As a business owner, social media is one of the most valuable tools you have at your disposal. But, like everything in the digital world, social media best practice changes all the time.
Consider these social media statistics from 2020.
%
of all online brand discovery happens in public social feeds
%
increase in social ad impressions year on year
%
of Instagram users take action after seeing a product or service
%
of social referral to ecommerce sites come from Facebook
%
of B2B marketers use LinkedIn for lead generation
If you’ve been relying on the same social media strategy for more than six months, and your business isn’t getting the level of engagement you want, it’s time to try something new.
Know Your Audience
It almost goes without saying, but unless you take the time to identify your core demographic and make them the focus of your marketing strategy, you won’t get any meaningful results. Make social media analytics your best friend and determine the following:
- how your content is currently performing
- who (age, gender, location etc) engages with you most on social media
- which platforms your target audience uses the most
- what your ideal customer responds to on social media
- when your audience is most active
And always always always keep an eye on the competition!
Quality Not Quantity
Social media is not just about having a presence.Your posts need to contain high-quality copy, graphics and Call To Actions (CTA’s) if you expect users to follow your brand and engage with your content.
“Weak social ads create a negative emotional response in less than a second”
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that it doesn’t matter what you post as long as you are posting consistently. Posting too often will annoy your audience and they will unfollow you. You want to build a relationship with your audience and that means posting content that they can relate and connect to.
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***Items required to assemble this awesome “suit of armor” include:
✅ Amazon boxes ?
✅ A good pair of scissors ✂️
✅ And a TON of creativity ✨?: Cassie H./FB
Posted by Amazon.com on Monday, December 28, 2020
Facebook is Not Enough
Every social media platform works slightly differently and can be used to achieve specific marketing objectives. Don’t get stuck in the habit of only posting on your business Facebook page, especially if you haven’t conducted any research. You might assume that Gen X and Boomers are only on Facebook, but statistics show that it’s not just Millennials using Instagram. You need to do your own research to find out where YOUR target audience spends their time online and broaden your reach.
Posting on multiple platforms doesn’t mean you should simply publish the exact same content on each one! People use different platforms for different reasons and your content needs to be matched to your target audience and the platform you are posting on.
Boosting Works
Fact: organic reach for posts from businesses continues to decline (Facebook first acknowledged the decline of organic reach in 2014). So, if you want to improve your brand’s visibility and reach a wider, targeted audience, boosting your posts is essential. In our experience, the best results are achieved by boosting your best performing post each week. Just make sure that post is entertaining, meaningful or useful to your target audience.
Instagram for Business: Pandemic Success Story
During the lockdown last year, Patissez Cafe in Canberra managed to successfully switch their popular sit-down brunch menu to a takeaway system. With the help of Instagram, Patissez saw its revenue increase by around fifteen percent.
“I never had as much social media engagement as this before we offered takeaway. It raised the business profile to a whole new level. I had customers who had never heard of the business, who had never bothered driving to Manuka, who were living on the other side of Canberra – as far as Bungendore – ordering from us,”
Anna Petrides – Owner of Patissez Cafe
Anna managed the Instagram account herself, posting mouth-watering images of Patissez’s delicious food every day.
View this post on Instagram
If you are a business owner, social media isn’t optional. But to be successful, you need to have a well-thought-out social media strategy that is continually reevaluated based on statistics and data. Need help? Get in touch with Nowra Web Design and we can arrange a consultation with the Social Media Marketing experts at our sister company, Webics.
