Let's be honest, Nomophobia (the fear of not having your phone on you and depending on it as if it was a limb) is a real thing. We live with our mobile devices practically attached to us, and we panic when we can't find them. We check our phones religiously, now mostly out of habit and the need to stay connected and "in the loop" at all times. Social media plays a HUGE part in the psychological components of FOMO (fear of missing out).
Now that social media is an integral part of everyday life, it’s also an essential tool for businesses and brands. The days of hiring a part-time intern or delegating your office admin to post memes on your social media accounts are long gone. Social media marketing is much more advanced and requires strategy, planning, dedication, engagement, and follow-up.
We like to define social media marketing as an inbound marketing strategy that utilizes social media sites to increase brand awareness, engage with your target market, and generate revenue for your business.
Content creation, consistent engagement, and social advertising are all essential parts of social media marketing.
"A large social-media presence is important because it's one of the last ways to conduct cost-effective marketing. Everything else involves buying eyeballs and ears. Social media enables a small business to earn eyeballs and ears." - Guy Kawasaki, Chief Evangelist, Canva
There are endless ways for your business to use social media, from growing awareness about your products or services to providing customer service. No matter what type of business you run, social media is an effective tool you’ll want to include in your strategy. Learn more about social media marketing.
Social media marketing is not something businesses can ignore or just dabble in. With more than half of the world’s population on social media, it's become a powerful marketing tool for businesses. In addition to making it easy for your customers to find you online—today's businesses are expected to have a social media presence.
If you’re still not convinced that your business should invest in social media marketing, here are some stats that might change your mind:
72% of the American public uses social media
Globally, people spend an average of 147 minutes on social media per day
77% of small businesses use social media to help build brand awareness, facilitate customer service, and increase revenue
78% of consumers are willing to buy from a company after having a positive experience with them on social media
71% are more likely to purchase products and services based on social media referrals
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So how do you roll out a social media marketing plan? Well, hopefully, this resource page can provide you with valuable answers and inspire you to start investing in social media marketing for your business.
Looking for social media help without a long-term commitment?
Of course, there's more to social media marketing than just creating accounts. Let's take a look at how to build your social strategy.
The first step in any social media strategy is establishing your goals. Simply creating social media profiles and posting sporadically won’t get you anywhere. You need a strategy and specific goals you’re trying to accomplish with social media.
Once you’ve established goals, you’ll need to define your company’s target audience. Trying to appeal to everyone on social media will make your message fall flat. By defining the ideal customer you want to reach, you’ll be better able to personalize your content so it resonates with the right people.
Next, it’s time to choose the right platforms, create a content and posting plan, and execute your social media marketing strategy. See below for guidance on picking the right social media platforms for your business.
When it comes to a content and posting plan, there are a lot of directions you can go. Overall it’s best to keep your audience in mind. What content would they be most interested in? What pain points can you help solve through your content?
Your content should be relatable, helpful, and interesting for the most success. Post consistently—at least one to two times per week—to ensure your accounts remain active and people can discover your content.
There are a plethora of social media apps to choose from, which can be overwhelming (even for consumers). Below are the most popular social media platforms for businesses to use, organized by monthly active users. We also expand on the three we most often recommend for businesses: Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
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For many businesses, having a dedicated Facebook page is a no-brainer. After all, it is the number one social media platform for both users and businesses.
With such a large demographic, Facebook can be a great platform for both B2B and B2C businesses to find their target audience. Facebook’s robust advertising platform (link to new social ads blog) also provides the opportunity for your business to talk directly with your buyer personas through customized and targeted ads.
With Facebook being such a large platform, there’s also a lot of competition. That’s why it’s important to ensure your content is unique, valuable and speaks directly to your target audience.
Instagram is another popular platform for businesses and is owned by Meta, the same company that owns Facebook.
Originally a simple image-sharing platform, Instagram has morphed into a popular place for visual content, influencers, and ecommerce. If you’re a B2C company or if your brand has strong visuals, Instagram is the platform for you.
Instagram stories, reels, livestreams, and shops are all effective tools businesses should utilize on the platform.
LinkedIn is a fantastic place for businesses and has grown into much more than a place to find new talent and apply for jobs. This professional platform is especially ideal for B2B companies, as many decision-makers utilize LinkedIn regularly.
Using LinkedIn, your business can connect with other industry leaders, engage in thought leadership, research prospects, find new qualified leads, and stay up to date on industry news. LinkedIn’s robust advertising platform can also be an effective tool to help your business grow. (link to new social ads blog) <-- Yeah, that's placeholder text on a live page but learn more about why we're not worried about it.
Social media is a constantly changing landscape, and therefore, best practices continue to change. However, there are a few tactics that have stayed tried and true, and we don’t see them going away any time soon:
Brand awareness is one of the biggest benefits of getting your business on social media. Social media platforms provide access to a large number of people, opening up a lot of opportunities for exposure.
However, increasing the visibility of your brand doesn’t just happen by creating a social media page and sharing content with the masses. In order for people to connect with your business, you need a unique brand voice.
Establishing a brand voice is crucial for any web marketing strategy, as it influences the tone of your content and interactions. One of the easiest ways to determine your brand voice is to think of a few words that describe how you want your brand to come across. For example, at Tribute Media, some of our brand voice words include helpful, passionate, and fun.
Your unique brand voice sets you apart from all the other brands out there and allows you to humanize your brand. After all, humans want to connect with other humans, not faceless brands. Plus, a brand voice creates consistency in your social media presence so people know what to expect from you.
Standing out in an endless stream of content can be challenging. These days, people have a short attention span on social media, which means your content needs to grab someone’s attention immediately. But how can you do that?
Your social media content needs to be valuable, relevant, and engaging. Providing value in your content will make someone want to continue following your page. Value can be anything from helpful advice to actionable tips to unique insights into your business.
Your content also needs to be relevant to your audience. Talk to your followers like you know them, otherwise, your message won’t resonate with them. In order to make your content more engaging, incorporate elements like photos, infographics, videos, emojis, and anything else to create more intrigue.
Between ever-changing algorithms and an intense amount of competition, growing your audience on social media can feel like an uphill battle. With a combination of an organic and paid follower-building strategy, as well as some patience, you can build an engaged audience on your social channels.
In addition to sharing engaging content, a key part of building your audience is to interact with them. Carve out time to react, comment, and share content from your followers or others in your industry. After all, it is called “social” media!
Resources for building your social media audience:
Utilizing hashtags is one social media marketing tactic that allows you to jump in front of your audience to share information before they may even be searching for it.
Using hashtags helps your business get involved in the right conversations and get in front of the right people. There are many different ways to approach a hashtag strategy, depending on your business goals on social media. Here are the best strategies for using hashtags on social media.
