Resources for Crafting Your Social Media Strategy in 2023
Social media transformed marketing by shattering monoliths into a thousand pieces. TV, print, and radio were the big three once upon a time, and now a brand must be conscious of marketing spend on dozens of different channels.
The audience is similarly fractured, meaning firepower is less important than accuracy when it comes to getting your message and your brand out there. The good news is that there's a social media platform for every audience, and most platforms will help you find your audience (with a little expertise).
Today we're going step-by-step through social media marketing strategy and execution — and linking to the resources that can help any brand create, launch, and refine their social media presence.
Choose the Right Platform for Your Social Media Marketing
"Social media marketing" is an enormous net to cast; it's important for brands to choose the platforms that match their message and their audience.
Rated by monthly active users, these are the top three social media platforms (and what they're best at):
- Facebook. As the largest social media, Facebook is still a strong play for any brand. Images and videos play well here, but their targeted ads might be your best choice. Contrary to popular belief, Facebook has plenty of young people, and is a prime marketing platform. In fact, 51 percent of active Facebook's 2.9 billion monthly active users are ages 18 to 34.
- YouTube. It's a no-brainer, but video is the one true king here. Ads in front of relevant videos is great, but video content of any kind helps make connections. Product education, entertainment, demonstrations, coverage of live events, and interviews relevant to your brand should all go here.
- Instagram. Reels, reels, reels. But all content is good on Instagram. Stories offer the FOMO-factor that's especially useful for "miss it and it's gone content," posts are perfect for content you want to be found easily at any time, but reels tend to take the best advantage of the algorithm as Instagram actively pushes them to other users.
Create Engaging Social Media Content
Brand accounts can't just be a place to announce products and sales; they have to provide value in-and-of themselves.
Your brand's feed isn't just a chance to get the word out, it's where you connect with your potential audience. Think of that connection you want to make as a bridge, and every piece of content you create and share is another brick in that bridge.
Visual content should be well-designed and easily digestible. There's a reason the top three social media platforms are primarily image and visual rather than text. A good creative department is your most valuable asset in creating this kind of content.
Video content gets attention. Again, there's a reason the top three social media platforms have such a focus on video. A recent study shows that while people often only retain 10 percent of the meaning of text, they retain up to 95 percent of what they heard in a video.
User-generated content (UGC) engages your audience to help. Get your followers to participate in contests or entice them with a prize. Even just photos with a hashtag at an experiential marketing event or convention booth count as valuable UGC.
When it comes to the content you make, your three best watchwords will be authenticity, creativity, and consistency.
Build an Engaged Following
Social media isn't a one-way radio where we just broadcast into the ether. It's a channel for back-and-forth communication. Here's a quick list of what your community manager or social media team should be doing:
Posting consistently. Consistency is key; brands that stop posting regularly tend to be forgotten by both their followers and the algorithm.
Replying to comments and messages. Yes, even negative ones. Especially negative ones. It'll lend you authenticity, and if it's done with class and aplomb, you can win over not only the original poster but those watching the interaction.
Engaging with complimentary and/or similar brands. Brand-to-brand communication can be funny, it can be thought-provoking, or it can be playfully antagonistic. Communicating with similar brands, or thought leaders in your field will spark conversation not only between the brands but amongst the audience.
Partner with Influencers and Borrow Their Expertise
Influencers are a valuable component of social media marketing because they combine the last three tactics into one channel. They know the platform they're on, they know how to make content, and they're experts at keeping their audience engaged. The right influencer at the right time is like hitting three birds with one stone.
One of the most important things to remember about influencers is that you don't have to land the biggest fish. In fact, smaller influencers might be a smarter target. Over 50 percent of influencers have fewer than 25,000 followers, and they have a higher engagement rate than mega-influencers.
Just remember that nano- and micro-influencers may have less polished content, which is obviously a trade-off. Whatever the size of the influencer you partner with, authenticity is key. Are they trusted in their niche? Is their engagement high? Do people look to them as a trustworthy source of information?
The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the contributor and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the ANA or imply endorsement from the ANA.
Inspira Marketing Group is based in Norwalk, Connecticut. Inspira Marketing is a purpose-driven brand activation agency, driven by EQ x IQ. Delivering scalable, results-driven, creative solutions for a diverse roster of clients in the automotive, CPG, financial, technology, food and beverage, fashion, beauty, and quick-serve restaurant markets, Inspira Marketing specializes in Brand Storytelling, Experiential Marketing, and Field Team Activation, and devotes a portion of its profits to finding a cure for pediatric cancer. This combination of excellence and purpose has been recognized with a list of impressive awards, most recently including Ad Age's Best Places to Work, Hartford Business Journal's Best Places to Work, Chief Marketer's CM200 Award, Event Marketer's Top 100 IT List, and more.