Something is changing in social media marketing. Getting new qualified followers and converting them into leads first and customers later will need a different approach. And in this article, we are going to show it to you.
So, read until the end to make sure you get this right and start applying it straight away for higher results on social media.
Hi there, and welcome back to Serendipity Marketing. We're a digital marketing agency with a mission to help small businesses grow by applying psychology to their marketing strategies.
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So, before diving into what's going to change, leave a comment below on what you think it is. Seriously. Look, since 2020 with the pandemic, companies were basically forced to take digital marketing seriously. So, what do you think it is, that has really changed? Leave a comment below. We just gave you a hint.
So, time to dive into it.
Lots of companies couldn't rely on foot traffic anymore to generate revenue because of the lockdowns and social distancing. This led to a huge explosion and demand for digital marketing and social media is one of the best channels for businesses to leverage.
Sprout's Social's 2021 index found that 9 out of 10 consumers will buy from brands that they follow on social. 86% will choose that brand over a competitor and 85% will buy from that brand more often.
So, inevitably, our competition is expected to grow, as consumers’ willingness to use this marketing channel to make buying decisions.
You can expect social media to get even more competitive this year. And as companies start getting better and more competitive in social media marketing, you'll have to compete for attention far more than before.
So, here are some things that you can do to compete on a level playing field.
According to Sprout Social, there are a few key factors that'll differentiate you from your competition.
1. Respond to customer service questions in a timely manner
Don't you just hate it when you hit someone up and you have issues and it takes them a few days to get back? You want an answer right then, don’t you?
No one wants to wait, even an hour. Time is everything.
A lot of social media users are engaging with their brands beyond just following up. You need to demonstrate responsiveness and answer the customers in a timely fashion.
2. Demonstrate an understanding of what they want and need
So, what do people want and need? And as you go about creating content, you should keep customers in mind because it's all about servicing them and providing stuff for them.
It's like we meet some people who are like “I got the best business idea. I'm going to make s'more cupcakes”. And we would be like “This is cool, but is there a demand for it?” It may taste good, but if there's not really a demand for it, it won't do well.
And it's not about you and your brand.
It's about how we can serve your customers and your audience. Knowing what your potential customers want and need is going to differentiate you from all these brands and other brands that are just churning out content for the sake of highlighting their products, their services, and their own brands.
A good way to measure this is by looking at different content pieces and seeing which one gets the most engagement. Whether it's the format, the message type itself, the content type, whether it's video or text, it's always good to see what stands out and gets more engagement.
As you discover the types of content that tend to perform well, just do more of them. But here's the thing that no one really talks about in social media marketing. For the ones that don't do well, it is not that you don't have to do them anymore.
Every once in a while, whether it's a few times a year, or once a quarter, test them out again because trends change and people may like them again.
And then if you do that, you'll keep staying ahead of the curve and you'll start doing better.
Alright, now before we move on with the next social media marketing tip, have you ever thought about how much you should invest in marketing to generate constant business growth? Click the button below to calculate the ideal marketing budget you should allocate for higher visibility, engagement, and profit.
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3. Create more culturally relevant content
Today, we can see more and more brands creating content around cultural events that mobilised people's attention like Black Lives Matter and the MeToo movement and even some mainstream sports events like the Olympics.
So, when you create content around some of these moments and events, especially the ones that you want to support and believe in as an organization and, as long as, you know no one's doing anything unethical, it's great to support events and different people and cultures and genders.
And what you want to do is leverage them and show that you're there. And if you can do anything that ties your company into them. Do not just leverage them to make a financial profit, but leverage them to also help people.
That will resonate with them, and it'll create a win-win situation, but you should only do it if you truly care. Don't just do something for marketing. Do something because you truly care.
You should be listening to what's drawing your audience's attention and create content that resonates with those topics. That includes putting out user-generated content because this type of content is amazing.
Do you want to spend all your time sitting in front of a keyboard writing content when other people can do it for you? That's an example of user-generated content.
4. Show up, don’t just sell
We also want you to create educational content about the products or services that you're offering. This is the difference between selling and showing up.
Selling is great, but you want to show up and have that generate sales for you. When it's about your product, it shouldn't just be like “Hey, let me go and sell this!”.
It should be about educating and putting things first for others.
For example, if you have some cool makeup product and your product helps people not just put on the makeup quicker, but also to take it off really quickly. Because you know, sometimes when we do video shoots, we wear makeup. And then we would just expect to easily wipe it off. But then, when we are at home, we realise that the makeup's still there.
But if you can show how your product can just get it off really quickly in one circular wipe, you're going to get so many sales.
You should be able to show your product in a way that revolves around your customer's problems, their needs, and their wants. Not just trying to sell to them, but helping them solve those problems.
One brand that does a fantastic job of this, when it comes to this type of content, is Whole Foods.
They invest in visual content in the form of images and videos with recipes and highlighting factual benefits that the different types of foods they're showcasing have. And they're super responsive and engaging with their audience.
5. Engage with more people
This is like, you want to tell people: “Hey, engage with me!” Just like, we'll tell you right now, check out our profiles. Our Serendipity Marketing ones on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
And it might sound obvious, but when you actually tell other people to engage with you (most brands forget to do this), you'll get way more engagement from your audience.
And you should also be actively engaging with them by answering their comments, their questions, and even looking at their profiles and responding and engaging their webs on Instagram or Facebook, or even adding stories or tagging people.
This will all help you do way better on social media.
If you need help with your social media marketing to grow your business in terms of visibility, engagement, and profit, contact us today and speak with one of our digital marketing experts to see how we can build the bridge between the point you’re standing at right now and your goals.
