Social media marketing is a multi-billion-dollar industry. In 2016 alone, marketers and advertisers from all over the world invested almost $31 billion dollars in it. And the United States has the biggest market share in this.
This already indicates just how more and more businesses rely on these online platforms to attract customers, build better client relationships, and ultimately make more profits. And for you, this means you should already get in on the social media marketing wagon.
Because the longer you wait, the more you’re missing out on.
Don’t worry even if you’re new to all these: I’m here to present this ultimate guide on social media marketing for dummies. I’ll show you how to leverage those online social accounts into some of the best profit-boosting tools your business has ever used.
Develop a Goal-Oriented Plan
What exactly are the results you want out of social media marketing? Asking yourself this question is the first strategy to creating a sound plan. And a well-designed social media plan takes into consideration goals that you can attain and can address your biggest marketing issues.
‘Attain’ being the keyword here, because thinking that you can get a million new and real followers on Facebook is somewhat on the unrealistic side of things. Setting achievable goals makes it easier for you to stick to the plan, and you’ll find new obstacles less difficult to overcome.
Perhaps you have too few likes or followers on your social media assets. Growing them considerably is a huge challenge, but one that you can set an attainable goal for, say for instance, through better blog post promotion or more powerful prospecting techniques.
Document Everything for Later Analysis
Benchmarking is essential, because it informs you on how close you are to reaching a goal, or better yet, how you’ve already achieved one. This said, make sure you properly and accurately list your goals, including documenting all related tasks from start to finish.
Benchmarks also increase the odds of you completing each job perfectly and more quickly, since seeing how near you are in finishing them can give you the motivation you need.
Start with These Goals Appropriate for Your 2018 Campaign
All marketing strategies start with goal-setting, social media marketing for dummies included. But, with so many different opportunities to select from, you may find it difficult which one to begin with.
This is not an all-inclusive list, but they’re a good place to start, especially since they’re most likely some hurdles you also need to overcome too.
Better Brand Awareness
Avoid sending out too many promotional messages that appear more like sales talk. Instead, expend more effort in creating meaningful and relevant content reflecting your brand’s mission and vision. This is key to giving people a genuine and long-lasting awareness of your brand.
Increase Sales Quality
Whether it’s content for blogs or simple Instagram captions, using the right keywords, key phrases, and hashtags can make all difference in making them more easily-accessible to your target niche.
Boost In-Store Sales
Perhaps you have both an online and a brick and mortar store, but your online platform performs way better than the latter. Driving in-store sales is one social media marketing goal you can set this year, such as letting your market know that you have store discounts and promotions waiting for them.
Greater Social-Specific ROI
All brands have the same goal of acquiring high ROI. But in terms of social media marketing alone, this means keeping your labor-, advertisement-, and other marketing-related expenditures on track.
Put More Focus on Making Followers Loyal
There’s a difference between a simple follower and one who is loyal to your brand. So, take advantage of their loyalty and give them something back for their continued patronage of your brand. This takes time though, so as early as now, start putting more effort into creating a loyal fanbase.
Greater Impact on Your Specific Industry
Spy on your competitors and monitor what they’re doing that seems to work to their advantage. Review the strategies they use that appear to have the most consumer-participation. From here, you can have an idea of what you should also implement for your own brand.
But, make sure that you only base your own strategies from these, and then tailor it to your brand’s mission and goals.
Choose Channels Most Relevant to Your Brand’s Objectives
Facebook, the leading social media platform, has more than 2 billion active users. YouTube ranks second, with over 1.5 billion, followed closely by WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger (both Facebook-owned) with 1.3 billion. The list goes on, because as a matter of fact, there are tens of these sites.
This is where many brands often make a mistake: Attempting to utilize as many of these channels as possible.
The social media marketing for dummies strategy you should implement to avoid doing the same is to focus on those that provide the most relevance to your brand’s objectives. Remember, less is more, and keeping it simple will further help you stick to your original plan.
Build & Curate Engaging Social Media Content
You’ve heard the saying ‘Content is King,’ countless times, and I’m here to say it again. When it comes to social media marketing, quality content is just as vital as what you curate for your blogs. And when I say quality, I mean content that’s not simply interesting, but also useful and relevant to your audience.
For instance, if your business sells flowers, you should stick to talking about them and any related product/service like the expert you are. Don’t suddenly talk about the latest car model or how one can secure a mortgage. They may be interesting and useful, but they’ll only confuse your readers.
Social Media Marketing for Dummies: Once Mastered, Will Transform You into an Expert
You may just have completed reading this guide on social media marketing for dummies, but once you’ve practiced a lot, your experience will hone your skills and knowledge. And from there, you’ll find it easier to cope with the ever-changing face of social marketing, while you also obtain your attainable goals.
Need more advice on how you can market your brand even more effectively? Check out our blog – it’s full of information that you can use to have a more successful internet marketing campaign.