Nowadays, social media is vital to having a business as society places special attention on it and relies heavily on technology. Social media is not only a place to contact friends, families and strangers. It is not a place where trivial photos or videos are posted. Social media carries many other functions, people share products, places and businesses they like. There is a wide range of possible clients in social media, as well as past clients that may review or recommend a company and what they sell.
Social media marketing is a type of marketing, in this case, marketing aimed at social media. In general, it is a plan in which a company organises how they want to present themselves and interact with clients on social media. Said planning is what we name “Social media marketing”. Through this procedure, the business advertises itself, interacts and gets feedback from clients. It is especially important for anyone selling a product or a service to have social media presence, as life now works around it. Moreover, not having social platforms might raise a sense of distrust and wariness which is not the best if you intend to promote a firm.
Starting social media marketing can be tricky and confusing at first. Here you can find 5 easy and clear strategies you can use to prepare for your media marketing.
- Define aims and objectives
This has to be your first step. What do you want to achieve with your social media marketing? Depending on your aims the plan you make may differ. Is it just publicity? Or do you perhaps are looking for new clients? Are you looking for a viral moment to skyrocket your business? The way you post may change, even the content. It is important that you have a clear objective, so you can achieve a clear outcome.
Posting content without knowing why you do it will only give a confusing image. In addition, by not being aware of the aims and needs of the company you may promote unnecessary aspects of it. If what you need is to widen your audience but your content is just a trivial image, you will not get a broader range of customers but you may also lose the ones you already have.
- Plan your moves
Once you know what you are aiming for, start a plan. In this plan write down with many details what is going to be your course of action. You have to design step by step your moves. Prepare many ideas and solutions you could use, and schedule in which moments they could be useful.
Sometimes you may have great ideas that are perfect for your objective, however, that idea might not be profitable or recommended at the time. You may need more clients, need better reviews or is just too risky at that point for your industry. Carefully planning may seem useless at times, nevertheless, following a curated schedule may prevent future headaches and controversies.
- Study your competitors
Knowing your aims and making a plan are essential, however, it is useless if you do not comprehend your competitors. If you want to be at the top, you have to offer things that others do not have. Information about what others are promoting is important for another main reason, authenticity. Seeing that your ideas and products are original and not repeated by other businesses. On the other hand, you can see what others offer, their proposal may give you new ideas or you can fill in the holes in theirs; which would create something new. In the end, in the business world, you are never alone, being aware of others would always benefit you in the long run.
- Identify your audience
Apart from knowing your aims, making a plan, and getting to know your competition, the next measure is to recognize your audience or possible clients. Similarly to purposes, starting your social media marketing without understanding who you are addressing will only make your projects fail. It is crucial for a business to know its audience. Sex, gender, age, nationality, sexuality, hobbies, interests, trends, generational aspects, economy, politics, and a long list of other facts that you must be aware of before launching anything on social media.
For instance, younger audiences may enjoy short forms of media that follow current trends and an older audience may be interested in written media that takes more time to consume. You need to adapt to your audience’s tastes and needs so that your marketing plan is attractive to them. Having clients that trust you and feel connected to the brand is as important, if not more, as the product.
- Make quality content
As previously discussed, audiences are not clueless they will notice if the quality of the content you post is not good. Quality content serves 3 purposes, virality, image, and good products. Good content makes the brand look good, not only the products that they sell. Social media marketing is also a way to show audiences that your business is well-organised and put together. It is a sign of class. The content you showcase is an example of your product and its worth. Quality content can also translate to the ability of the product to viralise and become popular.
Loosely content, on the other hand, shows a lack of interest, lack of capacity, and structure. That is not the proper image to successfully carry a company or promote any product or service. Making sure the quality of your social media posts and an up to day social platforms are key to keeping your firm going and ensuring its durability.
