Three Tips for Social Media Marketing Rookies
Social media has revolutionized the way we communicate and consume content, making it an essential tool for businesses to reach their target audience. With billions of users across various platforms, social media marketing can seem like a daunting task. However, with the right tips, tools, and partners by your side, mastering social media marketing will be a breeze.
In this blog, we'll explore strategies and resources to help you create an effective social media marketing plan and stand out in a crowded digital landscape. Whether you've dabbled in social media marketing or you’re just starting out, this guide will provide you with the knowledge you need to elevate your social media game.
Finding your “social home” is so important, we’ve written a blog on the topic. The most common platforms used for social media marketing are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Youtube, and TikTok. The type of content you plan to produce and the audiences you’re trying to reach will determine which platform(s) are most relevant to you and what you represent. Do you plan to make short-form videos? Then Instagram and Tik Tok should be top priorities. Looking to connect with other professionals or businesses? LinkedIn will be your cup of tea. Taking on several social media sites at once can be challenging, but you’ll learn more about your audience and more effectively strategize for each platform.
To start you’ll need, at the very least, a loose plan for what you want to accomplish or say throughout the month. Think about how your messaging may differ across platforms. Think about the visuals you want to go with your posts, if any. Start building your profiles by following partners, clients, customers, local brands, inspiration, and more. Interact with them and have conversations while you get your footing. Once you’ve felt like your page has a foundation, it’s time to build on it.
What should you say? How often should you post? Every person or company will be different, so there will likely be a bit of trial and error and A/B testing necessary to figure out the sweet spot for your specific accounts. Some accounts fare better posting 3-4 times a week. Others 3-4 times a month. Some large corporations post upwards of a dozen times a day. Learn about your audience and build out your schedule based on what days have the most traffic and try different cadences to see what sticks.
Your posts should reflect your personality and your image, and should be something you keep consistent across the platforms you use. This is part of building a personal brand - you want your visitors to recognize who you are and what you represent, and the appearance of your profile and posts should allow people to find you amongst the crowd. Be authentic. Be transparent. Have conversations with your followers. These days, social media is more about making a connection - spamming products or services on your page isn’t going to move the needle when priority is put on communication and thought leadership. The reception from your audience will steer your messaging and creative design.
It can sound intimidating to try to develop calendars, post on time, and create based on audience reception. Thankfully, there are tools that can help you do all of that and more.
While some social media platforms have implemented their own marketing and page management tools, they don’t go nearly far enough. Automation and scheduling tools put the power back in your hands by allowing you to manage multiple calendars and platforms at once. Here, you’ll be able to schedule posts days and weeks in advance, add and edit graphics, and visualize posts to better inform decision-making and content writing.
There are dozens to choose from. Some have more features than others, and of course price is a factor that must be considered (and there are free options, but they’re often limited in what they offer). While we won’t go into detail or say one’s better than another (because what one company needs may differ from another), we’ll provide some examples for you to consider. Some of the more popular tools are Hootsuite, Sprout Social, Kontentino, and TweetDeck.
Important features include post automation to the platforms you’re working with, API integrations, profile tagging, and analytics. Most of these services offer a free trial or low cost options that will give you the chance to toy around with different tools to determine which works best for your needs. Once you’ve created some posts, let them loose and see how they perform - which leads us to tip three.
Reporting and analytics are crucial components of social media marketing because they provide insights and data that allow page admins to measure the effectiveness of their campaigns and make data-driven decisions. Here are some key reasons why reporting and analytics are important for social media marketing:
By providing data-driven insights, these tools enable users to measure the effectiveness of their campaigns, understand their audience, identify trends and opportunities, optimize their strategies, and prove the value of their efforts.
It’s time to put your content to the test. The only way to really see if you can take on social media marketing is to dive in head first and get to work. It might take some time, but stick to it, and you’re sure to see results. While technically anyone can market on social media, it does take a lot of work and a lot of effort. The content team at Citro has years of experience putting together calendars and driving results for our clients, and we can do the same for you. Send us a message and let’s talk about your goals.
In this blog, we'll explore strategies and resources to help you create an effective social media marketing plan and stand out in a crowded digital landscape. Whether you've dabbled in social media marketing or you’re just starting out, this guide will provide you with the knowledge you need to elevate your social media game.
