In this information age and with the advent of social media more than two decades ago, marketing your business to boost growth has taken on new dimensions. The advantages these days include more accurate measurements of the number of people who got your message and, more importantly, a direct immersion and engagement with them through feedback mechanisms.
But how do you get this done? Where do you start? How will you get moving?
1984 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Desmond Tutu, South African Anglican bishop and theologian, once quipped: “There is only one way to eat an elephant: a bite at a time.”
Of course, it’s not to be taken in its literal sense, rather from a higher perspective about dealing with daunting, overwhelming tasks seemingly impossible to accomplish, in this case an effective social media marketing strategy that will drive measurable traffic.
A social media marketing strategy works like a Swiss army knife, so to speak, because of a wide range of channels or platforms at your disposal, each with its own strengths and weaknesses to note – from YouTube to TikTok ads, influencer marketing, even Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, among myriads of others.
Because an effective social media marketing strategy helps you establish the perfect customer base, you should start with these steps – 1: set goals; 2: identify your market; 3: decide on your key performance indicators (KPI) to measure growth, and; 4: content narrative.
Setting goals means driving brand awareness and reaching more people. This means being where they are, so you have the channel to create demand for your products or services and, finally, build a loyal following. Integral to this is knowing your product like the back of your hand to build trust and confidence – sort of like being a thought leader in your target market.
Identifying your market can be done by investing time researching your target audience, noting demographics and observable patterns enabling you to have a mental picture of who is likely to buy from you. This is crucial for you to be in the same shoes as your market, the same mind set allowing you to accurately predict needs and preferences to come up with the perfect product and have buyers thank you for it, after purchase.
Key performance indicators, meantime, involve social media analytics where each platform has its own tool helping you keep track of the movements of numbers – clicks, likes and comment threads for instance that offer a treasure trove of feedback information for a down-to-earth engagement that builds awareness on your products or services.
To better understand content narrative, note that a social media marketing strategy is like running a Netflix movie, with a continuing story in different seasons or episodes. And so, much like the sequels, you leave your audience with the promise of an ever-developing product and increasing value for their money that will keep them tuned in.
This can roll out in the form of scheduled testimonials followed by infographics on another given day.
Content narratives should basically include new information about your product or service; motivation for your customer base to continue using your product or service; fun stats and facts educating them about your product or service, and promotional posts.
Sounds easy, right? But it actually requires lots of creativity, good planning and consultation with other c-suite leaders in your organisation. It’s a collaboration of minds and wit to create catchy posts that will trigger results from your target markets.
You build, plan and strategize, constantly balancing innovation, creativity, the company’s products and services and the impression they create in the digital world.
With the right ingredients and formula, your social media strategies could spell success in leaps and bounds in no time.
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