Implementing a social media marketing strategy for your small business is mandatory in 2016. With more than 2 billion people active social media, your target audience is buzzing on these sites, waiting to follow and engage with your brand. The good news is that there is a simple strategy you can use to successfully execute a social media strategy.
In this guide, you'll discover how to apply the 80/20 Rule to your major advantage in your social media marketing.
The Benefits of Social Media Marketing
Before delving into ways to improve your marketing on social, here are the real advantages you’ll gain as a result of using social networks to foster online business growth:
Be viewed as an authoritative source – Sharing relevant information that extends your expertise will bolster your brand credibility
Increase brand awareness - When you have a presence on social media, you make it easier for your customers to find and connect with you
Boost customer loyalty - By connecting with your customers on social, you’re more likely to increase customer retention and brand loyalty
Consumers say that social media plays almost as big a role in purchasing decisions as does television (Source: Ad Age)
96% of small business owners/marketers use social media marketing, and 92% of those agree or strongly agree with the phrase, “Social media marketing is important for my business.” (Source: Social Media Examiner)
57% of consumers say they’d be somewhat or very influenced to think more highly of a business after seeing positive comments or praise online (Source: Direct Marketing)
Increase website traffic and search engine ranking – By posting your blog content, you drive visitors to your site and improve SEO
These benefits are just the tip of the iceberg! Executing a solid strategy will position your brand to expand its message and influence online.
Let’s begin.
What is the 80/20 Rule?
A huge blunder business owners make in their social media marketing is only posting marketing content. Their focus is to strictly get the word out about their products, services, discounts, and new releases. This is a big mistake as followers will ignore these promotions, skimming right past them in their newsfeed.
You see, the best way to attract your ideal audience is to offer information that helps them solve their problems. Whatever your industry, there are common issues and pains that your market experiences. By sharing content that addresses these questions and gives solutions, you will separate yourself as being a reliable source. They will come looking for you for answers…in a good way.
The key is having the proper balance of publishing useful content versus marketing message. This is where the 80/20 Rule comes to play. It says that 80% of your social media posts should be solution-oriented and the remaining 20% can be promotional. Abiding by this rule will help build the know, like, and trust factor with your followers. You will be seen as a trusted source, not just another company saturating their newsfeed to ads.
According to SocialTimes, consumers desire social media postings from businesses that is new and relevant to the brand’s industry. It’s also important to them that companies engage with their followers. Practicing the 80/20 Rule helps you give the people what they want!
5 Ways to Improve Social Media Marketing Using the 80/20 Rule
So how exactly can you put the 80/20 Rule to action? We’ve compiled five unique ways to mix up your marketing and effectively connect with and engage your social followers using this strategy. The first four focuses on the 80% in sharing value with your audience.
#1 Use Video…Pre-Recorded and Live!
Did you know that social videos generate 1200% more shares than text and images combined on social media? Videos are highly successful in capturing follower’s attention, relaying your brand message, and getting viewers to take fast action. Live streaming platforms like Facebook Live, Instagram Stories, and Periscope (Twitter) are extremely useful in building relationships and engagement with your followers. Use these tools to your advantage in sharing helpful information.
#2 Visuals ROCK on Social Media
Posting visuals like high-quality images, GIFs, infographics, and slideshares are ideal to complementing your brand message and standing out in the newsfeed. Images provoke shares, likes, and comments…all key factors in gauging social media marketing effectiveness. They also humanize your brand, making you more relatable. The key is to ensure your images align with your brand personality to keep your messaging consistent.
#3 Promote Your Blog Content
Social media absolutely loves blog content! Social sites are driving amazing traffic to blog posts, improving SEO ranking and lead conversions. If you’re looking for more ways to boost visitors to your site, promoting your blog post link on social media is the way to do it. This furthers positions your brand as the “go-to” source.
#4 Curate Content
Curating content, or gathering and sharing the best content sources in your niche, is a remarkable strategy to keep your followers in the know and consistently post fresh content. If you’ve run out of content ideas, curating content is ideal to maintain a steady presence on your social sites.
#5 Create Landing Pages for Specific Social Networks
Having various landing pages designated for your followers on respective social sites will greatly increase conversions because its targeted, relates specifically to a content offer or message you’ve promoted, and appeals to this exact audience. You see, how you communicate on Facebook will be different than how you convey your message on LinkedIn. To be effective, your message must resonate with the audience you’re promoting on. By creating landing pages specific to your social networks, you’ll have better success at capturing qualified leads.
Final Pointers
The key to implementing these tactics is to test and discover what resonates best with your target audience. It’s important to collect data and analyze to have a working strategy. In other words, when is your audience most active online? What content pieces do they tend to engage with the most? Knowing this information will position you to give your audience more of what they want…and generate better marketing.
Finally, be sure that you engage with your audience. Refrain from just publishing posts and walking away. Reply to comments. Personally inbox followers to initiate conversation. Ask your audience what they desire to see more of and thank them for responding. You’ll be amazed at how these personal touches will accelerate your social media presence and online success.
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