The social media marketing campaign remains a tremendously effective tool for cultivating stronger, longer-lasting connections to customers. If you want to make 2018 the year your brand catches fire (in a good way!) on social media, keep these tips in mind:
Refresh Your Image
All of your social media accounts have imagery. How long has it been since you updated your header images and profile pics on your various accounts? A wide-reaching visual overhaul gives you the chance to send your brand in a new direction or start telling a new story visually. To really maximize the impact of your imagery, hire professionals - photographers, graphic designers, and so forth - to get the most out of your visuals.
Push Further Into Videos
Video content is doing a booming business on virtually every social media platform. Facebook plays over 8 billion videos to its users every day. Figures are even higher for Snapchat, where daily video views are past 10 billion. Videos are a potent tool for growing your audience and engaging with them, and they work especially well for reaching viewers on mobile devices. Build video marketing campaigns that embrace your organization's values. For the best impact on social media, keep your videos short - under two minutes. If you want to know more about this then Agency:2 has some good info in their 2018 round up.
Use Live Streaming For Real-Time Connection
Live streaming is the coming thing in social media. This isn't just a tool for individuals; today more and more brands are creating real-time connections with their followers. Streaming is a great way to humanize your brand, and it's the perfect medium for making special announcements, sharing behind-the-scenes insights, and conducting interviews. Launching a stream on any compatible platform (Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, etc) will send notifications to all of your followers. Live streaming videos have value even after they're complete; you can archive the results and present them to later viewers at any time.
Influencer Partnerships
Identifying key influencers in your industry and using them productively can do a great deal to enhance your social media standing. The key asset that niche influencers bring to the table is access to the audience you're trying to reach. Your job is to develop a campaign that constructively, meaningfully introduces your brand to their audience. Take time to review a given influencer's past campaigns so that you grow familiar with their message. This ensures that you concentrate on partnerships that mesh well with your own brand.
Use Paid Advertising Strategically
Are you investing lots of time in creating great content and seeing it wither once you post it? It's hard to develop and maintain organic reach on social platforms thanks to the way presentation algorithms change constantly. Study social analytics carefully to see which platforms have the most to offer you. Back up your time with money invested in effective social media advertising. Today there are more than four million businesses sending highly-targeted advertising messages through Facebook.
Aim For Audience Engagement
Transform your audience into a community centered on your brand. Your activity on social media should be geared to starting conversations, responding to followers, and asking good questions. The followers that strongly engage with your brand are the ones who do the most liking, clicking, commenting, and sharing. A few seconds spent on following up can pay tremendous dividends when they build engagement.
Track The Effect You're Having
It's a good idea to periodically review your social media activity and identify how it is (and is not) helping your business. Review what other brands are doing with social media to see if you're missing out. Robust social tools like Buffer and Hootsuite don't just make it easier to manage your activity, they also collect impressive amounts of valuable data. Pay attention to what social listening can teach you and adjust your future marketing efforts accordingly.