Building the Foundation
Finding your “social home” is so important, we’ve written a blog on the topic. The most common platforms used for social media marketing are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Youtube, and TikTok. The type of content you plan to produce and the audiences you’re trying to reach will determine which platform(s) are most relevant to you and what you represent. Do you plan to make short-form videos? Then Instagram and Tik Tok should be top priorities. Looking to connect with other professionals or businesses? LinkedIn will be your cup of tea. Taking on several social media sites at once can be challenging, but you’ll learn more about your audience and more effectively strategize for each platform.
To start you’ll need, at the very least, a loose plan for what you want to accomplish or say throughout the month. Think about how your messaging may differ across platforms. Think about the visuals you want to go with your posts, if any. Start building your profiles by following partners, clients, customers, local brands, inspiration, and more. Interact with them and have conversations while you get your footing. Once you’ve felt like your page has a foundation, it’s time to build on it.
Tip 1: Content and Brand Persona
What should you say? How often should you post? Every person or company will be different, so there will likely be a bit of trial and error and A/B testing necessary to figure out the sweet spot for your specific accounts. Some accounts fare better posting 3-4 times a week. Others 3-4 times a month. Some large corporations post upwards of a dozen times a day. Learn about your audience and build out your schedule based on what days have the most traffic and try different cadences to see what sticks.
Your posts should reflect your personality and your image, and should be something you keep consistent across the platforms you use. This is part of building a personal brand - you want your visitors to recognize who you are and what you represent, and the appearance of your profile and posts should allow people to find you amongst the crowd. Be authentic. Be transparent. Have conversations with your followers. These days, social media is more about making a connection - spamming products or services on your page isn’t going to move the needle when priority is put on communication and thought leadership. The reception from your audience will steer your messaging and creative design.
It can sound intimidating to try to develop calendars, post on time, and create based on audience reception. Thankfully, there are tools that can help you do all of that and more.
Tip 2: Tools of the Trade
While some social media platforms have implemented their own marketing and page management tools, they don’t go nearly far enough. Automation and scheduling tools put the power back in your hands by allowing you to manage multiple calendars and platforms at once. Here, you’ll be able to schedule posts days and weeks in advance, add and edit graphics, and visualize posts to better inform decision-making and content writing.
There are dozens to choose from. Some have more features than others, and of course price is a factor that must be considered (and there are free options, but they’re often limited in what they offer). While we won’t go into detail or say one’s better than another (because what one company needs may differ from another), we’ll provide some examples for you to consider. Some of the more popular tools are Hootsuite, Sprout Social, Kontentino, and TweetDeck.
Important features include post automation to the platforms you’re working with, API integrations, profile tagging, and analytics. Most of these services offer a free trial or low cost options that will give you the chance to toy around with different tools to determine which works best for your needs. Once you’ve created some posts, let them loose and see how they perform - which leads us to tip three.
Tip 3: The Data
Reporting and analytics are crucial components of social media marketing because they provide insights and data that allow page admins to measure the effectiveness of their campaigns and make data-driven decisions. Here are some key reasons why reporting and analytics are important for social media marketing:
- Understanding audience behavior: Social media analytics tools provide information about user demographics, interests, and behavior. By analyzing this data, admins can better understand their target audience and tailor their campaigns to better meet their needs.
- Identifying trends and opportunities: Social media analytics tools can help admins identify trends and opportunities in the marketplace. By tracking the performance of competitors and analyzing industry data, marketers can stay ahead of the curve and adapt their strategies to capitalize on emerging trends.
- Measuring ROI: By analyzing data on key performance indicators (KPIs) such as engagement rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates, users can determine the return on investment (ROI) of their social media campaigns, especially when you move to paid social media marketing. This information is vital in determining whether or not campaigns are worth continuing and where to allocate resources in the future.
- Optimizing campaigns: Social media analytics provide insights into what works and what doesn't work in a social media campaign. By tracking the KPIs we mentioned earlier, marketers can make informed decisions about what content to produce and how to distribute it.
- Proving value: Social media marketing can be difficult to quantify, but analytics data can help users demonstrate the value of their efforts to stakeholders or decision-makers. By presenting data on KPIs, ROI, and audience behavior, marketers can prove the impact of their social media campaigns.
By providing data-driven insights, these tools enable users to measure the effectiveness of their campaigns, understand their audience, identify trends and opportunities, optimize their strategies, and prove the value of their efforts.
Making Moves
It’s time to put your content to the test. The only way to really see if you can take on social media marketing is to dive in head first and get to work. It might take some time, but stick to it, and you’re sure to see results. While technically anyone can market on social media, it does take a lot of work and a lot of effort. The content team at Citro has years of experience putting together calendars and driving results for our clients, and we can do the same for you. Send us a message and let’s talk about your goals.