social media marketing

Social media is the most popular daily activity among most people, topping the time spent on email and Google. According to a report by Fast Company, 90 percent of marketers use social media to promote their businesses through social media marketing (SMM). There are countless marketing techniques to promote your brand online, but not all of them will be effective. Here are four social media strategies to help you take control of your social channels and contribute to your brand’s business objectives.

Research your competition

Study your competition to keep pace with their activity — learn what is working for them and see if you can adopt it for your own success. Analyze your main competitor’s social networks to get a feel of their content strategy (humorous, promotional, informational or something else?), the number of fans or followers and posting frequency. Use the information to get a rough estimate of their engagement rate in comparison to yours.

Run contests and surveys

Your portfolio can gain more visibility by engaging your audience through user-generated content promotions like video or photo competitions. Harness the power of sharing by running a contest that involves a voting component, encouraging participants to share on their timelines to gain votes. The monetary value of the prize will likely pale in comparison to the visibility and reputation your brand will gain.

Asking your followers their opinions by conducting online polls or surveys is a great way of connecting and getting views from your target audience. Surveys also assure customers that you value their opinions (assuming you act on their responses) and can give you an unbiased point of view of your brand.

Post quality content

Social media is meaningless without great content and without social media, there’s no audience to read your content. Involving the right stakeholders, departments and networks will help you build great content for your social channels. Examples of good content include:

• Videos: how-to videos answer customer’s questions before they ask. Behind the scenes clips give your audience an idea of your company culture and brand personality.
• Guides: develop content that addresses your customers’ needs and adds value.
• Infographics: insightful, engaging and resourceful content is more widely shared.

Many studies suggest the specific times you should post on social media. However, your audience is unique and you must figure out the best time and sequence for your situation. Posting frequency affects engagement for your content (more likes or unlikes). Most social media platforms offer analytics, such as Facebook Insights, to help you work out when your audience is online and whether they are engaging with your content.

Offline strategy

Offline campaigning through radio, television and print media is the first marketing option for many companies. A study published in the International Journal of Social Science and Interdisciplinary Research found offline marketing could benefit businesses investing in social media marketing. You can merge offline and online strategies by including links to your social profiles in your print and television advertisements. Using this strategy helps people remember your brand and drives them online, increasing brand interaction.

Among the many social media tactics you can implement, these can help you achieve good returns on your time and financial investment. However, your strategy must not be cast in stone: if you discover some tactics are not working as well as you thought, make changes and introduce new ideas to your overall strategy.

Branding and Social Media Marketing

By following these simple and straightforward techniques you are well on your way to successfully market your brand online. If you need help building a successful branding strategy and take the next steps, our branding experts at NXITY are here to help and we’d love to hear from you!