5 Essential Parts of a Successful Social Media Marketing Campaign
The steps to running a successful marketing campaign have changed quite a bit in recent years. While marketing used to be focused around television, radio, and billboards, a good majority of marketing has begun moving online. As the internet continues to grow, so does the use of social media. Today, it’s no surprise that social media has slowly become a powerhouse in the world of advertising. Although much goes into a successful social media marketing campaign, below I have condensed it into the 5 most important parts.
1) Understand the Brand
To most effectively market a brand, it needs to be understood. What is the company’s background? What is their goal? Who is the target audience? Without an understanding of these basic concepts, a social media marketing campaign would be almost useless. A great campaign marketed to the wrong audience would be a waste of time and money. Although this first step might seem simple, it is often overlooked. Knowing who and what you are marketing for, as well as why, is necessary for success. This understanding also connects the marketer more personally to the campaign. No longer is it just a product to be marketed, but they have become personally invested in the brand.
2) Creative Content
Once the brand is understood, the marketing should begin. Creating content that is appropriate to your social media marketing campaign is essential. For example, when working with Instagram, posting visually appealing photos with catchy taglines will work much better than content that would engage a typical user on Facebook. The posts being shared must be both original and also appealing to your audience. Creating content that will connect with and attract the target audience, while best displaying the brand ties right back to step one.
3) Effective Reach
When it comes to reach, making sure that your social media marketing campaign is reaching the right people in the proper ways is crucial. Today, there is a wide variety of social media platforms available to engage users on. Simply being active on Facebook is no longer enough. An effective social media marketing agency will be focused on handling multiple platforms, such as Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest, for your brand. With different types of people using each platform, the use of multiple networks grows your reach more effectively.
On top of just posting to multiple accounts, participating in activities that will boost your reach is important as well. On Facebook, choosing the correct objective and ad type is necessary for growing your reach to its full potential. When it comes to your website, using the best SEO practices is a must. A good social media marketing agency will ensure that your brand comes up near the top of any online search, ultimately growing your reach.
4) Engage Users
Engaging users is another critical step in an effective social media marketing campaign. Posting on different platforms is a great start, but engaging with each user is how you perfect the campaign. Using programs such as Sprout Social can assist you in individually answering consumer responses or questions. Not only dealing with problems, but asking questions to your followers keeps them active in your brand. Taking the steps to engage your users can allow for your brand to seem more personal to potential customers, a smart move in the world of marketing.
5) Report
Lastly, to run an effective social media marketing campaign, tracking the progress of the campaign is necessary. Reporting statistics on the success of the campaign will allow for learning exactly what works and what doesn’t. Bright Age, for example, reports stats to their clients each month to keep them updated on their progress. By taking the reported numbers and deciding beneficial changes for future campaigns you can easily continue to please customers and grow your consumer base.
