The digital age has allowed a new platform of marketing where everything is based on digital media. Hence, the name Digital Marketing stands out and it is where brands and businesses have made considerable investment to further their marketing reach. Digital marketing is applied across search engines, social media, news sites, video streaming sites and online forums.
In the digital age, social media marketing has become a huge part of the digital marketing campaign as it is a platform where people spend most of their time. By having a presence on social media, brands are able to cast a wide net in their digital presence by being able to appear in the timeline of the users. Today, a social media marketing professional is able to utilise organic and paid promotions to reach the right demographic, build the brand’s followership and maintain a healthy digital engagement.
A digital marketing professional’s skill is related to the quality of his or her social media strategy. The level of skill determines the brand’s capability reach its targeted demographic with precision. Skill also determines whether a campaign budget can achieve a higher return of value. In Australia alone, it has been found that 69 per cent of the population is active on social media, with Facebook being the most visited, as revealed by the 2018 Global Digital Report.
The said statistics further emphasise the necessity of brands to use social media as a marketing tool. Knowing this, social media professionals who are working with agencies or are active freelancers can further refine their social media marketing skills with the following tips:
Tip #1: Define your social media mission
The first step in building a social media strategy is defining what the brand aims to establish with their marketing campaign.
Here are a few questions to ask about how to define the mission of the strategy:
- What is the purpose in joining social media?
- What are the goals the brand wants to achieve with social media?
- Who is your target audience?
- What can you offer your target audience?
- What social media platforms do they use the most?
The answers should be able to relate with what the brand wants to accomplish when the campaign has been approved and implemented, in order to streamline the whole process and avoid time wastage.
Tip #2: Make a list of goals
Having goals to define in each step of the campaign — helps the brand focus on achieving its social media strategy. The number of steps may vary depending on the strategy. However, make sure that these goals are realistic enough and cost-efficient in order for the brand to achieve a good return of value for its marketing effort.
Here’s an example of goal setting for a campaign: Converting the goals list to levels. Each level shows how much the brand has gotten attention from its target audience. One of these levels can be having the goal of reaching 500 views via Instagram Stories, and when that goal is reached, we log it as a benchmark for performance. The next immediate goal is to try and exceed that benchmark with your follow-up activity. This makes it certain that the social media campaign is getting better as it progresses.
Tip #3: Know your competitors
After defining the mission and how to achieve it, as well as the audience you are targeting, the next step is to identify competitors. Search for the top competitors on social media and observe how they market themselves and which platform they are succeeding in the most. Gathering such information is essential in making the brand stand out and avoiding the same mistakes those competitors made in their strategies. This is also key in differentiating your brand against your competitors.
Tip #4: Choose the best social media platform for the brand
Not all social media platforms are ideal for every brand. Some social media platforms are more inclined about article links, while others are geared for images and videos. Meanwhile, there are brands that use Facebook instead of Instagram, while others use the other way around. And that’s why it’s essential for brands to know which platform would work for them best, given the history of success from other brands.
First, list down the platforms that can be used for the brand. Second, know what the target audience prefers using through proper research and analytics. This will help the brand know which social media platform it can start with, and start engagement to its target demographic.
Step #5: Decide on what content to post
After knowing which social platform to market on, the next step is knowing what type content to produce. For example, if the platform is Instagram, then the marketing content will focus more on videos and images. On the other hand, if the platform is Facebook or Twitter, the content will focus more on article links and blogs from websites. However, there’s still room for experimenting with different kinds of content to attract more audiences beyond the typical content prescribed for each platform.
Step #6: Search for useful tools
There are a lot of useful social media management tools available on the internet that can help in streamlining posting, data gathering, and read analytics. There are tools that can schedule posts, provide analytics or even has a social media tracking function, making the process easier, while providing the data needed to improve content or the marketing process itself.
Step #7: Measure performance
With the use of analytics and tracking tools, it’s time to measure how the posted content is performing. Is it engaging people? Is it getting their attention? Combing both analytics and tracking helps provide a clearer view of the status of the brand’s presence on social media. Then, the information gathered can help in producing more captivating content for the target audience.
Step #8: Revise strategy when needed
Brands should monitor their progress if it’s working out as planned. Always check the brand’s mission if it’s achieving the results the brand is aiming for. If there are no changes or effects in the next six months, then it’s time to think twice and change the current strategy with a new one.
Creating social media strategies require a lot of research, data interpretation, testing, and adjustments. But, all the hard work pays off when the target market is reacting positively to the marketing efforts. Since social media are composed of a large population of different demographics, it also provides a new window of opportunity for brands to establish a connection outside its niche market, helping it gain a larger audience base.
MCIE offers an immersive Social Media Marketing Diploma in Melbourne that helps students and professionals get started in the world of digital and social media marketing. The course is ideal for career aspirants that are skilled in communication, takes up branding as an interest and is looking for a career with a high growth potential. Contact MCIE today, call 1300 737 004 or email info@mcie.edu.au.
