By: Jessica Oaks
It used to be an epic battle to convince business executives of social media’s importance. However, in the past few years, marketing trends have shifted, and the savviest companies have discovered they must have a robust social media presence in order to stay in touch with consumers. The most successful companies say you must run a social media campaign that complements the rest of your brand’s marketing efforts and stays true to your mission.
Wondering how to get a jump on a successful social media campaign? Try these steps:
1. Focus on One Network at a Time
Today’s social media landscape is filled with platforms including, but not limited to Facebook, Twitter, Google +, YouTube, Instagram and even Pinterest. Start small, with one site, and fine-tune your approach and your message. After you’ve mastered that platform, slowly move on to the next. It’s a marathon, not a sprint!
2. Be Visual
Wondering how to get to the top of your fans’ Facebook news feeds? Use images. Images boost your posts’ visibility and catch your fans’ eyes as they scroll through wordy text updates from other companies. Use stock photos (that have been legally purchased) from your company’s repository to add a punch to your daily message. Or, add some text to a generic image of a word cloud or thought bubble. Before you hit “post,” make sure that your image is communicating the message you want to get across and stays consistent to your brand.
3. Tailor Your Approach to Your Followers
Do some legwork and find out where your customers are spending their time: YouTube? Pinterest? Facebook? Do a simple search within the sites to see if anyone has started a conversation about your brand or your product. Or, set up alerts for your brand name or your industry buzzwords. Once you’ve collected the data and figured out where your customers are hanging out, make sure you’re allocating enough resources to those platforms specifically.
4. Be Mobile-Friendly
As you’re developing your social media campaign, pick up a smartphone or tablet and browse through your posts to make sure they are easy to read on a mobile platform. In years past, social media experts didn’t worry too much about the mobile experience, as more people browsed their social networks on desktops or laptops. However, recent data shows that mobile devices are taking over the world.
Thanks to wireless service providers such as T-Mobile, consumers are able to use and upgrade phones whenever they want and without binding contracts. Because of this, mobile device sales are through the roof. Therefore, it’s critical to make sure you’re optimizing the social media experience for your brand’s mobile followers and fans.
5. Pick a Cause
A great way to ingratiate your followers is to get behind a bigger cause, and encourage them to participate. Pepsi’s Refresh Everything project is a great example of how to successfully do this. The Refresh Everything project invites Pepsi fans to vote for their favorite cause; Pepsi then pledges to donate funds to the winners. Pepsi is not only working toward the greater good, but they are also inviting their fans to play a part in their efforts, which is great for positive brand association.
6. Tap into Industry Influencers
Content marketing guru Joe Pulizzi encourages brands to find influencers within their industry that have a large following and are very active on social media channels. Pulizzi says that four out of every six social media messages that you share should be pieces of content from an influencer (the other two should be original). Not only does this link you to a reputable source and establish trust from your followers, it also catches the attention of the influencer, who may return the favor someday and share a piece of your own original content.
Meet Guest: Jessica Oaks
Jessica Oaks is a freelance journalist who loves to cover technology news and the ways that technology makes life easier. She also blogs at FreshlyTechy.com. Check her out on Twitter @TechyJessy.
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