Social Media is one of the best ways you can market your company. It can no longer be ignored as a new thing for young people that you don’t understand. It’s 2021, and the current global climate means that people are spending more of their time online: they are using zoom for school, they’re on Facebook interacting with friends, and they’re on LinkedIn marketing themselves for the new job they want. Social media allows you to be where your target audience is. Here are a few tips for social media marketing:
1. Goals & Objectives
Before you start posting just to be active on Social Media, make sure that you establish your companies’ goals & objectives, so you don’t waste your time. Write down your goals, making sure they’re SMART. Setting goals will allow you to measure your social media marketing goals’ progress and drive future decisions.
2. Know Your Audience, Go Where They Are
First, you must understand who your target audience is and understand their likes and dislikes. Next, be where your audience is. If your target audience is a younger demographic, it’s Twitter, Snapchat, YouTube, and Instagram. If you have older demographic, you’ll want to be active on Facebook, Facebook Messenger, and LinkedIn. Once you have your who and your where, pick one or two platforms that you know your audience is active on – you can waste a lot of time and energy trying to be on every platform.
3. Less is More
It is not about how much you post, but instead, it is about the quality of your post’s content. Ensure your posts bring value to your customers rather than just posting to make a post for the day. Your followers will engage more with your posts if you have put thought into it; when conceiving the post, put yourself in the eyes of your customer. What would they like? What would they share? How do I start a conversation with them?
4. Engagement > # of Followers
Followers and views mean very little if those people are not engaging with you. You want people to comment, like, and share your posts with their friends. Make sure to engage your followers by listening to them and responding. It’s also a great idea to review your competition’s accounts and check if they respond to their followers’ comments; if they don’t, it’s an opportunity for you to insert yourself into the conversation.
5. Build Community
Along with knowing your audience and the importance of engagement, you must build community with your followers. Start a conversation with your community, engage with them, understand the current trends, and apply them. The goal is for your followers to talk about you offline and bring others to the conversation online.
6. Pro Tip
Look at your followers and recognize who has perceived influence or is a thought leader- make them your brand ambassadors. Let them lead the charge for your brand.
7. Be Authentic
Be a real person. People buy from people, not brands. Be as authentic as possible as your target audience doesn’t want to be sold to; they want you to speak to them. Consumers will buy if they can relate to who is using your product. This is what we call conversational marketing, and the biggest brands in the world are doing it. When is the last time you saw a Pepsi ad that didn’t feature the biggest celebrity? Brands understand that consumers trust and buy from people, not a logo.
8. Consistency is Key
The reality is that all of these things take time, don’t waver! Your community will not grow tenfold overnight, and your engagement rate might increase slower than you expect; keep being authentic online, and you will exceed your goals for social media marketing.
Use these tips for social media marketing in 2021, and connect with us if we can help!