Effective Social Media Strategies
Social media marketing (SMM) extends from digital marketing techniques in specifically observing social media networks to market an organisation’s services or products. In line with existing brand guidelines, social media accounts aim to connect with customers and users through the voice of a company. Marketers using social media also seek to engage with consumers in addressing any queries whilst representing a wider brand.?
Additionally, social media can be a great way to show users what the organisation’s missions and values are over time, whilst promoting their unique services. As many of us use social media for diverse reasons, it can be difficult to catch the eye of consumers among various posts. Therefore, it’s up to digital marketers to strategise a means to keep consumers engaged with company profiles and have them interact with these, in the hopes of creating a healthy and satisfied community of users.?
Eamonn Mifsud, Castille’s Video & Social Media Officer, joins the following article by offering his advice and experiences in using social media to promote brand awareness and improve community engagement. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.?
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Proactive Goal Setting?
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To really use social media well, digital marketers need to list goals to work out what they want out of using these social media networks. SMM is a competitive field of players looking for similar end goals, so it’s important to have these decided upon and referred to when looking to positively engage a community, especially with the influx of remote jobs.?
For Eamonn, goal setting begins with establishing your target audience, and “narrow down your goals to the data that will benefit them the most. For example, if your company sells digital products, your goals should be focused on creating conversions onto your website, and less about gaining followers.” He noted this with caution and added that focused goals does not mean neglecting other essential marketing strategies like observing analytics. “When creating goals, you want to attend to the main data segments for your company,” Eamonn stated.?
Of course, growing an active audience is vital to engaging a community of users. It’s worth exploring what your business goals are and aligning your strategies alongside these. Do you need to generate leads and sales, or are you looking to grow your follower count? Whatever it is, ensure these goals are specific and achievable under a given timeframe.?
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Nurture Your Target Audience?
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As mentioned beforehand, social media can be a great way to directly connect with your consumers over a shared medium. Social media can be a brilliant tool to create opportunities which helps you as a digital marketer better understand and identify your target audience. Once you’ve identified who digests your content, you are able to steer your marketing strategies toward better influencing these individuals as you cater to their interests.??
“Thankfully, the main social media channels we use today gives us abundant information to better understand our target audience,” Eamonn began, “I recommend marketers observe when their audience is mostly active, so you could better structure and align your social media calendars to garner maximum engagement.”??
It is true that the variety of channels available today allows us entrance to meet with diverse consumers and address their needs accordingly. It is also true, however, that not every social media network feeds the same target audience. To understand the communities that interact with your profiles, you need to dig deeper into demographic data. “All leading channels give you access to the main data segments you need to determine your audience’s age, gender, and location,” Eamonn suggested.??
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The Value of Metrics & Engagement?
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Digital marketing thrives on analytics and data-driven approaches in meeting goals. Strategies are based on trends and market research that is ever-changing, further encouraging marketers the opportunity to keep up with business trends and subsequent competition.?
As Eamonn mentioned beforehand, any social media channel allows individuals access into large chunks of data. It’s up to your team to determine what data is the most necessary for your business and team objectives. Is there one holy grail metric all social media marketers should attend to? “It all depends on the goals of the company,” Eamonn responded, “If you see a steady increase in post engagement, new followers, and unique visitors, take that as an indicator that you’re doing something right.”??
Post and community engagement is always a significant factor to whether your social media profiles are headed in the right direction. As these networks are bombarded with social media content, it can be tricky to consistently create engaging content. Eamonn suggested the following advice:?
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The Future of Social Media Marketing?
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Social media and digital products will continue to evolve, and organisations will envisage novel strategies to engage their users. Trends come and go, but observing what’s popular among larger communities of users can be used to your advantage and direct your team on what people are currently interested in.?
“At the moment, we’re noticing individuals enjoy small-bites of content,” Eamonn explained, “We can see this through the quick rise of TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts.” Reviewing what users are generally interacting with can give us a good idea of what will remain trending for some time, and grant organisations the opportunity to harness these trends and generate unique content.?
In order to keep up with businesses and competitive social media accounts, it can be tempting to dive into a data-driven mindset that posts content for the sake of gaining conversions or leads. However, people enjoy social media for other purposes, such as connectivity with others, meaning they will gravitate toward profiles that embrace the human-element of it all.??
“Have fun with your posts—people go on social media not because they are prepared to be influenced,” Eamonn concluded, “Create engaging content that people generally want to see and use that to create organic leads.” As technology adapts and trends advance with it, it’s important we continue to encourage a community feel fostered by a positive ecosystem of digital products.?
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This article was taken from The Castille Quarterly Newsletter |?May 2022