6 Smart Social Media Strategies You Should Use
Nowadays, more than 72% of the American internet population has access to social networks, up from only 5% in 2005. The rapid expansion of social media has revolutionized marketing, opening up opportunities for brands to market to a more extensive audience base.
However, it’s not enough to set up business accounts and start posting impulsively. For your social media efforts to be profitable, you need a well-executed strategy. Here are 6 smart tactics you should use to increase brand awareness, reach a broader audience, generate more leads, and boost your revenue.
Set Attainable Goals
It’s crucial to take the time to set relevant and attainable social media goals. Think about your overall marketing goals to make a more informed decision on your social media strategy. Ask yourself “why” each social platform is vital for your brand and “how” they can support your business goals. Moreover, set measurements on which you’ll focus and analyze.
The next step is to set the goals. Use the SMART framework to set efficient social media goals. The framework will help you keep your goals specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. Common types of social media goals you could consider include:
- Increasing brand awareness;
- Improving your ROI;
- Driving people to increase in-store sales;
- Growing your fan base.
Understand Your Audience
Learning how to identify target audience demographics on Instagram, or any other social media platform should be one of your top priorities when curating a social media strategy. The better you understand your target audience, the better you’ll be at reaching them.
Consider who your customer is and where they spend their time on the Internet. To get a better picture of your audience, do an in-depth analysis of their demographic and pinpoint their pain points. It’s also a good idea to engage in conversations with your target audience on forums, respond to comments on your blog, comment on other blogs, and reply to comments and questions on your social platforms.
Investigate Your Competitors’ Approach to Social Media
Spying on your competitors can provide invaluable insight into what your customers expect from businesses in your industry. Check their focus, who they are targeting, and what keywords they are trying to dominate. Then, do a competitor analysis to understand their strengths and weaknesses better. If you notice any weak social media areas, you can strategize to fill in the gaps.
Dive Into Storytelling
People don’t want to be sold to—they want to establish a real connection with a brand. So, you need to balance well the content you post on social platforms. Focusing on a mix of informative and entertaining posts with only a small promotional element will bring you better results in the long run. Often businesses use the calendar for social media planning to save time and maximize results.
Followers view story-based posts as meaningful messages rather than spam and are more likely to engage in discussion. Moreover, social media algorithms demote link-heavy and over-promotional brands, so storytelling posts are more likely to pop up in your followers’ feeds.
Go Live
Live videos are a proven way to connect with your audience on a more meaningful level because they support interaction in real-time. This reinforces the trust and loyalty between the brand and the consumer. From taking people behind the scene to Q&A sessions, the raw feel of a live video is more engaging to viewers than a polished video.
Social platforms are also favoring live videos. For example, Facebook live videos get six times more interactions than regular videos. In the meantime, live videos on Instagram are getting more and more traction, with the platform continually rolling out new, interactive live features.
Collaborate With Influencers
With people having more trust in micro-influencers than those with 100,000 followers, collaborating with a niche-specific influencer will get you better results. Micro-influencers have closer relationships with followers, so there’s a higher trust, more genuine engagement, and more influence. Consequently, micro-influencer campaigns have high engagement levels and better marketing performance metrics.
Additionally, they tend to have more affordable rates, so you can tap into influencer marketing without breaking the bank. To choose the right influencers, it’s essential to verify that they target the audience you want to connect with. Also, be sure to evaluate their content quality and measure important metrics such as engagement rate and reach.
Final Words
Social media is a marathon, not a sprint; it requires a good strategy and hard work. Use these social media marketing tactics to create a winning strategy. To ensure continuous success, make your audience a priority, be less sales-y, and provide real value to your followers. Also, be genuine and don’t be afraid to showcase your personality. Remember, people on social media are looking to establish meaningful connections with brands.