With search getting more competitive, most businesses have now turned to social media for their branding and marketing objectives. But there's a thing about social media; as soon as you think you've figured it out, something new comes up, and you have to devise a new strategy all over again.
If you’re contemplating utilizing social media to reach out to your target audience, here’s a quick guide to succeeding with social media marketing in 2020.
Pick the right platform
It is impossible to be active on every social media outlet, and narrowing your efforts to a couple of platforms will enable you to focus your efforts and get a better return on the time and resources you invest. Follow these steps to find the platform that best suits your business requirements.
Identify your audience: your typical customers, their age, gender, location, education, interests, etc.
Define your goals: drive sales, brand recognition, address customer issues
Find your audience: Determine which platform your target audience uses the most
Don't bother about likes
Instagram recently stated that it is planning to remove likes from the public counts. Social media is no longer a place to hang out; it has become immensely competitive as more and more brands are embracing it for brand growth and customer engagement. Although like count can be a good indicator for engagement, it pressurizes the platform and makes it more competitive.
You should stick to putting out high-quality content irrespective of likes and comments you get. Just because a user likes your post, it does not mean they are coming to your website and converting into leads, and eventually customers. Thus, you should measure your social media success on the basis of actions you want your followers to take and not on how many likes your posts get.
Analyze organic data for paid ads
More than 72 percent of B2B marketers use paid social media advertising to promote their products and services, making it the most used paid content distribution channel. If you are new to social media, picking the right platform for running paid ads can be a challenging task.
But, here's an effective data-driven approach you can follow. Dig into the analytics of your website to see which social media platform is sending the most traffic. For instance, the chances are that you are getting more likes and followers on Instagram but more traffic from LinkedIn. Then, it would be a good idea to solely run LinkedIn ads instead of spending a little on both Instagram and LinkedIn.
Leverage influencer marketing
Influencer marketing is a hot social media marketing topic, and rightfully so. A study conducted in August 2019 indicated that people who follow social media influencers care less about the likes and more about the quality of content they share. Moreover, working with an influencer enables you to get rid of the credibility gap.
Besides, influencers are everywhere. So, all you need to do is find a bunch of influencers in your niche, and get your brand, services, or products promoted.
Strategic Facebook ad placement
Although the user base of Snapchat and Instagram is booming, Facebook still remains to be the favorite social media platform, both for users and brands. But, one downside to using Facebook for promoting your brand is its reduced organic reach. A study from HubSpot states that Facebook pages with more than 500,000 followers have an average organic reach of 2 percent or less per post. Facebook Ads is an excellent tool to combat this downward trend, but is it worth it?
As a rule of thumb, be sure to make the most out of your Facebook ad investment by selecting ad placements that coordinate with your objectives. For example, if you're using Facebook just to drive traffic to your blog, investing in Facebook Ads to place your ad on the news feed might not be worth the cost. Contrarily, you should be using them for conversion-based campaigns.
LinkedIn for B2B marketing
With more than 650 million users, LinkedIn is one of the most popular B2B platforms today. It enables professionals to connect with other professionals in their industry to learn, grow, and network. With features like sharing content, posting and applying for jobs, engaging with audiences, and a powerful paid advertising platform, LinkedIn is a must-use for every B2B business. Here is a quick, step-by-step guide to effective LinkedIn marketing.
- Define your focus
- Create your ideal customer profile
- Create a content plan
- Post regularly
- Engage with your target audience in private messages
By following these steps, you can create a consistent flow of high-quality inbound leads.
Conclusion
Social media is pretty much simple and works on a three-step - find, engage, convert - mechanism. The biggest challenge for brands is to find the right platform and audience. Once you know where your brand belongs, all you need to do is share high-quality, engaging content to create a stable source of traffic, leads, and conversions.
