You probably know that social media is a place where your brand can be found. It may not be clear what steps you need to take to make your brand more visible on social media. You won’t see the results that you desire without a solid strategy supported by data.
These nine best social media marketing practices will help you get social media to deliver more business value for your brand in 2022.
Table of Contents
Find out what your competition is up to
It’s always a good idea for any type of business strategy to look at what your competitors are doing. The same applies to social media strategy. Because social media is so accessible, it’s much easier to track and analyze competitors than traditional media and marketing mediums.
Look at your competitors to see what content is being published, and what works well. This will help you optimize your campaigns and increase your chances of your brand being successful on social media.
If your competitor has Facebook ads, you can make educated guesses about the demographics they are targeting, what they’re spending and whether or not they’re using video to capture those audiences.
Do customer research
Understanding your customers is a key foundation for any marketing campaign. Social media allows us to collect massive amounts of customer data which we can use to inform business decisions and to help with marketing strategies. Research shows that only 1% of companies regularly tap into legacy customer and social media data.
We can predict customer needs in real-time when we know what customers want. We can change the nature of customer service, and transform the sales funnel. This will also shift the perception of our brands by changing the way they view us.
Create a voice for your brand
Social media accounts should be an extension of your brand. They should align with all other forms of branding messaging. Your brand will be easily identifiable among its competitors and remain true to its values if you maintain a consistent voice.
Think about why your brand exists and what it stands for. Also consider how you want your customers to perceive your brand.
To help you decide which brand voice resonates with your target audience, you can also use competitor and customer research. To find the right voice for your customers, you can use any personas you have compiled from customer research. To find out how competitors approach brand voice, you can conduct competitor research. Then decide if it is worth improving on that strategy or going in a new direction.
Take advantage of automation tools
Automation and tools allow you to focus on the important tasks rather than getting bogged down in repetitive, tedious jobs. You can enlist the assistance of tools to make your job easier and more efficient. Chatbots and social media listening tools can help you plan and create content that appeals to your audience. A scheduler is used by most brands to publish content on social media channels.
Decide when and what to publish
Do you still wonder when is the best time to reach people on social media? Instead of guessing, use data to determine when and how often to post. Data can also show you what to publish. For example, one company knows its customers like in-depth, useful information, so it regularly publishes Facebook posts of its podcasts.
Social marketing analytics can help you better understand how your content performs based on frequency, time, location, and other factors. You can then use these insights to optimize your social publishing strategy.
Another great way to make use of customer and competitor research in your marketing strategy is by asking these basic questions. Ask basic questions:
- What are my competitors doing with content?
- What is their experience with it?
- What would happen if you used a different cadence?
You can also track how your audience reacts when you post to refine your cadence and take advantage of the best posting times.
Showcase customer reviews and comments
Ask your customers if they have had a satisfactory experience with specific issues. You don’t just need to share your experiences on social media, but also internally. Your employees can become brand advocates by encouraging internal enthusiasm and encouraging collaboration in social participation.
Community Syndication can be used to post positive reviews from customers to your online brand community. If you don’t already have an online community for your brand, think about how creating one could help improve your bottom line.
Answer clients right away
Customers are more satisfied when you respond quickly. Customers expect fast responses. Half of social media users expect brands to respond within three hours to their messages. Customers will lose their trust in brands that fail to live up to this expectation.
It’s not surprising that over 40% of customers who contact brands via social media are more likely than others to purchase from them and to encourage their family and friends to do the same.
Establish a positive client relationship
74% of millennials and generation Z don’t like brands targeting them on social media. Building trust with these generations requires a two-way conversation. Sources such as blogs and online communities can have more credibility than traditional ads. Younger users will resist being sold to or pitched to. They desire an experience that is authentic and natural. Talking with your customers is the best way to build trust. This will allow you to build trust with your customers and other trusted stakeholders.
Measure the social media marketing results
Without hard data, social media managers cannot prove or optimize their effectiveness. A social marketing tool can help you optimize and measure your social media programs. It works the same way companies optimize search and email.
Measure the impact of social media on your business. This will allow you to get executive support for technology resources, such as team personnel, and will eventually prove that your business is adding value.
Adjust your strategy if necessary
While it’s important to have a comprehensive strategy, sometimes situations occur that you don’t anticipate. So it’s also important that your strategy be flexible and that you and your team adapt to inevitable changes.
