TABLE OF CONTENTS
Identify Your Champion | Right the Right Platforms | Lean on Content Curation |
Communicate Your Value | Keep Up With Video | Feature Your Team | Tag Strategically |
Be Consistent & Schedule | Show Your Personality | Track Results & Adjust
Anyone can post on social media — but not everyone can create a compelling social media strategy. Great content takes time, and it’s no longer enough to just share a couple of links each month. If you’re going to spend time or money on social media marketing, shouldn’t your business benefit?
Luckily, there are a few game-changing moves that marketing teams can make to develop a social media strategy that’s results-oriented, actionable, and measurable.
1. Identify Your Social Media Champion
Your social media champion is like the project manager for every action taken on your social platforms regarding strategy.
They likely won’t be in charge of writing every single post, liking each comment, or even determining the content that will be shared. But they will need to be organized, able to set and meet deadlines, and able to delegate tasks — like copywriting and graphic design — to other team members.
Additionally, your social media champion should not only ensure the brand’s messaging reaches its intended audiences but also work to build authentic engagement and connections between your brand and potential clients to truly convert leads into sales.
2. Pick the Right Platforms
Meet your prospects on their platform of choice. After all, if you've been putting all your eggs into the Facebook basket, and your customer base mostly spends time on LinkedIn, you’re missing the opportunity to connect with them.
As you venture into other social media channels, be sure to take cues from the posts around you. For instance, on Instagram, the posts are creative, good-looking, and often share a behind-the-scenes glimpse into your business. Your business' posts should follow suit but with your own unique spin.
If you're not comfortable on a certain social channel, chances are that there is someone on your team who’s a pro at it. Delegate the tweeting or posting to them so viewers get an insider's perspective of your business.
3. Lean on Content Curation
Most social media platforms — particularly Facebook and LinkedIn — prioritize posts that are genuine over clickbait or "sales-y" ones. One of the best ways to be genuine is to share educational or helpful content.
One of the biggest drawbacks to this, however, is finding the time to create mass amounts of high-quality original content. Instead, many individuals, teams, and companies rely on content curation.
The basic idea behind content curation is to share others’ content alongside your original work — providing credit to the original creators, of course. This could be anything from simply sharing an in-depth post from an industry publication to providing expert analysis on a relevant news article. Curation allows you to share content that your readers and clients will enjoy while still managing your time wisely.
But remember: The key is not to replace originally produced content. To achieve the best social media marketing results, a combination is needed. Also, it’s vital to understand that the quality of content always outweighs the quantity of content.
4. Communicate Your Value
Believe it or not, your viewers don't know everything about you. Remind them what your business does and that you do it well.
And don’t just tell them in a social post that goes nowhere — give them a link to learn more on your website, while getting answers to questions they might have about specific services. An added bonus: they’ll be that much closer to your contact form.
Additionally, you can reinforce your 5-star quality by sharing your company reviews as posts on your social media channels. And if you have a testimonial page on your website, even better. Your post can point the social media traffic back to your site to engage and eventually convert.
5. Keep Up With Video
Video is the best way to pack a punch in a minute or less. Because video tends to be more engaging and memorable than other forms of content, it makes it more likely that your audience will remember your brand and take action based on the content they've seen.
Video content can also help build trust and credibility with your audience by showcasing your products or services in action, featuring customer testimonials, or demonstrating your industry expertise. Further, video content can help boost your social media reach and engagement, as platforms like Facebook and Instagram often prioritize videos in their algorithms.
6. Feature Your Team
We’ve all heard for years how important it is to see the faces of your company, to post about what your team is up to, and to make it personal. This offers a behind-the-scenes look at your business, and it’s an angle that no one you hire for social media services can replicate.
That said, true social media magic is made when you have a mix of organic posts and strategic posts, such as sharing a company blog article or talking about your services.
You can post about Susie’s birthday, but your feed shouldn’t only be pictures of balloons and cake or smiling faces. Mix it up and guide users back to your website by posting about the free resources you provide, what industries you serve, and more.
7. Tag Strategically
There are two types of hashtags: the fun punctuations on posts (think #TGIF) and those that can get you found when viewers are searching hashtags by topic (such as #DigitalMarketing).
It’s okay to use a mix of both for personality, but don’t give up the chance to be found. Including relevant and descriptive hashtags in your posts can be a great way to put your business in front of the eyes of new prospects.
Remember: don’t include too many hashtags at once, and don’t use ones unrelated to your business or industry. Otherwise, it can look like clickbait and discredit you in the eyes of viewers.
8. Post Consistently and Schedule in Advance
Probably our favorite social media marketing hack is to plan and schedule content for your social channels well in advance. Doing so allows you to use your time effectively, ensure your accounts are being posted to regularly, and utilize your entire team to contribute to what is being created and shared.
Social media schedulers such as Hootsuite, Buffer, Sprout Social, Everypost, and Social Oomph allow you to plan, write, and schedule your social content calendar with ease. With evergreen content scheduled in advance, you can focus on the real-time, highly relevant posts that keep you looking well-informed and up-to-date with the latest news.
9. Show Your Personality
You have an incredible opportunity to connect with your audience through social media marketing, but with so many brands vying for attention, it's critical to stand out by showcasing your business's unique personality. This means defining your brand's values, voice, and style, and infusing them into your social media content.
Be authentic, relatable, and engaging with your audience by using humor, storytelling, or visual elements to convey your brand's message. Don’t use social media as a simple broadcasting tool to blast advertisements and promotions. Use it to create a strong emotional connection with your followers, increase engagement, and ultimately build brand loyalty.
10. Track Your Results and Make Adjustments
Make sure you’re also utilizing the analytics and data provided by your social media channels to track your performance. These tools can give you insight into what currently interests your audience, what types of content you should be producing, and where you can make improvements.
Keep in mind that organic social isn't always directly attributable to sales — but that doesn't mean it doesn't have an impact.
For example, posting about Tyler’s work anniversary or sharing an industry leader’s article may not lead to a surge of new buyers. But it can make your brand appear more credible and approachable in the eyes of your audience, which can build and strengthen customer relationships over time. Think of it as social networking.
Get Ready, Get Set, Get Social
No matter what social platforms you use, what types of content you share, or how frequently you post, the main goal should be optimizing your social media marketing performance. In your traffic sources report, are social media channels showing up as generating traffic to your website? Are your social media followers turning into leads and then customers?
If the answer is no, then you have a great opportunity for improvement. And if you don’t want to go at it alone, a social media marketing agency like LAIRE can be a major help.
Craving more social media marketing tips? Grab your copy of our free social media workbook to learn more about getting results through the power of social strategy.
