The competition for your audience’s attention is fierce. Americans spend an average of 37 minutes a day on social media, which is significantly higher than any other Internet activity — even email. Brands are picking up on this fact — and taking advantage of it. It’s an understatement to say that consumers are bombarded with marketing messages.
If you’re not ahead of the social marketing curve, your brand will be left in the dust. Working harder won’t work. Producing more content won’t work. And creating more social media profiles? These tactics definitely won’t work. When it comes to social media success, volume isn’t the answer.
You need to focus your time and energy on efforts that yield high value. It’s easier than you think. The secret is no secret — you need to focus on building strong human-to-human relationships.
Here’s what you need to do:
1. Forge Personal Bonds
At this point in the game, social media has matured. Savvy social marketers understand the nature of each social channel, what their audiences gravitate to, and when to take risks. A daily simple message is not enough to keep your audience engaged, or more importantly, to expand your reach.
Because it’s becoming more difficult to stand out, you need to take chances and think outside of the box. Plus, if you’re really looking to make a deeper connection with your customers, you must think about how to connect with them on a more intelligent and interesting way. After all, your customers are smart.
Craft every marketing message as a two-way conversation. Tweet content that your audiences care about. Listen to what your community is talking about so that you can be thoughtful in adding value to the dialogue.
Imagine that you’re grabbing coffee with a friend — not blasting a message on a loudspeaker.
2. Use Images, Videos and Other Beautiful Content to Engage Customers
As humans, we’re drawn to beautiful images. Social media is no exception, and the proof is in the numbers.
From KISSmetrics.
Facebook updates that contain photos get 53% more likes, 104% more comments and 84% more click-throughs than text-based posts, according to KISSmetrics. Because Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, Vine have put a big shift on content in a visual form, and it’s important for companies to make the most out of these channels.
Creating static content is easy, but creating content that will motivate your followers to comment, answer, or share is a completely different ballgame. And this year will be no different.
Just think about Vine — which made its big debut in 2013 — for a minute. Here are a few companies who are rocking it:
General Electric
Ebay
Sephora
Volkswagen
Now of course it’s relatively easy for a fashion or cosmetics company to share their clothes, shoes, or makeup. But think about GE and eBay. Their marketing team went way outside of the box to create an awesome video that is relevant, beautiful and engaging.
So how do you win at this race? You need to understand who your buyer personas are and share content that speaks to them. Make sure that your social media engagement is image-centric and engaging across all devices. Interactive content wins every time.
3. Scale Through Automation
Now that you have a good understanding of how to create great, interactive content, let’s dive into automation. We’ve spoken quite a bit about marketing automation, but this will really make your life easier in 2014 — we promise! Use tools like Buffer, Hootsuite, HubSpot, or SproutSocial to plan and schedule your messages across your various social media channels.
The truth is that social media is always on, but sometimes you need to sleep! The quickest way to win at this is to automate your messages.
But, a good thing to remember is when your audience is most engaged. Look at your analytics to see what day, and what time of day, your fans engage the most. These will be great indicators for when you should post messages, and they types of content you should post.
From KISSmetrics.
Since there is a lot of pressure for social marketers to be “on” 24/7, this will help take some of the pressure off of your shoulders. You can still be the brand voice, promoting engaging content, all while making excellent use of your time!
Don’t rely so much on the technology and tools that you remove the personal interaction, but scheduling posts can save you a lot of time and keep your communication on a regular cadence. Technology is here to help you - so use it to your advantage.
4. Prepare Budgets Accordingly
Most successful social media campaigns are going to require budgets for paid advertising. Contrary to popular belief, this channel will require (1) time and (2) dedicated resources.
Once you’ve set your budget, learn about Facebook and Twitter’s advertising options. Both of these platforms have wonderful tools for targeting customers. Learn the ins-and-outs of the platforms. Facebook definitely triumphs in this category, but Twitter has been making pretty aggressive leaps for paid advertising.
Also, if you really want to be on top of your social media game this year, keep an eye out for promoted pins from Pinterest and promoted posts from Instagram. We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of both of these!
The bottom line: make sure you budget for social media paid advertising.
5. If You’re Going to be Social, Be Sure to be Mobile
Do you remember the last time you were without your cell phone? Me neither. Do you know what this means? It means that most of your customers are looking at your content from their phone, especially when it comes to social media.
Here’s a quick breakdown: approximately 60% of social media time is spent on smartphones and tablets — not desktop computers. Did you know that 189 million Facebook users are “mobile only?” It’s kind of crazy to think about, but millions of users don’t access the social network from a desktop. And since 80% of Facebook users prefer to connect with brands on Facebook, it’s pretty important to remember that your customer might be on their smartphone, according to WordPress Hosting SEO.
Mobile devices can help bridge the gap between your brick and mortar retail activities and web analytics. In this guide, Lilitab — a company that sells iPad kiosks — explains how to connect the dots between consumers online and offline. Your business can set up shop with photo booths and ‘tweeting stations,’ for instance.
6. Don’t Sell
Although social media is a great place to connect with your customers, it isn’t the right place to force a hard sell. Consumers today are smart, and they enjoy seeing what brands are about. The want to hear your voice, they want to be inspired, and they want to laugh.
The companies who are most successful are the ones who focus on engagement, nurturing those relationships, and sharing value. So be sure to create a social strategy that will really tug your customers heart strings and put a smile on their face.
If they love you, they’ll continue to buy from you.
Final Thought: Commit
By now, you get the picture. Yes, social media is a commitment — it’s time, money, and sometimes sweat and tears. But the most effective companies are the ones that have a budget, set goals, a creative editorial calendar, and a dedicated staff.
The companies who are really doing it right are winning new customers left and right, and with these tips, you won’t be left behind in the social media race.
In fact, you might just win it.