Social media marketing has become an unavoidable part of any business in the age of digital marketing. With billions of users on social media, it has become a key to business success and growth. It is a blessing in disguise for startups, as it is both affordable and highly effective. However, you must have noticed that almost all startups have a social media profile, but not all of them are successful. Without the right strategy, your social media marketing is not going to yield you the expected results. Here are a few tips for building a social media marketing strategy.
1. Do Thorough Research
If you are new to social media marketing, you must do intensive research on some essential factors:
- You first need to find your target audience. You can do this by creating a buying persona and making an assessment based on age, gender, occupation, gender, education, hobbies, income, interests, etc.
- Analyze the online behavior of your target audience. You should collect info like the time they spend on social media and their social media behaviors etc.
- Identify your competitors who are doing business in the same niche. Monitor the content posted by them and their social media campaigns.
- Find out which platform is frequently visited by your target audience. Most people ignore YouTube as they consider it to be an entertainment platform. In reality, YouTube videos are highly effective. YouTube video editor tools can help you to create videos easily, even if you are a novice.
Based on your research, select a couple of platforms and focus on them.
2. Set Your Goals Clearly
There are five main goals for social media marketing. They are:
- Creating brand awareness
- Boosting your website traffic
- Generating new leads
- Improve engagement
- Drive sales and increase revenue
There are also other goals like community building, better customer service, research and development, etc. Define your own goals clearly. This will help track and measure your performance and make necessary changes if the results are not satisfactory.
3. Update Your Social Media Profiles
Your social media should have a unique personality and should be complete with all the necessary elements that include the following:
- User name – Ensure you have a consistent user name across all platforms, preferably something that reminds you of your company name.
- Profile picture – You should decide if you want to have your logo as the profile picture. Again it is best to stick to the same picture across all platforms.
- Bio – You should tell the details of your business shortly, sweetly, and crisply in a sentence or two in your bio.
- Background or cover – Most of the social platforms have space for a background image or cover. You can add more information about your brand here. Some platforms give the option of posting a video as the cover, which will be more effective and engaging. Video making has become easier with online video makers.
- Interests – Many ignore this element while building a business profile, but it helps in adding credibility and making new connections. Find books, documentaries, and famous people in your niche and add to the interests.
4. Be Active And Interactive
You will not be able to reach your goals if you remain silent and inactive on social media platforms.
- Post consistently – If your posts are too frequent, they will surely be ignored. If you post very rarely, you will lose your customers. Avoid posting every hour and avoid posting just once in a month. You should never forget National holidays. It is better to schedule your content using a content calendar.
- Be enthusiastic – Make sure you respond to the comments made by your existing and potential customers with enthusiasm. Don’t ignore negative comments. Give positive answers and resolve the issue.
- Be interactive – Answer all the queries you get from the audience. Use the platform to create a bond with your potential customers. A two-way conversation will show your human side, and this will help in building trust.
5. Create Brand Identity And Awareness
- Brand design – Create a unique brand design that is meaningful, colorful, and recognizable. Use the brand design in your profiles on all social media platforms.
- Logo – Your logo is the keystone in building brand awareness. It should be visually appealing, and communicate the values and purpose of your brand.
- Be consistent with colors – You can use colors to make a statement. Using the same color across all platforms will ensure a unified look and will facilitate brand identity.
6. Use Videos To Connect To The Target Audience
Video marketing is gaining a lot of popularity and importance these days. It is time to leverage video marketing on social media to capture the target audience’s attention and convert leads into sales. Gone are the days when making videos was very expensive. Today it is inexpensive and easy with tools. You can create video tutorials, how-to videos and customer review videos to keep your audience engaged and interested. Go for live streaming as well since it helps in creating a personal bond with the audience.
7. Promote Your Social Media Accounts
If you want to get more visits to your social media channel, you should promote them. You can promote it on your website, emails, other social media platforms, and social advertisements. You can make use of paid promotions too, investing in advertising can help you increase sales and profit.
8. Track Your Performance And Measure The Results
All social media platforms provide analytical tools. Use them to measure the number of likes, views, follows, clicks, etc. Make necessary changes based on the results.
Social media marketing is not a very complex task. Proper planning and strategy will help in the growth of your startup business.