Social media continues to grow at a rapid pace, with some outlets reporting nearly half a billion new user accounts in just the last year alone. This presents digital marketers with a huge opportunity to harness the power of social networks to engage with potential customers, connect with influencers and drive sales.
Despite this significant potential, social media continues to baffle many marketing professionals. Changing algorithms, shifting consumer focus and fluctuating trends are often difficult to keep up with. In fact, according to some experts, only about 12% of marketers are currently able to measure the impact of their social media campaigns accurately.
If you’re looking to improve your social media marketing strategy, the following tips are a great way to start.
Develop a plan
Social media users want content that inspires and engages, not another forgettable half-price sale promotion. Identifying objectives, setting goals and choosing the right analytics to measure your impact are the keys to creating a solid content strategy tailored to your needs and your target customers’ requirements.
Consider the message
Perhaps you want to grow a community of engaged brand enthusiasts, drive traffic to your website or connect with new customers – identifying what you hope to achieve and maintaining focus on these goals is essential to good strategy. A visual content calendar can be a great tool in helping you communicate a consistent message. Plan content for a month, the quarter or a whole year, incorporating special events and important dates. Best of all, it’s a shareable resource that can be used by everyone on your team.
Make a video
Video content is king right now, and most experts agree that this trend will continue well into the next decade. If you’re not posting high-quality video content, chances are you’re missing out on engaging with a huge segment of your social media audience. Producing great video content doesn’t have to consume all of your budget or your time. Brief, impactful videos will have much more influence with today’s users and their increasingly short attention spans.
Run the numbers
There are plenty of analytic tools available that will help you gauge the success of your social media campaigns and prove ROI. Whether you use integrated tools from the channels themselves or employ outside analytics, keeping track of what’s working and what’s not is essential to fine-tuning the focus of your strategy and in securing additional resources to keep moving forward.
Social media is incredibly valuable for engaging with new and existing customers, but how you choose to approach it will determine the productivity of these interactions for your business. Follow these steps to make the most of social media.
