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Fix Your Social Media Strategy by Taking It Back to Basics

A quick Google search returns 140 million results for “social media marketing tips,” but no matter how many headlines promise it, there really is no one-size-fits-all social media strategy. Some articles indicate that stories are an effective marketing and advertising tool while other articles advise using social media networks, such as Pinterest, Instagram and others. But what type of story will be effective and what will your brand post?

What effective social media marketers need is a process that leads to individual solutions. These solutions must work for their particular market niche and provide their company with the results they are looking for. As the leading digital marketing agency Chester business owners trust most, we understand the needs of our clients and provide dedicated solutions to meet those needs. That is why we created this list of ways you can fix your social media strategy by taking it back to the basics.

Define the status quo.

Identify your business objectives and target market and consider your industry, the recent performance of the brand and the current traditional marketing promotions for your product and your competitors. A startup or new product needs to generate awareness, while an older product may need to be revived. Use social media to crowdsource feedback and reengage customers.

Listen to your target audience.

This is where social media becomes even more important for your business. Your brand can’t talk to everyone in every social channel, you need to narrowly define whom you want to listen to and communicate with. Start with simple Google searches on your brand name, analytics tools within social networks, and look to secondary research, such as the Pew Research Internet Project, Nielsen, or Edison Research, to identify larger trends in social media use. Gather a snapshot of all current social media talk with a social media audit. Follow an audit template to organize what you find and identify actionable insights.

Create social media content that drives engagement.

Now that you have found your target audience and listened to what they are saying, just what are they looking for? Social media is all about producing fresh, relevant content, so create things that your audience will find valuable, whether it is a “how to” article or something entertaining.

Where you deliver the content matters as well. Some social media channels, such as Twitter, are best for sharing short, current updates, others like YouTube are better for delivering video content. Instagram is effective at reaching a younger audience with pictures, and Snapchat has even younger audiences and uses multimedia and high engagement rates.

The best social media plans deliver content that’s optimized to each channel. Engage the target audience on the channels they use with material that is unique to the channel. Select social channels that fit brand message, type of content, and target audience. For more information about making your social media marketing more effective, contact Social Buzzing today.