You’ve probably heard people talking about how awesome social media marketing is, and how they’ve used it to do everything from grow their brand, to spike their traffic and bring in the conversions. All of that sounds nice, but what happens when you’re trying to find success in this field, and you’re coming up short?
If that scenario sounds like your experience thus far with social media, then it’s time for an extreme makeover. Clearly something isn’t working, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be fixed. Today I’ll show you three surefire methods to revamp your social media marketing strategy and start off on the right foot.
3 Ways to Revitalize Your Social Media Marketing
Let’s say you’re on the fence about changing up your strategy. You’re not entirely convinced your social media marketing needs an overhaul. Consider these four signs that it’s time for you to take drastic action:
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People are unfollowing you left and right
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You're not attracting followers from your audience
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Your posts aren’t generating engagement
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The competition is beating you senseless.
The fact of the matter is that sometimes when you’ve learned how to create a website, your social media marketing for it just isn’t working for one reason or another. That doesn’t mean you should give up, though. Here are three ways to turn that trend around:
1. Refocus on Your Brand’s Story
Storytelling is hardwired into our minds as something we enjoy. In past years, marketers have taken a new approach to their efforts by taking an approach that Fast Company cleverly calls “story selling.” This term they coined refers to the way that successful social media strategies are selling their brand’s story, not a product.
Take a look at your social media pages. Are you posting about things that humanize your brand and tell your story, or are you focusing on product features and selling your product/service? When delivering content online, a popular approach called the 80/20 rule is something I always like to recommend.
80% of the content you post on social media should be useful and interesting for your readers. Save the other 20% for promotional content. During the majority of your time, focus on posting content that tells more of your brand’s story.
Post pictures of the people who work with you. Tell their stories, and watch as you bring more people to your brand while also giving it a human touch.
2. Switch Your Platform Focus
The biggest mistake a company can make with their social media marketing is trying to create a presence on every platform imaginable. The simple truth is that you don’t have the resources to maintain all those accounts, no one does.
The companies that are most successful in this endeavor are the ones who find the right platforms and focus on them. For some, it’s just one platform and for others it’s two or three. Take these things into consideration:
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How much time do I have to devote to social media right now?
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Where are my customers spending time?
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What platforms are my competitors using?
If you can answer these questions through careful research, you’ll find that that the pool of potential platforms narrows very quickly. Plan to spend at least five hours per week on each platform and only budget for the time you can afford.
Focusing on a single platform creates a snowball effect that increases engagement and brings new followers into the fold more than a slow or dead profile ever could. If you’re spread too thin, it’s time to bring things back into focus.
We should all take a page from the nerds who rock the digital marketing landscape. Great digital marketers use data to inform their decisions. That’s why you’re going to use facts to find out which platform you should be focusing on.
While you may tempted to jump on Facebook because it has the most active users, I would instead advise that you email the customers in your contact list and ask them which platforms they use the most and why they like them.
Take this data and use it to find out where your customers are spending their time. If they are all on Twitter instead of Facebook, then it’s time to leave FB behind. Consider also the potential for organic reach. If you don’t have a lot of capital to invest in ad campaigns, you should consider smaller, more niche platforms where you can have a better reach.
Looking at Facebook’s organic reach lately, it makes more sense to focus more heavily on platforms that don’t require paid advertising to get your content in front of your users.
3. Rethink Your Content Strategy
Are you providing content on social media that serves the needs of your audience, or the needs of your company? Understanding your audience is a great first step, but you should go beyond who they are and instead identify what they need.
Great social media content serves the needs of an audience. It makes them feel like you read their mind and provide them with an answer before they asked the question. It sounds like magic, but it’s not.
Start by creating personas that allow you to understand your atypical customer, but then go beyond this by engaging with users on your social media platforms. Interact with them in the comments and invite them to ask their questions on social media. Have someone ready to reply at a moment’s notice so they know you’re ready and willing to answer their questions.
Keep track of their answers and more importantly, the questions they ask. Use these to form a picture of their needs. Use this data to inform your content marketing strategy and start posting the kind of content on social media that they will want to read and share.
Final Thoughts
There’s no single secret to success on social media. It’s about dedicating the time needed to engage with your audience and ultimately understanding their needs so you can meet and exceed them at every turn. How do you turn a social media downturn around? Let us know in the comments!