Social media can take your business from obscurity to superstardom, but many budding entrepreneurs aren't getting the most out of their social media campaigns, don't know how to manage social media profiles effectively, and aren't growing a social media audience.
With Statista stating that over 2.9 billion people using Facebook, 2.56 billion YouTube users, and 1.47 million Instagram users, it's clear that social media can make or break a brand's success and notoriety.
Most business owners understand that it's vital to have a social media presence and advertise their business through social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook.
However, many of these entrepreneurs don't see results, get demotivated, and feel like social media marketing wastes time.
The reality is that social media marketing is one of the most effective, efficient, and enjoyable digital marketing strategies to design and implement; you just need to know a few key points!
With that in mind, here are our five golden rules for managing a successful social media marketing campaign!
The most important rule to follow when managing a successful social media marketing campaign is to create content that provides value to viewers.
This is the most critical part of any social media strategy; if viewers don't find value in your content, they won't stick around to see what else your business offers.
On the other hand, a viewer that finds value in your content is much more likely to examine the rest of your business and try out your services and products.
Think about it from your perspective - if you had a terrible first experience at a hot dog stand, you wouldn't try their hamburgers either.
However, if the hot dog was delicious and the store owner was friendly, you'd likely try out their other products and services.
Of course, it's easy to say "create good content", but creating it is another matter entirely. Whilst it's great to work with an experienced agency (such as us!), there are some ways that you can get started.
A great way to create valuable content without much marketing experience is to write educational posts, put together guides, and make tutorial videos.
Although a study by Hubspot showed that educational and informational content doesn’t generate as much viral engagement as funny or interactive content, it’s easy to create and it provides clear value to your viewers.
If you're an expert in a particular field or great at a specific hobby, your content will naturally include more valuable information than content made by an amateur.
You can apply this theory to your business; if you've owned a fish and chip shop for the past ten years, you're likely to have a wealth of knowledge about everything from cooking equipment to types of fish.
Using this expertise, the fish and chip shop owner can create blog posts recommending different types of cooking equipment, video tutorials for preparing and cooking fish, and images of mouth-watering meals.
Try applying this golden rule when managing your social media strategy to retain viewers and turn them into customers!
To maximise your success, you need to create the right type of social media content for each different social media platform. For example, if you visited Instagram and came across a long-form video, you'd be confused - and rightly so.
Ensuring you understand the type of content each social media platform revolves around is critical to your success.
Instagram wants users to upload cool photos, short reels, and interesting, easily and quickly digestible content.
On the other hand, YouTube favours long-form content to maximise watch time on its platform as it can run more ads.
It's equally as important to keep an eye on different social media platforms and choose the right social media channels for your specific business or niche. If you're targeting an older demographic, it might be best to avoid TikTok.
However, starting a Facebook page to host blog posts and harbour interesting discussions could be perfect for your business.
Master this technique, and you'll have a head start over other entrepreneurs in your sector!
You’re creating quality content on the right social media platform but not seeing results.
Why?
The reason is that you're probably not creating content consistently, and you're confusing your audience with your sporadic and unpredictable schedule.
While creating high-quality social media content that provides value to your viewers, it's also critical to set up a consistent content schedule.
Not only does it condition your social media followers to 'expect' content at a specific time and day, but it also helps you to avoid burning out.
Creating one excellent blog post each week is likely to be more effective and sustainable than creating five mediocre blog posts in a day before stranding your viewers for weeks on end.
Of course, if you can create one excellent blog post each day on a consistent and maintainable schedule, then this could work as a competitive advantage.
However, many solo entrepreneurs will find it challenging, tedious, and downright frustrating to maintain this rigorous schedule long-term. That's where a marketing agency comes in!
By offloading the work to a professional marketing team, you can guarantee that high-quality social media content is being created, scheduled, and regularly distributed.
Once you've identified which social media platforms you'll be using and how you'll be using them, the next step is to cross-promote your content between each of your social media platforms.
This is a critical step as it allows you to start building a community around your brand, instead of fostering several small, fragmented communities across multiple social media platforms.
Make sure to refer your social media followers to each of your other platforms to develop your brand's digital presence and social media ecosystem.
For example, let's say the fish and chip shop owner has built a following on Instagram and YouTube.
However, most viewers tend to focus most of their engagement on one social media platform, and many may not even be aware that the fish and chip shop's brand exists on other social media platforms!
That's why it's vital to refer YouTube viewers to your Instagram page, refer Instagram viewers to your YouTube channel, and refer both communities to your website or physical shop.
This social media strategy enables a business owner to build a community of customers instead of sub-communities that are left 'stranded' on separate social media platforms.
Furthermore, the end goal is to amass a single audience that revolves around your brand itself, and not around your individual social media profiles and channels.
This digital community can then be mobilised to other platforms to get a social media profile off the ground, distribute important information, or cultivate a mailing list of dedicated customers.
Master this rule to supercharge your brand's social media presence!
As shown by Tesla, Apple, and Microsoft, innovation is the cornerstone of any excellent brand.
A brand that doesn't create unique and innovative products and services is doomed to be surpassed by one that does - and the same rule applies to social media content.
Whilst finding your footing with simpler, low-risk-low-reward content is important, the end goal should be to differentiate yourself from your competitors by producing unique social media content guaranteed to generate engagement.
To achieve this goal, you should be willing to experiment with different content styles.
Not only does this technique result in more data for you to work with, but you can quickly discover what kind of content works best for your brand and your entrepreneurial skillset.
For example, let's say that our trusty fish and chip shop owner has cultivated a great community using blog posts and guides on social media, but his viewers are beginning to grow bored as the content is stale and bland.
The owner knows that they need to innovate to maintain their success, and, as a result, the owner creates some funny and humorous short-form content aimed at a younger audience.
These new videos take off, exciting the owner's current audience whilst engaging with a new niche of younger viewers that would never have seen the brand otherwise.
Therein lies the power of experimentation and innovation; it's the ability to transform a business or a brand from good to excellent.
When running a social media profile, never be afraid to experiment or innovate with your content. Oftentimes, the experiment can succeed and can act as a catalyst for growth!
On the other hand, if the experiment fails, you can always fall back on the tried-and-true social media strategy of creating traditional content that provides value to your niche or social media audience.
Next time you create a social media post, try experimenting with different content styles such as short-form content, long-form content, meme-style content, short and long-form tutorials, and product comparisons.
Additionally, remember that you won't know if a certain style of content works until you test it, so don't be afraid to give it a go!
Finally, you can bypass this tricky process by working with a marketing agency such as Intuition Media - we'll ensure your brand's social media presence shines!
For those of you who read to the end of this blog post, we'd like to thank you by including one of the most important aspects of any successful social media management strategy!
Our final tip is to ensure that you do your research before going all-in.
Identify your competitors and analyse their social media pages. Collate information about which styles of content they use, which audiences they target, which audiences they actually have, and how you can improve upon their content to increase your competitive advantage.
Ok, we admit it - it's not the most thrilling activity, but it's definitely one of the most important!
Luckily for you, we offer a range of social media marketing services and we will conduct detailed research on your competitors so that your social media content will generate the engagement your brand deserves.
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