One of the most challenging aspects of online marketing is keeping up with the changing trends and practices of social media marketing. The trends are volatile and tend to appear and vanish without saying hello or goodbye. Twitter makes changes to its profile layout just another casual day and the next thing you know Facebook introduced Like Button Reactions for its posts. Being a marketer by profession, I have to keep up with these trends to devise better and more engaging marketing strategies for my clients. In this blog, we have covered 8 elements that are critical for any social media marketer to avoid loss in traffic or engagement on their pages.
About Us
This must be the most underrated element of social media marketing, but believe me, this is as important to a social media page as air to your lungs. Without proper introduction of your organization along with purpose and goals of your presence, you simply cannot convert users into buying your products. While you’re at it, add contact details and all the necessary information the user needs to visit or call you.Creating Company Avatar
Here is the first visual element that any social media account must integrate in its marketing mix – and that is Logo. Your Logo is basically your avatar and if you want folks to identify and appreciate the interaction your brand is giving to them through social media accounts, its best that your avatar looks similar to your Logo. You can make a good version of it by calling in your designers or use any third party resources but make sure the same avatar is being used throughout your social media accountsCompany User ID
Has it ever occurred to you that your username ID would be similar to, better yet, identical to other social media accounts? When people search for you on social media they tend to open anything that resembles your brand. To clear up this glitch it is best that your account ID becomes same as your Brand name so that any chances of confusion is buried deep underground. Sometimes the brand name turns out to be a common word or widely spoken phrase, but not to worry as you can get your way with it too. You can change the ID to slight angle by introducing a category or product in the ID – mostly done with abbreviations. For instance, the company 'FME' sells a wide range of Magento 2 extensions. However, ‘Free Magento Extensions’ is too big for name which caused issues for the company while securing a social Media ID for its Twitter account. To tackle this situation, the Marketing team came up with @FMEextension to avoid any conflicts.Number of Posts
This is also a key element responsible for the maximum reach and visibility you get on your social media accounts. In most weak and mal-found strategies, the number of posts are always targeted and the approach tends to tilt towards spamming. The numbers of posts are very important and specific with Social Media platforms. Twitter for example needs a good supply of content moderately 5-20 times a day, while Facebook is good with 5-10 times per week. On other accounts such as LinkedIn, you need to post once every business day which rounds up to 4-5 times a week. The marketer must also take into account the nature of the product and post an appropriate amount of content with the posts.
Credit User while Sharing Content
Its not just about being ethical on Social Media, but it also reflects the company manifesto towards its clients. If you are discrediting someone when sharing their content on social media, that most certainly implies you might cheat your customer when after getting their money. Trust me these things do matter and affect the image of your organization on a macro level. A simple "via [username]” will do the trick by giving your followers the content and the respect of a reputable organization. Remember, posting attractive content is only effective when your audience approves it.
Keep you Links Short
Posting concise and trackable links is the best practice when it comes to an effective marketing campaign. Tracking URLs are used to direct traffic from places other than the CTA’s on your website such as banner ad, PPC campaign or eve an email blast. They help dose traffic to your landing page while allowing HubSpot Sources Report to separate the traffic, making the performance visible to you. The best way to make sure this is done correctly, add UTM codes in every link you post.Visual Content
Images are truly a gift for social media. They have more vocabulary compared to any form of text and are able to pack a bigger punch for a smaller space. Without visual content your social media interaction and take a serious dip. It is imperative that your posts include a moderate amount of visual representation that helps channel the idea of your post to the minds of the viewer. For instance, every post targeted at your products you can feature an HD image that shows clearly what you are talking about. You can hire a professional photographer or buy a DSL for photographing your products. Use Photoshop tools to make your images more compelling and engaging to the viewers.User Appropriate Response
Keeping a good eye on your tabs is a fair and effective practice. You’re not just here to advertise through your posts, but also respond to the queries when users reach out to you. Every response must be taken to note and responded accordingly. Since its social media, almost anyone can create an account and start a chatter. You need to make sure if the chatter is coming from a VIP customer, a potential lead, an admirer or just another spammer. A timely and appropriate response can lead to sales of the product your advertising or even stop a spammer from distracting your audience.
Infographic courtesy of Trellis
Author bio:
Simon Walker is an eCommerce developer and veteran business consultant with a combined experience of more than 7 years. He is currently working for FMEextensions – A Magento market leader in top quality extensions. You can reach him through Facebook.
