The following is an article “Effective Social Media Marketing” by Marc Primo.
In many ways, using a personal social media account is similar to using it to promote your business… but also very different at the same time. In both cases, the content you post defines what you and your business represent; however, whereas one can be whimsical with a personal social media account, the same does not apply to using social media as a marketing tool for a business, where consistency truly matters.
Tips for effective social media marketing
Know your audience
First and foremost, knowing who your market is must come before any attempt at making a social media marketing plan. After all, this will determine the tone and direction of your content in order for it to be effective. If your business caters to different market segments, then you will need to customize your content to target specific audiences and their needs. A holistic social media marketing plan wherein every demographic of your market is addressed is always a good place to start.
Post and monitor
Not only is social media open to users 24/7, it also happens in real time. For digital marketers, this means a round-the-clock job of monitoring every post for customer engagement—be it replying to questions, addressing complaints, or noting down the type of post that gets the most shares and likes. Whether your company’s social media marketing efforts has one person or one dozen people managing it, consumers expect their concerns to be addressed almost instantly, or at least within 24 hours. Posting content is just half the job done; the other, equally important half, is keeping tabs on each and every one.
Plan ahead of time
Knowing the objectives of your business will allow you to draft a strategic long term content plan for your social media marketing efforts that is aligned with those goals. This means coming up with a line-up of engaging stories, storytelling photos, and live videos ideally for up to two months in advance. Planning in advance not only saves you the trouble of having to think up content every single day, but also frees up your time to attend to monitoring the engagement your posts generate, and gives you enough lead time to dream up the best possible content execution as you stick to the game plan.
Don’t go overboard nor spread yourself too thin
Probably the trickiest part of social media marketing is knowing the difference between too much and too little presence. Post content more than two or three times a day and you’ll find yourself in the danger zone of flooding your followers’ news feed to the point that they might ‘hide’ you, or worse, unfollow you altogether. One to two posts a day is the sweet spot you’re looking for; just enough to show your followers that your business is active on social media. And once you’re confident that you’ve mastered one social media platform, be ready to move on to the next one, where a whole world of new leads are waiting to be converted.
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