of the best places you can raise brand awareness and expand your reach. Here are the top 8 tips to improving your social media marketing strategy.
1. Set Effective Goals
One of the first steps to improving your social media marketing strategy is to set effective goals and objectives. It’s important to make sure your goals are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely. Let’s dive in to what those mean.
- Specific
- You need to make sure your goals are specific. Add in as many details as possible. For example, if your goal is to “get more visitors to your social media profile”, be more detailed and specific. Set real numbers with real deadlines.
- Measurable
- Make sure the goals you set are something you can measure. Goals that are measurable are goals that can be easily tracked, allowing you to not only see the progress you’re making, but also to let you know when your goal has been achieved.
- Attainable
- While it’s good to set goals that give you a challenge, make sure you’re not setting goals that aren’t achievable. You don’t want them to be so far out in left field that you can’t get to them. Goals must be realistic, and you must have the tools and resources to attain them.
- Relevant
- Any goal, or goals, you set should align with your company values and long-term objectives. Think about what is important to you and your business, and go from there.
- Timely
- When setting goals, it’s crucial that you set them with a deadline. This will help you stay focused and motivated to complete the goal. Having a deadline will give you something to look forward to and work towards.
2. Define Your Target Audience
Knowing who your target audience is will help you know which social media platforms you should be focusing on, and the type of content you should be publishing. Think about the demographics, such as:
- Age
- Job Title
- Income Level
- Location
- Education
- Marital Status
- Purchase Behaviors
- Community Preference
By defining your target audience, you can know how to best market your product or services. The best way to go about this is to identify and create a buyer persona. This is essentially like creating a character. A buyer persona is a fictional representation of your target audience. After you know about your audience’s demographics (age, job title, location, etc.), begin asking these types of questions:
- What social media channels do they spend the most time on?
- How do they prefer they receive their information?
- How do they best communicate?
- What needs, challenges, and frustrations do they have?
- How does my product or service help my target audience?
3. Check Out The Competition
There’s never any harm in checking out the competition! In fact, this is one of the best ways you can improve your social media marketing strategy. A competitor analysis can help you learn what other businesses in your industry are doing well – and what they’re not doing well. Think about who your top 3 competitors are and do your research on their current social media marketing efforts. Now, this isn’t so you can copy what they’re doing. This is to help you learn while you figure out a strategy and plan that works for you.
First, identify who your competitors are. Then, known what social media platforms they use and how they use them. Do they post consistently? Are they currently active? Do they respond to customer comments? What kind of content are they publishing? And last but not least, research how their current social strategy is working. You can usually tell by looking at the amount of engagement on each post, how active they are, and how often they post.
4. Choose The Right Platforms
According to Sprout Social, the age group often found on Facebook and Instagram is 25-34, while Twitter and Pinterest is 30-49. Each social media platform has different demographics. To make sure you are reaching the right people in the right place, make sure you’re active on the platforms your customers are also active on. This is where your target audience and demographics will come into play. Knowing their age, gender, income, marital status, location, and more will help you identify the right social media platforms to focus your time and attention most on.
5. Develop A Content Strategy
After you’ve determined your target audience, buyer personas, and the right platforms, it’s time to develop a content strategy. Content is one of the most important parts of creating and improving a social media strategy. Your content must be relevant to your brand, and engaging to your audience. At this point in time, you should be starting to brainstorm content ideas, determine what type of content you want to create, and then set up a plan to get it published and have it managed.
It’s also a good idea to research the main reasons why your audience is using social media, as this can really help you develop a content strategy that works. Are your customers here to:
- Stay up-to-date on current events in the area?
- Find entertaining content? Who doesn’t love a good laugh!
- Have something to do while they’re bored to help pass the time?
- Stay in touch with friends and family?
- Find new and local businesses?
- Share photos and videos with others?
6. Be Active and Publish Consistently
If you’re not active and publishing content on social media consistently, you may end up losing followers. Being active shows your audience that they can be confident in your communication abilities. Nowadays, more and more people are using online tools like Messenger and live chats to contact businesses. Being active by publishing consistently, and also being available on Messenger is a great way to build trust amongst your following. According to HubSpot, 92% of marketers say their social media presence generates more exposure for their business. This is only possible, though, if you’re staying active and engaging with your followers!
7. Analyze and Measure Results
You truly won’t know how well your social media strategy is working until you analyze and measure your results. There are many ways you can measure your social media’s effectiveness, including:
- The increase in the number of followers
- Reactions to your posts
- The total reach
- Your click-through-rate
- And more!
Knowing this information allows you first to see if you’re reaching your goals. However, it also allows you to learn what your audience truly cares about so you can experiment and pivot with different types of content, graphics, and more. For example, if you find that one post is doing significantly better than the post right before it, you have the opportunity to make changes in the future by knowing that information.
8. Follow Trends
Social media has been around a long time, but it continues to change – and new trends are constantly popping up! Some of the most popular recent trends in 2022 include:
- The growth of TikTok
- More and more businesses investing in social commerce
- Creators and Instagram Influencers are on the rise
- Social audio strategies, such as podcasts
- Short-form videos, such as TikTok and Instagram Reels, are being increasingly popular for businesses
Now, you’re not expected to jump on every trend, but knowing what the trends are can really help you improve your social media marketing strategy year over year. Staying up-to-date on trends will allow you post appropriate and relevant content that resonates with your audience.