5 Social Media marketing tips

Today, we are shifting gears from photography and talking about our other love: Social Media Marketing! We have been doing social media management and strategy for a while and have seen the industry shift over time. But luckily, some social media marketing elements remain the same. We collected a lot of tips and tricks over the years and short-listed our wisdom into 5 social media marketing tips that make a great foundation for success.

Creating a marketing strategy for a new (or existing) business can be overwhelming. With so many choices of social media marketing tools and platforms, it’s easy to get lost in the details. Marketing, especially social media marketing, is not so much an option as it is a requisite for creating and sustaining a successful brand. While conventional marketing practices are traditionally expensive and exclusive, the realm of social media has democratized marketing tools and made them accessible for even the smallest businesses. If used to it’s full potential, social media marketing tools are great for growing an online presence, engaging with your brand’s audience, selling your service and/ or product and also creating trust with your existing and potential clientele. However, with the ever-changing algorithm, the raise of influencer culture, and other sudden (sometimes seemingly random) shifts, social media marketing can seem daunting. But never fear because here are 5 social media marketing tips to elevate your brand.

Create a Social Media Marketing Strategy

We talk a lot about social media strategy with our clients (like, a lot A LOT!). This is because success in marketing depends on putting in place a roadmap towards accomplishing your goals. In fact, we wrote a whole blog about setting social media goals - you can read it here! There are several questions to ask yourself in order to develop a cohesive social media strategy. These include:

• What platform/s should I be focusing on?

• Why am I using this platform as opposed to any other?

• Who is my target audience?

• What is my brand message?

• What content works best on this platform?

• How can I make my content unique and engaging?

Asking, and answering these questions, will help guide your social media strategy and keep you focused on your ultimate goal. These questions can also be re-visited when your social media strategy needs a shift. Keep in mind that just like your business, your strategy will evolve and change over time.

Some questions to think about when developing your social media strategy.

Create Engaging, Unique, & Interesting Content

Your brand is awesome! You know that and we know that, but now it’s time to tell everyone else that too! When thinking about content creation, it’s important to first establish your ultimate goal for that content. Setting goals will help guide your content, pick the right tools to optimize your content for your target audience, and to select appropriate engagement strategies. There are several goals to be considered when publishing any kind of brand content. These include:

• Goals for Raising Brand Awareness

• Goals for Managing Brand Reputation

• Goals for Raising Engagement

• Goals for Raising Conversions and Sales

• Goals for Generating Leads

Each goal will have a specific set of parameters that will guide your content.

Some other important questions to consider when creating interesting and engaging content are:

• Is your content is visually appealing; consider using less texts and more images if your brand deals with specifically visual products/ services etc.

• Is your content newsworthy or relevant?

• Is your content reflective of your brand; pro tip: feature your team, this is a great way to build trust with your audience!

• Does your content develop your brand voice;  storytelling is a great way to convey your brand messaging without sounding too sales-y.

• Is your content trendy (We know we don’t love that word either!); in social media marketing it is very important to stay relevant and on trend!

Above all else, remember to have fun with it - your content should be reflective of your brand’s vibe. So whether that means using trending audio, putting yourself in front of the camera, or creating beautiful visuals, always remember to be true to your brand’s style.

There are so many different ways to create engaging and interesting content - have fun with it!

Be Consistent

Consistency is very important for any business because having consistency builds trust between clientele and also makes your brand more memorable and unique. There are several ways to maintain consistency in your social media marketing. These include:

• Brand image; overall perception of your brand.

• Brand message; how your brand communicates its unique value proposition and personality through its messaging and visuals.

• Posting frequency; how often you post content for your brand.

• Aesthetics; colours, fonts, visuals.

• Hashtags; according to Linked In, “consistency in using the same hashtags and posting at the same day and time every week can significantly impact your visibility on social media platforms and improve your chances of getting into the algorithm.”

Consistency is key to the success!

engagement

Engagement is defined as any kind of visible interaction with your brand/ business on social media. Examples of engagement include: likes, comments, video & story views, saves, taps & clicks, and shares on your posts. Engaging with your audience is pivotal in building trust, creating community relations, and establishing friendly and approachable vibes. A good rule of thumb is to be consistent in your engagement with your audience, so that your messaging always remains true to your brand.

Engage with your audience but remain true to your brand messaging.

Track Your Analytics

Social media can sometimes feel like a trial and error endeavour - some things work and some things just don’t. But there are tools to help with strategy to guide you in the right direction. In fact, tracking your social media analytics is an important element in building your brand online and establishing what works. Thankfully, most social media platforms already have the tools in place to help track your metrics. Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Pinterest, provide their users with comprehensive analytics to help you track your success. Alternatively, content calendar apps such as Planosly and Later, also provide analytics and stats as part of their social media marketing packages. By keeping track of your social media data and stats, it’s easy to effectively analyze your strategy and pivot into success!

Get in touch with us for more info about how we can help!

We hope that these 5 social media marketing tips help in you in your social media marketing journey. We know that the ever-changing world of social media can be overwhelming, but hopefully these tips can help you to craft your strategy, connect with your ideal clients, and grow your amazing brand.

If you would like more help with your social media marketing, get in touch with us here - we’d love to chat!