7 social media tips to improve results
Updated: Jan 16, 2022
We have listed the seven most important tips to propel your digital marketing.
1. Choosing the right social media platform
As the digital universe grows inevitably, with endless options of new social media platforms, consumers are spread onto multiple channels. They often develop their preferences and choose how much time they want to spend on either of these channels. So businesses sense a need of wanting a presence, everywhere!
Businesses overlook the need to analyse the pros and cons of getting onto a new social media channel. It’s important to weight and understand that every social media platform has its quirks that draw its audience with specific kinds of content. Generic insights like demographic- age, gender and location are useful to know but should not be the only basis for selecting that social media platform for your business. Iceberg digital will help you weigh up those pros and cons quickly and help create a strategy and recommend the most ideal social media platform that is right for your audience.
2. A clearly defined social media strategy
Social media used correctly can be very useful for brand awareness, sales, lead generation etc. But, unclear objectives and failure to plan, often leave many businesses winging their social media content on being spontaneous. While spontaneity is great, it can also create confusion and distrust. Hence, a defined social media strategy is a must for every business.
It's worth noting that your social media strategy needs to be reviewed regularly. A thorough understanding of what people are engaging with is crucial. It will help you plan the type of content you need to create and build the brand image you want your consumers to resonate with. Another advantage of a social media strategy is defining and measuring KPIs. This measurement will highlight what is working well and what can be optimised.
3. Vanity metric vs Conversion metrics
Have you ever wondered that your stats look good but do not give you enough information to create your next move? If yes, there are good chances that you are only looking at your vanity metric. This can include anything - Likes, share, hearts etc. The data from vanity metric provides a birdseye view of what is happening with your digital marketing but often requires you to lift the hood to really see what is working and what can be optimise. Another challenge by only looking at vanity metric is not being able to replicate your success. It's the kind of data that makes you look nice but nowhere to go from there.
Conversion metric on the other hand helps you pinpoint if your marketing funnel is working well or is it leaking. It is important to note that your conversion metric must be directly linked to your marketing goal, so this can change for different goals. For example - If your goal is to create good content then looking at pageviews is not sufficient. You will need to analyse how long your readers are staying on a particular page. Then identify which pages are visited most frequently and work out on expanding your content strategy. To help identify and interpret the metric that is right for your business talk to Iceberg Digital Marketing.
4. Social media platforms are not just another sales channel
Your consumers spend a lot of time on their social media and so one can presume that if they are bombarded with constant sales advertisements from your brand, they will unfollow, block or skip your content like flipping through TV channels. Unlike traditional sales channels, social media can offer you more insights in real-time to what matters to your consumers. Take the time to listen to them.
There are heaps of ways to do that - creating a poll, running a competition, online surveys, or simply doing a Google search to know what are the frequently asked questions by your target audience.
5. User-generated content and its advantages
Most successful brands on social media navigate user-generated content like a pro. Chances are that you have also started following a brand because of its user-generated content. User-generated content brings a level of authenticity to brands and is increasingly popular.
Nowadays with the ease of taking a photo, putting a caption and adding a few hashtags, your consumers can show you and the rest of your audience what they feel about your product. By including this type of content into your strategy, you will be able to share consumers' experiences quickly build on brand awareness.
6. Social media crises and how to handle it
One of the advantages of social media is that most consumers are willing to share their experiences with your brand and product openly. Feedback can be positive, the kind we all want to hear and some comments can be constructive. Your business must address all constructive feedback. Choosing not to engage does not reflect well on a brand.
It helps to have an action plan ahead in place on how negative or constructive comments can be addressed. If there was a genuine mistake, it's ok to be open and honest about it and resolve the matter swiftly and efficiently. It’s an opportunity to turn a setback into a positive experience. This advice applies for exaggerated feedback too. Keep in mind that you are not only replying to that one person but to everyone in that group. In many instances, your comments are open for all to see. So by handling these situations well, will serve as the testimony for everything your brand stands for.
7. Social media monitoring
With tags and hashtags available, it’s common for consumers to post about products they are using even without you asking them. In such situations, if you are not already practising it, reach out and thank them. It’s is something simple but yet often overlooked by brands.
If the feedback you have received is not desirable, think of it as an opportunity to turn this customer around to being an advocate for your brand. It’s surprising how little effort can lead to a positive ripple effect. Ignoring is not an option. Once you regularly start monitoring your social media you will be able to track brand awareness, test messaging with sample audiences, collect data to identify trends, insights and so much more.