If you want to gain a lot of reach in digital marketing, social media networks are the best place to do it. There are now more than 4.48 billion social media users around the world. It means that once a brand or business posts on a social media page, there is a high potential of users that can view the ad or campaign.
A social media agency Hong Kong highlights that many statistics can prove the effectiveness of social media marketing. People are slowly becoming social media addicts. An online user spends an average of 2.5 hours on social messaging and networking. As social media integrates into the lives of people today, it opens up more opportunities to do business. Brands are riding the popularity of social media, as they found them very effective in marketing. It is somewhat difficult to measure their impact, but 73% of marketers believe that they yield a positive return on investment. They are also cost-effective because organic posting on social media is free. Only boosted ads and campaigns need a budget. But they are also less expensive under a pay-per-click scheme.
Furthermore, a digital marketing speaker Hong Kong notes that 54% of social browsers searched for products and services on social media networks. Around 71% of them recommended a social media brand after a positive buying experience. So, it is no surprise that social media marketing is an essential part of brands and businesses today. Here are 3 key steps to succeed in social media marketing!
Complete and Update Your Social Media Profiles Consistently
The first thing brands and businesses need to ensure is to have their social media pages complete and updated. It is a key step to make a brand or business rank on top of search engine results. If you want to show up on relevant queries, be sure to include a description of what you offer or what your audiences can get out of your products and services. Keywords related to your niche or section as very important because they are the most common phrases or words that your target audiences look for. Choose the best category to describe your brand or business. If possible, create a sub-category to highlight your expertise, specialization, or unique niche.
It also pays to complete your social media profile with your updated contact numbers and physical addresses. Today, local SEO is a driving force to increase revenues. When people search for shops nearby, Google will most likely recommend your brand or business if you are within the vicinity of a search location. Your days & hours of operations can very well attract potential customers to do business with you at the right time. A 24/7 customer support chat box or email address can boost a positive customer experience. Moreover, do not forget the power of hashtags, mentions, and tagging to boost the reach of social media posts. These labels allow other people to view your ads and campaigns based on hashtag and topic searches. They can also see your posts in the timeline of their colleagues, family, and friends.
Conduct Continuous Competitor Research to Establish Your Performance Benchmarks
Social media marketing is constantly changing. Innovation and technology make it a fast-paced world of evolving new products and services. Topics may trend for a day, week, or month. So, what matters is that brands and businesses should keep up with the phase. To keep your ads and campaigns relevant to what your target audiences want, you should conduct continuous competitor research to establish your performance benchmarks. These may include researches on the local market or niche. They are very important to build a stronger social media marketing approach. By knowing and understanding what social media posts receive a good response from your competitors, you can build an approach along similar lines.
The first thing you need to do is establish and list the names of your competitors. Look for brands and businesses already reaching your target audiences. They should have a similar line of offerings as you do. Discover how they post on their social media pages. See how the audience responds to each post. Take note of the outstanding factors that created both a positive and negative response. Use the high-engaging tactics as a key step to succeed in your social media marketing approach. Conducting competitor research may take time. Yet once you’ve established your performance benchmark right, you can build an effective social media marketing strategy.
Continuously Research Content Interests and Trends Related to Your Niche or Sector
The 3rd key step to succeed in social media marketing is to continuously research content interests and trends related to your niche or sector. Why! Because what social media users want changes every day. As mentioned, innovation and technology pave the way for new products and services. So, brands and businesses should keep updating their offerings as fast as they could. Do you remember when Blackberry launched a computer keypad on their phones? It was such a hit, but it was short-lived. Apple soon finds a way to launched touch-screen mobile devices that quickly replaces them. And now, there is such a thing as a voice command. So, Android smartphones take over the lead.
A good place to conduct content interests and trends research is Google Trends. Other similar tools are Pinterest Trends and Snapchat Trends. Recently Clubhouse and TikTok are hitting the spotlight. They can also be a good place to research what your audience wants or may be interested in. TikTok is recently developing “Top Ads,” an insight tool for ads and campaigns.
THE BOTTOM LINE
These 3 key steps to succeed in social media marketing are the most basic ways to formulate a solid approach that reaps positive results. Always remember, change is the only permanent thing today. So be flexible!