In the past couple of years, social media has transformed from a somewhat optional tool to an absolute must-have for marketers.
Social media marketing offers a range of benefits such as heightened brand awareness, increased conversions, higher revenue, sales, etc.
In this article, you’ll learn how to optimize your social media marketing strategy to get the best possible results.
1 – Identify the Best Platforms
Please don’t make assumptions about where your target market is spending their time online. If you’re targeting millennials, your might want to focus all your efforts on Snapchat and Instagram and exclude Facebook. However, statistics indicate that 84 percent of millennials are still using Facebook.
You can go through the demographics information of all of the major social media platforms and identify where your audience is spending their time online.
2 – Encourage User-Generated Content
User-generated content (UGC) refers to any content – text, reviews, images, videos, etc. – created by customers rather than marketers.
Marketers need to encourage UGC because it directly influences the consumer’s buying decision. In fact, UGC also plays a key role in developing brand awareness.
For instance, if you run a contest on Instagram where participants have to post pictures where they’re using your product, it will help your business attract a wider audience. People who follow the contest’s participants will come across your brand even if they themselves don’t follow it.
Moreover, according to Nielsen’s research, 83 percent of consumers trust the recommendations they get from their family members and friends. Hence, UGC is an excellent way to increase your followers and ultimately convert those new followers into customers.
3 – Include Eye-Catching Visuals Wherever Possible
People have developed an expectation for social media posts to include a visual element.
The pictures shared on social media results in real-life action. Specifically, Snapchat, Instagram, and Pinterest are visual platforms. If your content isn’t appealing, no one will stop scrolling to read what you have to say.
4 – Measure and Track Your Performance
To ensure that you’re deriving the best results from your social media marketing efforts, you need to measure and track your performance accurately.
To simplify the process, identify the most important metric, which may include:
- Facebook – Reach and engagement
- Instagram – Likes, tags, views, and comments
- Instagram Stories – Engagement and views
- Twitter – Retweets, mentions, and impressions
- LinkedIn – Impressions, interactions, and clicks
- Pinterest – Impressions and engagement
Keeping a tab on these metrics will help you learn if and when you need to adjust your social media marketing strategy.
Last Few Words
Whether you’re starting a new business or expanding an existing one, you need to use social media marketing effectively. Gone are the days when just creating a Facebook profile was sufficient, so make sure you follow the strategies listed above and enhance your business’s social media presence.
