7 Easy Tips to Create a Successful Social Media Campaign
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. You can use these platforms to reach thousands of customers. Here’s how to create a successful social media campaign.
As a business owner, you need to use every outlet at your disposal to reach more customers. Not all methods of communication are made equal, though.
Years ago, putting out some ads in the paper or the local radio stations may have been enough. But today you can easily reach thousands of potential clients for a fraction of the cost.
How? By using a well-planned social media campaign.
Forget the annoying radio jingles and awkward commercials. Read on to learn how to get the most out of social media for your company.
Is a Social Media Campaign Really Worth It?
If you’ve had doubts about using a social media marketing campaign, that’s understandable. At first glance, it may seem like nothing more than a platform for millennials to post pictures of their avocado toast.
Whatever reservations you may have, you can’t deny the facts. Over 2.6 billion people use social media throughout the world. There’s plenty of marketing potential just waiting to be unlocked.
Most Useful Social Media Tips
Being able to reach out to millions of people at once is an opportunity to grow your business to new heights.
However, you don’t want to rush in before reading up on smart social media campaign ideas. If you don’t use it right, you might not reach as many people as possible—or you might even send out the wrong message.
Check out this list of tips for successful social media marketing.
1. Get with the Times
Way back in 1964, Bob Dylan declared that “the times they are a-changin” and they haven’t stopped since.
Business owners need to embrace change and adapt to the ever-evolving market. Ideas transmit faster on social media than any other platform, so it’s important to watch the trends to find ones you can take advantage of.
2. A Call-to-Action Is a Must
When it comes to most products and services, people today are spoiled for choice. A call-to-action is a very effective way to make sure potential customers choose to buy when they interact with your content. Several social media campaign ideas use this method to boost publicity.
For example, imagine you owned a pizzeria and started an Instagram account for your restaurant.
You could invite your customers to post photos of your pizzas using a clever hashtag. Believe it or not, people will catch on and soon, thousands of people will be seeing pictures of your food in a positive light. Essentially, it amounts to free advertising.
3. Use the Right Apps
It seems like every day that a new social media app launches. And while there are a few platforms that don’t seem to be going anywhere for a while, you have to pay attention to which ones are en vogue with your audience.
Remember, it wasn’t that long ago when MySpace was by far the top dog. Nowadays, you might get laughed at for still using MySpace, especially for commercial purposes.
Today, the top players are Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. LinkedIn is less used overall but very popular among entrepreneurs, so it should be toward the top of your list if you offer B2B services.
4. SEO Is Your Friend
Have you ever wondered why certain websites appear before others when using search engines, such as Google?
It’s not random. They use powerful algorithms that rank certain pages higher than others even if they are about the same topic.
Social media websites also have search engines that people will use to find your page. As such, search engine optimization is an essential part of making sure your content is visible. Consulting with SEO experts can make the difference between your page getting thousands of hits and falling into obscurity.
5. Reach out to Influencers
Oh yes, the influencers. To laypersons in the world of social media, they might seem like people who do nothing but go on lavish trips and eat fine dining while the rest of us work real jobs.
Jokes aside, they are masters of marketing, publicity, and, of course, the use of social media.
Some have millions of followers around the globe. More realistically, you could reach out to local influencers. Their endorsing of your product could expose it to thousands or tens of thousands of potential customers.
6. Use Paid Ads for Added Reach
You don’t have to limit yourself to having a free account and hoping that people see it. Sometimes, you have to make your own luck.
Facebook, Instagram, and other social media websites offer ad spaces for sale. Of course, you’ll have to pay extra for this service, but it will give you that extra reach. Also, it’s more affordable and effective than many other means of advertising.
This is where knowing your target audience is most important. You can direct your ads towards particular groups that you want to target.
7. Evaluate the Results
As in conventional marketing campaigns, it is essential to have a well-defined primary goal and hopefully a few secondary goals. After a set amount of time, you should step back and see how everything has measured up.
Some parameters you can use to measure the success include product awareness, ROI, and total sales.
Hopefully, you will have met or even exceeded your targets. If this doesn’t happen, you might need to tweak your social media strategies. It’s a good idea to read up on some top performing content to get inspired.
Putting It All Together
For those that are new to using social media for marketing purposes, this may all seem a bit confusing. But there’s nothing to worry about!
We should embrace the dynamic nature of social media and find ways to adapt to it. Make sure you use relevant social media apps, CTAs, paid ad spaces, and yes, maybe even get some influencers on your side.
Set goals for your social media campaign and take the time the check your progress. And if you need some help staying on track, make sure to check back with us for more inspiration.