The TL;DR Guide to Social Media for Business

Using Social Media marketing has completely changed the way businesses connect with their audience, and for many can be a daunting quest to find the right strategy. The truth is, there is no "one size fits all" strategy, but don't let that deter you from participating. In today's post, we will explore how companies should approach social media and where you should focus your efforts.

To put it simply: using social media in your marketing mix is becoming a requirement if you want to scale your business in the digital era, regardless of size. However, social media is constantly evolving, and businesses that don't change their strategies with it often end up wasting money and seeing little return.

If you are have struggled to find the right social strategy or are new to social media for business, this post is for you. 

Before we dive in, let's first discuss the importance of social media marketing, shall we?

Why Social Media Marketing is Important:

In 2020, over 3.6 BILLION people were active on social media, and that number is projected to grow to over 4.41 Billion users by 2025 (Tankovska, 2021).  With that comes the consumer expectation that they are able to discover, research, connect, and even engage with your brand before ever making a purchase. According to Sprout Social (2021), 57% of consumers will follow a brand on social media to learn about new products and services.

Generally speaking, brands that have some sort of presence on social media typically outperform those who do not. 

However, there is not a "one size fits all" strategy for social media marketing. To reap the most value from this channel, all efforts need to be aligned with your brand, who you serve, and your business objectives. 

Set the Objectives:

Like any other marketing strategy the first, and most important step in the strategy development process is to identify your business objectives. This helps "determine not only the social platform you choose, but the content you create, the audience you target, and more" (Digital Marketing Institute, 2017).  Objectives will vary depending on your business type and industry, but may include:

• Increasing brand awareness
• Improving your ROI
• Developing stronger relationships with your consumers
• Increasing website traffic
• Increasing conversions
• Improving your customer service
• Learning more about the wants, needs, and habits of your audience

Know your Audience:

Before choosing a platform (or platforms) you must have a solid understanding of your target audience. You likely already do, but I implore you to dig deeper. What sites do they--and people like them--hang out on? What kind of content do they engage with? Which influencers do they follow? The Digital Marketing Institute (2017) suggests that one simple and straightforward way of getting this information is through a customer survey.

Choose your Platform:

There is so much value in social media marketing, but if you are operating on the wrong platform your business won't experience those results. Be sure to do your research before committing to a platform; this will ensure you are getting the right message, to the right people, in the right place.

Sprout Social is a great resource to find information about social media demographics and user statistics for each platform, and there are tons of others available with a quick Google search.

Constant Contact (2020) also has an awesome cheat sheet to finding the right social platform for your business:

Post Consistently:

Once you have completed the first three steps, you are ready to start planning and creating content for your selected custom channel. For many, this is the hardest part. 

What should I post? When should I post? How often should I post? -- It can be overwhelming, but the key is consistency.

From the tone used to your profile aesthetic and everything in between, each component of your content should leverage your brand identity to effectively communicate your message to your target audience to further establish brand recognition. If you want your followers to be loyal followers, authenticity and strong brand recognition are essential. 

You also want to ensure your followers know what to expect from you and when. Creating a content schedule is a great way to stay on track consistently. "This will also help you avoid posting too much, which can be off-putting for your followers" (Kuligowski, 2020). 

Creating a content series is a great way to effectively plan your consistent content. "By providing relevant content at a consistent clip, you can build a habit among your audience to look forward to seeing specific content from your brand" (Barnhart, 2020). 

Make it Fun:

It can be challenging to continuously think of new ideas for content, and burnout is real. Sometimes injecting some fun into the strategy not only reengages you, but it reengages your audience.

When all else fails, there is tons of inspo out there to reignite those creative juices, like this list for 30 ideas to keep in your content rotation to keep your feed fresh and exciting:

TL;DR Guide to Social Media for Business:

1. Craft Your Strategy:

As the saying goes, "you must walk before you run." A social media strategy is only as strong as its foundation, so start by setting clear objectives and goals, and identify the necessary metrics to acheive those goals. Finally, research, research, research, and choose the platform(s) that best support your goals and best reaches your intended audience.

2. Know your Audience:

Knowing beyond a surface level who your audience is makes it much easier to plan and produce content that effectively communicates your brand story. Being able to truly connect with your audience is essential if you want to see long term growth from a social media strategy. 

3. Be Consistent:

Being consistent with your content. 

Utilizing a posting schedule ensures that consistency in when and what you post. Outline a schedule for out each day, week, and month's posts for each social media channel, and make sure that you stick with it.

4. Make it Fun:

Fun content is engaging content; engaging content creates engaged audiences; engaged audiences are loyal audiences. Lather, rinse, repeat. 

References:

 Barnhart, B. (3 August 2020). 20 social media ideas to keep your brand’s feed fresh. Retrieved on April 4, 2021, from http://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-ideas/

Constant Contact (2 September 2020). Best Social Platforms for Businesses. Retrieved on April 4, 2021, from https://blogs.constantcontact.com/which-social-media-platform-is-right-for-your-business/

Digital Marketing Institute (30 November 2017). Which Social Platforms Should You Use for Your Business? Retrieved on April 5, 2021, from https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/which-social-media-platforms-should-you-use-for-your-business

Kuliogowski, K. (6 August 2020). Step-by-step Social Media Marketing Guide for Small Businesses. Retrieved April 4, 2021, from https://www.business.com/articles/social-media-marketing-guide/?_ga=2.29656189.376705531.1617649364-1521537191.1617649364

Tankovska, H. (28 January 2021). Number of Global Social Network Users 2017-2025. Retrieved on April 4, 2021, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/278414/number-of-worldwide-social-network-users/#:~:text=Social%20media%20usage%20is%20one,almost%204.41%20billion%20in%202025.