3 Key Ingredients for a Successful Social Media Strategy

In my previous blog, 4 Ways You’re Killing Your Social Media Strategy, I talked about things that are easily overlooked in social media marketing. Now that we have reached the final installment in this 5-4-3 blog series, I would like to end with 3 key takeaways that apply to anyone, selling any product, at any level of social media marketing.

1. Be An Audience First

When I attended Social Media Marketing World 2016, one of the things social media keynote speaker, author and consultant Mark Schaefer said that stuck with me was that we should seek “ROE" (return on experience), not ROI.” In other words, results from social are often qualitative, not quantitative. He went on to talk about how some companies fail because they wish to measure everything, yet everything cannot be measured. This is why you must spend weeks, months and sometimes even years building trust and credibility by providing and sharing educational or entertaining content before expecting ANY type of financial return.

Marketers have always faced pressure to prove ROI (return on investment). So when social media, a channel that is hard to tie to revenue, all of a sudden becomes prominent, people get skeptical. What most people don’t understand is that social media is not a channel where you should go for the “hard sell.” People on social media are not looking to be sold. They want to be informed, entertained and educated. Learn what your customer’s challenges and concerns are and tailor your content to be solution-oriented, not product-oriented. As long as you are consistently distributing targeted, relevant content, the people will come to you. 

Give the people what they want and you will grow brand awareness and drive engagement.

2. Be Bold

When it comes to social media, what worked two years ago or even two weeks ago isn’t guaranteed to work today. However, one of the beautiful things about social media is that it is a super-fast-paced environment. Don’t be afraid to make a mistake, whether it be as small as a typo or as big as trying your first ever Twitter chat. That being said, the pace of social media also makes it a medium that is always searching for the latest and greatest. Keep up with what’s new and be an early adopter. Current popular trends include memes, live streaming, gifs and survey polls.

Be sure to A/B test your campaigns and results to see what’s working—and what isn’t—for optimal results. Most important, don’t be afraid to fail. It is imperative that you are willing to take risks and get out of your comfort zone. If you don’t learn what works for your business, you won’t learn what doesn’t work either.

3. Be Authentic and Be Heard

This falls into the “interact and engage” with your audience category. Remember, people want to buy from people, not brands. They love where there is a “human element” to a brand because it feels less like marketing. Have fun and let your sense of humor shine!

If all you do is post content and you never ask for feedback or offer an opinion, your voice will never be heard above the noise. Start seeing what other companies and your peers are doing, and more importantly, what they aren’t doing that could get you ahead and attract more followers. People LOVE authenticity. If someone mentions your brand online, respond to them, whether it’s a good or bad comment.

One trap many fall prey to is not having a balance between their live posts and their automated posts. While I do understand that automation is an essential component of social media marketing, especially for larger companies, it’s more important for you to not be perceived as a robot. Here is when you can do things like thank your new followers, offer insight on a post or reply to a comment. This will set you apart from your competitors.

Now that this 5-4-3 blog series is complete, I would love to hear your thoughts and feedback. Connect with me on the social channels listed below. Also, you can read part two of this series here or start with part one: 5 Reasons Your Social Media Strategy is Broken.

You can learn more about how a CMS can help with your social media marketing efforts here.