Traditional marketing such as television, newspapers, radio, and magazines spent years relying on a one-way broadcasting system. They would make their money by having advertisers pay for the privilege of inserting their ads into their broadcasting content. The conversation format was very one-sided and not interactive or conversational. This is how social media marketing got its start. Businesses were posting content to generate traffic to their websites to promote sales, but social media marketing has evolved into much, much more.
In today’s world, businesses use social media in many different ways. There are five core pillars of social media marketing: Strategy, Planning and publishing, Listening and engagement, Analytics and reporting, and Advertising. Incorporating all five pillars is essential for creating an organic online following and ensuring that your online voice has maximum reach.
Social Media Marketing Pillars:
Pillar 1: Strategy
There are 5 key questions you should ask yourself when posting content to your social media platforms.
What are my goals?
Who is my target audience?
What social media platforms should I focus on?
What type of content do I want to share?
What is the personality of my business, and how do I want to portray it?
It is important to determine all of these before starting your social media marketing campaign because they work together.
Pillar 2: Planning and Publishing
Social media marketing for small businesses starts with a plan. More important is the execution of that plan. Consistency is key to creating a social media presence. We see tons of small businesses post a few times a month or none at all. We get it. This stuff is time-consuming, but we feel it is important to post AT LEAST once a day to maintain consistency and post your content at certain times when you reach your target audience.
Pillar 3: Listening and Engagement
This is where social media marketing starts to become more conversational. As your brand grows, so will interactions with your content. How do you want to handle these conversations? People are talking about your brand; it is your job to listen. Everyone knows that the internet is a good place to complain, so it is important to listen to people’s complaints before the situation worsens. Equally as important, though, is responding to positive comments and interactions.
Pillar 4: Reporting & Analytics
It is also important to monitor your social media marketing's performance. This is the best way to assess what is working and what is not. Seeing what content has the best engagement with your audience is the best way to grow organically. Imagine if you were trying to gain or lose weight but didn’t invest in a scale. You would have no way to track your progress along the way.
Pillar 5: Advertising
Everyone strives for organic growth in their social media marketing efforts as they should! Organic growth is free and a great way to talk to people who are already part of your audience. However, how do we reach people outside of our existing audience? That’s where paid social media advertisements come into play. They allow you to get a wider audience based on your target market, which you can control. It’s great to communicate with people already supporting your business, but advertising efforts are a great way to complement and expedite organic growth.
As you can see, this is important to creating a good social media marketing strategy. Being strategic with your time and efforts will get you to the finish line faster and more efficiently. We wish you all good luck with your efforts and are always here to help if you need it!
Nick Sieben
President, Tennessee Social
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