"Social media is about the people! Not about your business. Provide for the people, and the people will provide you." – Matt Goulart
Social media is supposed to be the definitive content marketing channel solution, right? But many business owners are discovering it’s easier said than done. Here are a few reasons your social media strategy is not working.
1. You’re not advertising.
Yes, social media is free, whereas traditional advertising can cost lots of money. But even so, you must realize that social media engagement with organic posting is inherently weak as people are overly bombarded by the items in their feed. With social media ads, you can target specific users and secure a noticeable spot in the feed, yielding more click-through action.
2. You’re hacking too much.
Despite the seductive words of internet gurus and content marketing professionals, there is no get-rich-quick solution to social media content marketing. Building a solid presence takes time, patience, and quality material. You can try all the backend hacks you want, but the social media venues have watchdogs to monitor that activity. If they deem it shady, it will reduce the health score of your profile, making it harder for you to market.
3. You’re not interacting.
It’s called social media for a reason! Even monolithic mega-giants like Disney and Coca-Cola have social teams that interact with users making comments on their pages and forums. If you’re going to build brand loyalty on a social media platform, you have to interact with your followers by commenting on their posts and pictures and responding to their comments and likes.
4. You’re not using data.
There are plenty of programs out there that can help you mine user data, which can help you better refine your target audience. This type of software can help you understand who interacts with your brand, and what demographics are potentially most interested in what you have to offer. Without leveraging that info, you’re essentially just shooting in the dark.
5. You’re not making good content.
From pictures to textual posts, what grabs attention on social media is good content. Learn about what will get eyes to stop and click on a link, and if you can’t figure it out, employ someone who can.
6. You’re doing all the work.
You heard it right…the best social media marketing comes about when other people market your product or service. Your brand ambassadors can collectively reach out to a wider audience who is already in love with their posts and appreciates their unique style. Moreover, someone else touting your product or service gives it a seal of approval you just can’t fake on your own.
Now that we’ve covered the six reasons (and common mistakes) entrepreneurs struggle with a winning social media strategy, it’s time to turn the negative into a positive. Below you’ll learn about the steps you can take, starting now, to help you design a social media content marketing strategy that will increase your business.
6 Steps to Making a Content Marketing Strategy that Will Boost Your Business
You may have heard that content is king in this digitally connected age. Here are 6 simple steps to get the ball rolling with some excellent content marketing in your business.
1. Define your goals.
You can’t go anywhere without a goal. Set concrete goals for your marketing attempt, such as fortifying your connection with a particular audience or branching out to new ones.
With all the analytic tools available today, you can easily be able to monitor your progress as you move along.
2. Define your audience.
Who are you marketing your product or service to? If you don’t have a clear vision about this, you’ll be wasting your time and money trying to market to everyone—which is sort of like throwing pasta on the wall and hoping it sticks.
Instead, build a vision of your ideal crowd. Perhaps even make a storyboard about the “typical” person in this group to fill out your marketing attempts with genuine copy.
3. Define your style.
What exactly is your brand all about, and what’s the accompanying style that best matches with your message?
If you bounce all over the place with your words and your appearance, you’re going to make your audience confused and lose potential customers. Solidify the details about your appearance—everything from color schemes to fonts to content topics.
4. Learn from the past.
Chances are, if you’ve been in business for a few years already, that you have some extant content out there already.
Look at what did well, and what bombed, and try to figure out why. Build on your success and stay away from failure as you move forward.
5. Assemble the team.
If you’re a one-man band, that’s great, but once a business reaches a certain point, you’ll need multiple people on the team.
One person could be blogging and incorporating SEO keywords, while another is interacting with the fan base on social media, and yet another is crafting and implementing Google Ads.
The more specialized each person can become, the more their expertise will increase the overall success of your business—but remember to keep everyone within a good loop of communication.
6. Make a plan.
Set up checkpoints, goals, and deadlines. Use analytic software to track clicks and see what parts of the strategy are working.
Just like goals are crucial for creating a destination, a plan is crucial for getting to those goals.
