Success on social media is not a participation trophy. It is something elite that can only be attained through strategy, planning, research, creativity, consistency, and intentionality. Phew.
If you want to see a higher return on investment (ROI) from your social media profiles, then there are a few things you can do.
To be honest, the world of social media has changed dramatically in the last 18 months, and it takes a lot more intentionality than it used to to see the return you’re probably hoping for.
In 2019, heck even 2020, a business just needed to be present. “Get online!” they yelled, over and over. So, you created a profile or maybe revived an old one, and started posting.
If you were really taking things seriously, you might have even outsourced this piece or hired an expert (insert: Wild Ellis) to manage your social media for you.
But, the same rules no longer apply.
Since it's a completely different game - with different rules - than it used to be, you cannot expect to play the same way and still win the trophy. There are things you can implement almost immediately in your business to start achieving the success you need on social media.
Let’s dive in, shall we?
No stupid goals
Only smart goals are allowed here. SMART meaning Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. Need a crash course in smart goals? Click here, we talk about this a lot.
Without specific, realistic goals that make sense for your brand & marketing strategy as a whole, you may not ever feel successful on social media.
One of the biggest challenges for brands is determining what they should be looking to gain from their investment on social media. Is it to build a bought-in community of followers who are actively engaging with and sharing your content? Is it to post product-focused content that compels your audience to convert into paying customers?
These are two totally different goals, with different action plans, and require unique methods of measurement. But, a business owner trying to identify a goal for social media marketing might say (most likely will say) “We need our social media to make us more money!” While this goal is positive, it is vague and open-ended, making it a stupid goal.
Step 1: Set Smart Goals
Keep it together
Social Media and the rest of your company’s marketing efforts should be in an intimate, complicated, long-term relationship. If you treat social media like the awkward kid that sits alone at lunch, you won’t see the benefits you want out of this relationship.
In order for social media to really get the results you need, you must put it on the same level as your other marketing efforts & investments.
It has to be just as important as all of the other things we’ve come to know and love (or hate) as traditional marketing over the years.
The marketing industry has evolved, and if you're not confident yet that social media is one of the new standards in marketing, just consider that university students across the globe are majoring in degrees that focus primarily on social.
Step 2: Understand that Social Media = Marketing
Sharing is caring!
Social media marketing requires one very important thing: CONTENT! The other most important thing about social media is CONNECTION!
Content that connects is key to seeing the results you want.
It can be an adjustment to think about sharing a large amount of what goes on in your day. Especially while you're running a business or serving your customers. It requires a change in mindset, because you have to start thinking of things through the lens of sharing.
Quality content that paves a way for your audience and potential customers to connect with your brand is the most vital piece of this puzzle.
Where does this content come from? Great question! Content can have a few sources, but they are not all created equally. I am going to use a scale of 1 - 10 to make this easier to understand quickly. 1 = basically useless and 10 = incredibly valuable.
Let’s break it down:
Original content - 8/9
Photo/video you take
Photo/video you pay someone to take
Graphic design / art
Stock Content - 6
Photo/video content you pay for
Shared Content - 4
Photo/video/graphic content you share or repost from another creator or business
User Generated Content - 10
Photo/video content given to you or posted by your customers that you have permission to use
Understanding the value of different types of content and how it needs to be leveraged on social media can help you get a higher ROI. Now, this is a very basic breakdown and doesn’t account for the differences between video, reels, photos, gifs, etc. and the many ways they can all be used online. Talking to a social media strategist can help you get a deeper understanding of how different content serves different purposes.
We suggest that you capture content throughout the week, save it in an album or drive with a note, and “dump” once a week. This gives you the opportunity to schedule and post great original content, but won’t slow you down during your busy life.
There are lots of strategies for batching content and streamlining your content marketing. We discussed the idea of batching content for social media marketing in our most recent blog post, which you can read here.
Step 3: Create content that connects
The three steps that we’ve outlined here today, setting smart goals, integrating social media into your marketing plan, and creating authentic content, are just the basics. Even though your social media marketing strategy can be very robust, starting by taking action on these 3 areas will help you see a higher ROI.
It’s always best to just start. Start taking action, starting doing the new thing - and then you will have time to figure out the rest as you gain momentum!
Social media can be a very effective tool for your brand, in one way or another. Once you determine what your specific audience & goals are, you can truly start to reap the benefits of it.
If you are discouraged about your brand's results on social media, reach out to us today to get some new insight. You can also check out our social media subscription, which is created specifically for small businesses like yours!
Wild Ellis offers highly customized social media marketing and brand consulting for female-owned small businesses.
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