We all know how important social media marketing is today. However, most business owners still don’t know how to utilize it to their advantage. There is a huge difference between running a campaign, and running it successfully. However, in order to be able to manage your marketing campaigns, you first need to make sure that everything behind the scenes is working seamlessly.
Hire a reliable accountant from Gilmour & Co, who will help you manage your finances properly, and make sure you have company structure and an efficient manager in place, before you start marketing. Because once customers start pouring in, you will have no choice but to work well.
Here is how to set about crafting a great marketing campaign:
Choosing the Right Platform
Not all social media platforms can serve the same purpose. The first thing you should do is determine who your potential target audience is, and create social media accounts according to the results. You don’t need to manage a bunch of them, if your desired audience is only flocking to a couple. You then need to learn how each of these platforms works, and the etiquette that comes with. Don’t open your proper account right away, rather make one to use for a test run.
Hire a Community Manager
Find a person to be your community manager who will be in charge of all of your social media accounts. This can be someone within the business who is good with social media and interacting with different kinds of people, or someone you hire specifically for the role. If the latter is the case, you should make sure you train them well, and teach them everything they need to know about the company.
They need to post regularly, reply to all messages, and engage with your followers. They need to be polite, not let social media get to them, and well versed in the way a particular network operates. Make no mistake, it is a full time job.
Produce Stellar Content
Content is extremely important on social media. Quality content should be your priority, instead of quantity. You need to provide valuable information which your followers can use, and help them solve problems. Don’t spam them and don’t provide useless content.
Do your research and be on the lookout for topics that might be of interest, and jump on a trending discussion. You don’t need to keep to a single network to look for inspiration, but make sure to tailor the way you communicate to the network in question.
Focus on the Visual Elements
Statistics say that about 90% of social media marketers value visual content more than they do anything else. You need to make sure you create stunning visuals that are in line with your brand message, and which will communicate it clearly.
They need to be in tune with your logo and brand colors, and you should never rely solely on pre-made images and video. Create your own, and thus attract more shares and likes.
Craft a Schedule
A large part of your social media posting can be automated, but never trust an app to do all the work for you. You can schedule certain types of posts to go up at certain times of the day. There is an entire science behind what types of posts work best when, and you should make it a point to explore these facts. You can then use tools like Buffer or Hootsuite to schedule these posts, and save your community manager some time.
Engage the Audience
Audience engagement is more important than simply posting a lot of content randomly. You need to interact with your followers, and not just push out something they can look at.
This is why having a great community manager is so very important – they need to be able to engage the audience and keep them coming back to your pages, not just to see what’s new, but also to chat and be a part of an active community.
If you play your cards right, you can easily use social media to your advantage, and get the most of your campaigns – but make sure you do your research right, and work on the right platforms.