BEST SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

Published By Blog Breed

Until lately, marketing used to cost a hefty budget. That is one of the biggest reasons why business moguls always held sway over small-scale companies in the past. Fortunately, marketing has become a lot cheaper these days.

All thanks to the rise of digital marketing on the horizon. As an entrepreneur, you do not need to drain financial resources to reach out desired customer base anymore. There is no getting away from the fact that the digital world offers a myriad of affordable and result-oriented options to advertise products and services.

However, none of them comes close to social media marketing. As time goes by, social media is morphing into a force to be reckoned with in the business fraternity.

According to a well-crunched figure, social media will cross the threshold of 4.41 billion users in the next five years. It goes to show the unwavering popularity of social media platforms, and marketers are all set to capitalize on this opportunity.

Also Read: RESUME RED FLAGS: WHAT NOT TO INCLUDE

Having said that, randomly posting on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram will not bear any worthwhile result. If anything, it will only prove to be a time-wasting dud. You have to master the art of social media management to make the most of these platforms.

A fair proportion of businesses get into social media marketing without beefing up their social media management game. This is precisely what causes their downfall. If you do not want to make peace with mediocre ROI, make sure to subscribe to the following tried and trusted practices:    

Outline Objectives

First thing first; map out your goals. Goal-setting can lead to several benefits. For example, being clear about what you want to achieve means there is little to no probability of going astray. You will always be on the correct path.

Moreover, goals help you to nail the right budget. Statistics suggest that nearly 33 percent of social media marketers fail to wrap their heads around proper budgeting, reducing the social media campaign to a mere time-sink.

Be it generating leads, increasing followers, or improving engagement rate, laying out goals upfront will save you from financial setbacks in the long run.

Be sure to utilize the SMART strategy while narrowing down your objectives. Let’s break down what SMART entails:

• Specific: Businesses tend to have a vague approach toward goals. An obscure goal is when someone states, “I want to increase Twitter followers.” On the other hand, a specific goal is saying, “I want to increase 20k (or any other particular number) Twitter followers.”
• Measurable: It refers to a metric that could be utilized to gauge the progress of a goal. That way, you can always assess how far or close you are to meeting the objective.
• Attainable: There is nothing wrong with chasing lofty goals. But they have to be realistic at the same time. Going after impractical goals will suck the enthusiasm out of you, and you might have to wrestle with depression. Though you should stretch yourself as it brings the best out of you, being rational is equally important. 
• Relevant: What is the point of receiving unbound social shares if they do not align with the bigger picture? So whatever your goal may be, it must complement your business.
• Time-bound: This one is pretty self-explanatory. You should tie a goal to the deadline so that you do not relax at any point and always keep hustling. Again, it is imperative to set a realistic cutoff date.       

Research Competitors

Every prudent social media manager keeps an eye on competitors. The move could help you to learn so many things down the road, especially if you are falling short of exposure.

For example, diving into competitors’ activities can unfold what kind of content is more likely to be well-received by the audience. Or you might come to terms with key insights about running paid ads.

Arguably, the most significant takeaway of competitor research is that it will give you a solid educated guess about rivals’ weaknesses. Once identified, you can use them to fuel your own social media marketing campaign.

Contrary to the past, digging around competitors is not a daunting task nowadays. There are countless online tools that will aid you in doing a plum job without any heel-dragging whatsoever.  

Pick The Right Platforms

On the surface, all social media platforms look almost identical. But they cater to different audiences. When a post becomes viral on Twitter, it may not necessarily become a hit among Facebook users. Hence, you should always invest in a social site that shows great promise to jack up your business.

At this point, your mind might be buzzing with the question, “how on earth can I cherry-pick the most suitable social media platform for my company?” Read on to a comprehensive answer to this query:

• Take your business’s nature into account: Businesses are typically divided into two categories; business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-customer (B2C). For instance, a B2C organization could seize on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest to gain visibility. On the flip side, a B2B company might be better off sticking to LinkedIn.

• Gather customer information: Consumer insights could come in handy to give you much-needed clarity. Conducting a widescale survey is the best way to know more about customers.

Develop a questionnaire that includes simple and direct questions such as “Which social media platforms do you use?”, “Who do you consider the best social media influencer?”, “What kind of content do you consume on social media?” etc.

• Take a deep dive into popular social media platforms: Every social media platform has some specialties that give it a unique standing. You should get to the bottom of the core aspects of every social site and then decide whether it will be the right fit for your business or not.    

Share Quality Content

There is no substitute for quality content. Period. If your posts offer value to readers, they will spread them across social media in little to no time.

The most popular content types include campaigning for social causes, sharing the latest industry-related news, posting positive customer reviews, and writing data-driven material. It is also a smart idea to jump on the bandwagon of trends if they overlap with your niche. We would also recommend you infuse the content with superior visual elements.

In case you use multiple social media channels, you should prioritize tailoring platform-specific content. For example, a post may do well on Instagram with a short and catchy caption. But this method is unlikely to work at LinkedIn because its algorithms are designed to boost posts with lengthy captions. 

Leverage Social Media Influencers

Do you know as many as a whopping 50 percent of customers read influencer reviews before buying a product or service? It illustrates the importance of partnering with social media influencers.

These individuals enjoy high credibility among the masses, and their recommendations effectively mean your sales could virtually go through the roof. But the problem is social media is peppered with influencers.

So how to make sure you get hooked with the right one? Well, walk the tight of the following tips to connect with the best social media influencer:

• Look for the relevance: An ideal social media influencer would have a similar audience as yours. If you are running a cosmetics company, you must hire an influencer who is considered an authority on beauty products.
• Dive into engagement rate: Indeed, it is tempting to collaborate with an influencer boasting a whopping number of followers. But if an influencer has millions of followers, it does not necessarily mean his/her posts would be on top of the engagement game. Therefore, determine the engagement ratio before making the final call.
• Consider long-term partnership: Influencer marketing does not usually churn out favorable results in a one-off campaign. Thus, it is highly advisable to find someone willing to work with you in the long run.      

Do Not Over-Post And Under-Post

Maintaining the same frequency of posts is critical. It gives an impression that you are handling social media platforms very professionally, which adds to your reputation over time. Establishing a content calendar can help you to get away from inconsistent posting.

An added benefit of a content calendar is that it enables you to schedule posts during optimal hours. As a result, social media posts have a higher probability of getting more organic traffic.       

Monitor Social Media Analytics

Like other marketing strategies, tracking analytics in social media campaigns is also very important. Analytics shed light on the core fundamentals of the campaign, empowering you to make the right adjustments before it is too late.

Additionally, analytics tools will give you an ample aerial view of customer behavior, and you can use the information to build a healthy relationship with them.

Occasionally Use Informal Tone

One of the most distinguishing features of social media marketing is that it gives you room to be informal. As you might have noticed, several leading brands of the world engage with customers in a fun way on social media.

People want to break from an overtly professional tone every once in a while. Besides, it conveys to the audience that there is a real person behind the keyboard. 

The Final Verdict

Businesses often start social media marketing with unbound enthusiasm and get burned out rather sooner than later. That is where skillful social media management can win the day for you. Hold tight to these practices and, rest assured, your social media marketing will account for a roaring success.