If you are using the internet, I’m sure you’ve already heard about Social Media or is already an active user of sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Well, you’re just one of the few billions!
Smart Insights reported 2.789 billion people around the world are active social media users. Statista, on the other hand, predicted a continual increase in users, reaching 2.95 billion by 2020. With 3.790 billion unique smartphone users and 3.419 billion Internet users of the 7.395 billion total population, it is easy to say that social media is the most viable means of marketing these days.
Success in Social Media Marketing
It is not a surprise that Facebook is still the number 1 social media platform to date with 18 percent market share. To put that in actual numbers of users, 1,590 million – and that is only the active ones. And guess what takes the second place? It’s the Facebook-owned What’s App! It currently holds 7 percent of the market share or 1,000 billion active users. It is closely followed by yet again another Facebook-owned platform Messenger with 900 active users. QQ, WeChat, QZone, Tumblr, Instagram, Twitter, and a lot more are trailing behind these giants.
Statistics makes it easier to identify which platforms to prioritise in social media marketing. But it is not just about the numbers. Each platform has something unique to offer and it is important for businesses to identify which platform will give the maximum benefit for their brand.
If you are a first timer, fear not! We have prepared some tips to help make the task a bit easier and more exciting. We’ve listed seven (7) simple steps to guide those who want to embark in this fascinating world of social media marketing.
Step 1
Identify a goal you want to attain with your social media. To get the most out of it, make sure you have a clear idea of its purpose for your business.
Here are some Social Media goals that you can start attaining:
- Brand Awareness – Show the world who your brand is by posting contents about your products/services, your values, your employees, your office, company events, etc.
- Drive Website Traffic – Utilize Social Media links and buttons to direct customers to your official site, online purchase or booking forms, promo details and blogs.
- Sales and Leads – Take advantage of Social Media to engage with potential customers, identify influencers, monitor prospect personas, promote and sell products through clicks, and improve customer experience.
- Research and Development – Use Social Media monitoring to listen to conversations and mentions of your brand. Gather intelligence about your products, competitors, and industry and use your data and results for strategic planning, marketing campaigns and decision making.
- Improve Customer Relations – Talk to customers either publicly or privately using the messaging capabilities of Social Media. Aim to resolve concerns and answer questions as quickly as possible. Tag their names and encourage their ideas to make them feel more valued.
Step 2
Develop a strategy for your social media campaigns. You want to have a plan that would drive the direction, quality and quantity of your posts. Revisit this strategy regularly. As you become more active in social media, you will be able to identify the type of posts that your audience gravitate towards and those that are not effective. You can experiment with different types of posts and offers until you find the perfect fit for your market.
Step 3
Listen to your social network. Read the conversations, comments and complaints. Some of them may provide valuable insights about the quality of your product, feedback on your customer service or even ideas for new products and product improvement.
Step 4
Create engagement strategy on your content. Engagement of your audience is the backbone of your social media marketing. Encouraging them to take part in conversations and share your content are the things that will sustain your network. And this is going to be an uphill battle; the truth is, it takes time to build an audience. But once you are there, the benefits can be exponential.
Step 5
Keep up with the technology. Social media is a technology that is continuously evolving. You have to be in tune with the updates. Facebook, Twitter and others are introducing new features and improving the current platform all the time. Other companies may come up with new platforms or customer preferences may change in the next few months or years. So be prepared to change with the times.
Step 6
Use best practices and approaches to your social media platforms. Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter have their specific audience targets. You have to learn how to use them in your marketing strategies to turn up positive results while also preventing bad reputation.
Step 7
Optimise your social media. Go beyond simply doing updates. if you have the budget, try paid advertising. Facebook, for instance, has paid ads that will target specific users via interests. This capability for better returns is one of the things that make the platform a huge success.
Still unsure about Social Media? We can take this load off your shoulders so you can focus on what you do best. Call us at 08 6500 9777 or explore your options here.
