Social media marketing is all the rage these days. Everyone and their grandmother is on social media along with seemingly every business. As with nearly all types of marketing, there is no cookie cutter answer for what strategies will be most effective on social media. Each market reacts differently to different tactics and markets are constantly shifting. However, with a few tips and tricks, you can increase the likelihood that your social media marketing efforts are reaching the right audience in the right ways!
The first priority to think about is your brand identity. You want your brand to feel the same across all the platforms you are using and across all your posts. You will want to determine a “voice” for your posts and comments. Also, make sure that your posts have a theme and are related to your brand or product in some way. For instance, if you are an outdoor supply store, stick to posting about local hikes or specific backpacking items you carry. This will help build a following of people interested in your industry and eventually, your product.
A second consideration is that although you want to maintain brand identity and continuity across multiple social media platforms, you also need to be aware of the differences between these platforms. For instance,
- Facebook is usually used as a platform to put out large amounts of information. It is also used most frequently by older generations, so keep that in mind as you are framing your content.
- Twitter is used for quick updates and thoughts. It is a good way to build personality for your brand rather than sending out lots of information.
- Instagram is all about visuals and is mostly used by younger generations. It is best used for crafting an image for your brand and to share information in the form of pictures rather than words. You may have to exercise your inner photographer for this one. High-quality, visually appealing pictures make a big difference!
Once you are aware of these variances, you can utilize each platform in a way that will be best received by your respective audiences.
Our third piece of advice is to identify your primary and secondary platforms. It takes a lot of time and energy to maintain multiple social media platforms all the time, especially when you are having to create content tailored specifically for each one. Luckily, you can cut down on the time and effort required by choosing 1–2 primary platforms and 1–2 secondary platforms.
Primary platforms are the ones most useful to your brand; likely the ones most used by your audience or well suited to your product. You should tailor the majority of your content to this platform specifically and post on this platform most often. You can then reduce the posts on your other secondary platforms and simply link the content you post there to your primary. This way you are putting the majority of your effort into the platform that will give you the highest return while still maintaining a brand presence on the others.
Fourth, don’t be afraid to test your content! As mentioned earlier, there is no way to know for certain what your target market will respond to. Maybe they like informational articles, maybe they like simple updates, or maybe they are still into Vines for some reason.
External factors may also influence how well your posts perform. Time of day, news cycles, and even weather can affect the way people interact with certain posts. Luckily, social media gives you a chance to test things out and see the reactions you get. Platforms like Facebook can track who is interacting with your page and in what capacity.
You can utilize this tracking information to see what kinds of posts your market prefers and adjust accordingly. While it is a good idea to start out with a general strategy in mind, this is an ever-changing market, and it is okay to adapt your brand over time to match!
If you are interested in learning more about social media marketing or having The Odigo Group develop a marketing campaign for you, take a look at our digital marketing page or our other blogs related to digital marketing.