Social Media Marketing Tips Volume 3

Social media marketing is an ongoing battle and it’s not a “set-it-and-forget-it” strategy. Like a customer relationship, a social environment must be nurtured and organized at all times. That’s why there could be a thousand volumes to this article, and it would never be enough.

Ultimately, it comes down to knowing the right tools and having a creative process.

So far, we’ve covered these topics in Volume 1 and 2:

• Setting a S.M.A.R.T. goal for each social media channel.
• Establishing the best baseline metrics to measure and monitor.
• Creating a specific social channel plan with a corresponding editorial calendar.
• Analyzing past content to reposition new material for success.
• Adding relevant links to all social posts when necessary.
• Switching up the content format to stave off monotony.
• Remaining consistent with your brand and messaging.

The following are some additional techniques to add to your SMM repertoire and refine your business processes.

Hashtag Marketing

Hashtags aren’t just there for vanity. They are incredibly useful. So much so, that there is an entire field of marketing dedicated to it. Therefore, these little bells and whistles should always be used strategically. If you want to run a successful campaign, you must stop random acts of hashtagging! Allow them to tie all the pieces of your campaign together.

One key tip is to assign each campaign with your own branded hashtag. If it is used in every post, it creates a virtual repository for every piece of content you post—across multiple channels. Always use one that is easy to spell and remember.

Before you create a hashtag or use any, always do some research. You don’t want your most important hashtag to be something someone has already used in their own campaign. This can create confusion among readers and dilute your branding.

Once the hashtag is created, be sure to follow and engage in the conversation! To follow your hashtags, use social listening sites like Ahrefs, Sprout Social, and Google Alerts.

Use Social Updates to Develop Content

You can use social media marketing in reverse by using social updates to inspire content like blog posts and landing pages. Be a master at expressing ideas that are concise yet thought-provoking. Your paragraphs need not be more than two or three sentences to get the point across.

This type of content can be used both in blog posts and social media snippets. It’s a two-way street that saves time, while re-engineering content you know is successful.

One way to spark innovation, in particular, is to look at the comments people are making on your social pages. What are they saying or asking about? Use these keywords to flesh out blog topics you already know are important to your audience. You can also analyze what people are sharing and the motivation behind it.

Effective Time Management

Ultimately, the most successful social media marketing is partially due to stellar time management. How much time is spent crafting blogs? Writing posts? Researching hashtags? You should know all of these and allot your time accordingly.

Too much time spent on lengthy blog posts might sacrifice what you needed to engage people on the platform. Know your staff and limitations. If it’s just one person running social media, you may want to hire a seasoned writer to craft the blogs.

Too much time wasted in one spot and your social media management strategy could go kaput. If you need to improve your daily productivity, you may consider downloading a time tracking tool. This can help demonstrate where you are spending the bulk of activity so it can be adjusted.

In Conclusion

Social media marketing is no exact science. It about setting yourself up for success. That means a lot of time goes into planning. Which includes:

• Setting reasonable goals and metrics.
• Developing a social media strategy.
• Building an editorial calendar.
• Re-engineering content.
• Using different forms of marketing (like hashtags).
• Continuous monitoring.

Overall, the more you pay attention to what the audience wants, the easier it will be market to them. Social media is a blessing because people will immediately tell you how they feel. Using the right tools and techniques, any brand can build awareness, gain trust, and drive revenue in a competitive market.