How to harness social media for your business

“The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing.” – Tom Fishburne, Founder of Marketoonist

It is estimated that around 4.48 billion people currently use social media worldwide, and approximately 99% of these user’s access websites or apps through a mobile device rather than a desktop computer (Reference, backlinko).  This means that brands and businesses would be foolish not to harness social media within their marketing strategies.

This blog post will share a number of ways that businesses can harness social media and use it to their advantage.

In simple terms, social media marketing is a way of marketing through social media platforms. By marketing products and brands through social media it allows companies to engage a different consumer demographic rather than marketing purely in traditional ways, such as television, radio, and billboards. It is a great way for companies to engage with the younger generation of consumers who spend many hours a day on social media sites.

By applying social media strategies to their marketing campaigns brands can gain insights and analytics to how their advertising efforts are working. Examining insights provides brands with information which means they can then tailor their marketing efforts to the specific audiences viewing the adverts.

Setting social media goals and objectives is a brilliant way to ensure you are using social media in the correct way for your business. The SMART goals framework is a great way to work out what your business needs, this means your goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely.

The first port of call when deciding to upgrade your social media presence is to start with a strong plan and well-thought-out strategy. A strong social plan begins when businesses decide which platforms best fit their goals and objectives. With more and more social media channels being created each year it is crucial for brands to choose the ones that align with their values the best.

For example, a brand who’s target audience are 65+ wouldn’t necessarily be wise to spend their marketing budget on a platform like Tik Tok, whose average user age is estimated to be under the age of 20. It is important to conduct social media audits to review your business current analytics and growth, to aid the next decisions in improving your social media strategy.

Setting social media goals and objectives is a brilliant way to ensure you are using social media in the correct way for your business. The SMART goals framework is a great way to work out what your business needs, this means your goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely.

Within a marketing strategy one aspect businesses should consider is timing. Upload times are important to ensure posts are seen by the right people. A great way to do this is to use scheduling platforms that automatically upload your content on the set dates and times you chose.

Knowing your audience is of key importance when using social media for your business goals. It's crucial to know your audience demographics to ensure you are creating the right content. Creating engaging content is the best way to develop a relationship with you customers.

One celebrity who has been successful on Instagram is Kylie Jenner. Considered by many as the most powerful influencer of our time, Kylie Jenner has been posting content and going viral for years. With approximately 372 million followers on Instagram, and a billion-dollar empire to her name, Kylie Jenner is certainly one of the most successful “instagrammers” of the past decade.

Since growing up on screen and staring in her family’s reality show, Kylie has set up her famous beauty line ‘Kylie Cosmetics’ which is seen to have started the matte lipstick trend of the 2010s. One of the most famous instances of Kylie Jenner’s influence was when she stated she didn’t use the social media platform Snapchat anymore and the app went on to see an estimated loss of between $1.3 billion and $1.6 billion in one day.

Her pregnancy announcement post for her daughter Stormi is in the top 6 most liked posts on Instagram which broke the internet. In May 2019, Forbes crowned 21-year-old Kylie Jenner the world’s youngest self-made billionaire. Kylie is definitely considered one of the most successful people on social media right now.

Creating meaningful partnerships with consumers will make them want to use your services again and creates a well-rounded and unique experience. Building long term customer relationships is key to creating partnerships that last and make successful collaborations.  When customers are happy, they recommend your company to others and that kind of positive word of mouth is the best form of advertising. (Reference, SmallBiz Tools)

Engaging with your audience is another crucial factor when it comes to harnessing social media for your business. Reacting to posts you are tagged in, commenting, and following your customers creates a community among your audience and gives your brand an authentic personality.

Finding a niche for your content is a great way to become recognisable in the oversaturated social media world. Creating bold and unique content that is eye catching and dynamic will keep you in the forefront of potential customers minds. Creating powerful organic content is driven by creativity. For more details check out our blog post on organic social here.

Consistency is key when it comes to harnessing social media effectively. Both consistency in brand image and also your upload schedule. “An intentional social media strategy that focuses on posting content consistently keeps audiences engaged, develops loyal followers and boosts brand awareness.” (Reference, entrepreneur.com)

Research from Hootsuite revealed the ideal number of times a day (or week) to post for each platform:

 On Instagram, post between 3-7 times per week.

On Facebook, post between 1 and 2 times a day.

On Twitter, post between 1 and 5 Tweets a day.

On LinkedIn, post between 1 and 5 times a day.

As well as having your own unique themes it is also important to keep up to date on current social media trends. Tik Tok is one of the newest platforms out in the social media sphere and one of the most common to go viral on. Through using trending sounds and content ideas you keep your business in the loop.

Recently, short form video content has risen in popularity, content between 15 seconds to 3 minutes has become the most popular form of video content on social media platforms. Alongside the rise of Tik Tok and Instagram Reels, sharing short snippet videos has become a great way for businesses to engage with their following and appeal to the short attention span of younger consumers.

According to a survey by hubspot, short-form video has the highest ROI of any social media marketing strategy as 30% of social media marketers plan to invest in it more than any other trend in 2022.

One brand that use Tik Tok incredibly well is the airline Ryanair. With 1.8 million followers and an approximately 21.3 million likes across their posts, Ryanair have become a fan favourite on Tik Tok over the past 12 months. The budget airline is great at channelling humour and current trends into their posts, which have an average of well over 100,000 views on each video.

Majority of Ryanair’s videos consist of a static image of a plane with a video over which gives the effect of the plan talking, this simple yet effective way of creating content has become hugely popular and made the brand go viral numerous times. Ryanair are a great example of how content does not need to be extreme, a simple video created in a number of minutes can become extremely successful, when targeted at the right audience.

Ryanair head of social Michael Corcoran stated in an interview that it is key for brands to “Look beyond video views. Read comments to see how people are engaging with your brand so you can get a better idea of how they position you in their minds. Don't forget to reply to comments too to keep viewers coming back for more!” (Reference, contentcal.com)

Ryanair stay true to their brand values throughout their content with self-depreciating humour. They are a great example of how to channel authenticity to make great content.

Growing your businesses social media channels isn’t a quick or easy process, it requires attention, dedication, and perseverance. You may be lucky and go viral overnight, however chances are you will need to put in the work and ensure your strategy is solid.

If you’re looking to grow your brand/business online then get in touch on the contact page to discuss your marketing strategy.

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