Social media has become a defining theme in all aspects of our lives in recent decades. It has seamlessly integrated itself into every personal and public domain and has emerged as a powerful tool in marketing.
With 59 percent of the global population using social media, not paying attention to social media marketing would result in several missed opportunities for brands. However, every platform is built differently and offers distinct uses and benefits. It’s important to understand how each can be leveraged into a marketing strategy in the best ways possible to ensure maximum success.
General Guidelines on Integrating Social Media Marketing into Your Marketing Plan
While specific action plans may differ across channels, some basic guidelines remain the same when it comes to social media marketing strategy. Here’s what you need to keep in mind:
Don’t Zero Down on Tools
Social media platforms are constantly evolving, with new tools being introduced every now and then. While staying updated with these changes is essential, it’s a much better approach to focus on the core marketing strategy you have in place and assess whether a new tool would really help with that strategy or not.
Always Look Ahead
Most companies use social media to create awareness about the brand or about a product or service. When awareness is the goal you’re aiming for, it’s crucial to plan ahead and find ways to sustain that awareness and turn it into conversions. Basically, don’t go in there without a plan.
Your Social Media Strategy Should Always Align with A Specific Marketing Objective
Keeping in line with the earlier tip about going in with a plan, it’s also not a great idea to throw blind arrows with your social media strategy. Every social media action your company takes needs to be paired with a clear-cut marketing objective. For instance, your social media plan can be geared toward moving customers along the purchase funnel.
Develop Your Own Toolkit
Your company probably already has a brand toolkit—the standard marketing procedures and practices you’ve outlined for yourself. Similarly, you can create a personal social media tool kit with color palettes, templates, and more for your social media presence. This will help you create a well-defined and cohesive image across channels and platforms.
Choose the Social Media Platforms That Work for Your Business
Most companies do not have the resources to build a presence on every social media platform. Not every platform is fruitful for your business anyway. This is why assessing your strategy against each platform, and its demographics is important to see what would work best for your business. This way, you can allocate your resources in the best places and improve your conversion rate overall.
Platform-Based Marketing Tips and Ideas
As mentioned earlier, not all platforms work for every business. However, a platform often does not work for your business because you use the same marketing strategy across the board.
Every social media platform is built differently and has a unique user base. Your marketing strategy needs to take all of this and more into account in order for it to succeed.
Here’s what we’d suggest for some of the most popular social media platforms:
- Create the perfect profile—it may be your first impression for some clients;
- Facebook has an incredibly diverse space in terms of users—make sure you understand who your Facebook audience is and develop content accordingly;
- Facebook is a great place for discussions; create a space for your audience to engage regularly—a group, for instance;
- Make use of Facebook’s paid ads and create the perfect schedule to reach the maximum number of audience members;
- Create authentic engagement through employee advocacy on Facebook;
- Always track and analyze the results of your efforts;
- Diversify your content—make it more engaging;
- Don’t forget to resize and optimize your images;
- Break your own records with your average response time for customers’ queries.
- Start by auditing your Twitter profile;
- Brand and customize your Twitter profile;
- Find your voice and stay true to it;
- Create your Twitter list;
- Take the time to study Twitter trends and hashtags; use them to your advantage;
- Reach your audience directly with paid Twitter ads;
- Engage with other brands and your audience in a more fun and authentic way—learn from these brands!
- Use Twitter’s automation tools;
- Don’t forget to get verified, and pay close attention to your follower count;
- Use Twitter Moments, Spaces, and other features to engage with your audience in innovative ways.
- Start by switching to a business profile;
- Use the free marketing tools on Instagram;
- Use your feed and stories for advertising your products;
- Leverage in some sponsored ads for Instagram;
- Stories are magical marketing tools—use them;
- Partner up with Instagram influencers and reach a wider audience;
- Integrate into some user-generated content—it’s more authentic and engaging;
- Use hashtags for your posts—interactive brand-specific hashtags are even better!
- Don’t spam your followers with content 24/7—put out what you’re truly proud of;
- Make it aesthetic!
Of course, there’s much more to a social media marketing plan than we’ve mentioned here. Also, given that social media platforms and their user base are always transforming, companies must constantly revise their social media strategy to make the most of their social media presence.
This is primarily why it’s often a great approach to leave your social media marketing strategy to the experts. At X Times More, we work with many companies to help them perfect their social media marketing efforts. If you’d like to learn more about our web design and social media marketing services—reach out to us today!
As a sales funnel digital marketing agency, we also offer search engine optimization services for our clients.
Contact us to discuss it all further.
