Social Media Marketing Maximized?

Many of you have been in that moment, especially if you are in charge of marketing, when some well-meaning businessperson asks about your social media efforts while you are at a dinner party or business event..

Did you feel confident that you are maximizing the possibilities on social, or did you fidget uncomfortably and quickly try to change the subject while ordering a glass of Merlot?

If it’s the latter, don’t feel too badly. While everyone these days seems to understand the power of social media — the why — very few really understand how to do it well.

Here are six quick guidelines for a stellar social program:

1. Know Your Goals

This is the crucial first step to having a robust program. If you don’t know what your goals are, how can you hold yourself or your team accountable? Goals can comprise so-called vanity metrics, which measure how many followers or likes you have. They also can focus on engaging with media, stakeholders and employees, as well as identifying and converting sales leads.

Related Article: YOUR Social Media Success Metric?

2. Treat Each Platform Uniquely

Think about the multiple ways people use social media. They don’t write a blog, post it to Facebook, post the same blog content to Twitter and LinkedIn, and then follow up with the same post on Instagram. Each platform exists and thrives because it offers a unique experience for the user. Simply regurgitating the same information on every platform is not effective.

3. Know The Audiences

Part of treating each platform as a unique outreach tool is understanding its particular audience. Why do people engage on LinkedIn? Generally, it’s for networking, job searching and connecting with business professionals. They go to Instagram to indulge a need for escapism, amazing visuals and storytelling. The best brands tailor their content for each platform.

4. Be Consistent With Your Storytelling

That means creating an ongoing story or feeling for each platform. For example, you always know the flavor of every renovation project covered in Dwell magazine. You also know the project will look and feel different than one covered in Better Homes and Gardens.

Related Article: YOUR Social Media Brand Screenplay?

Similarly, the content you post to social media should be consistent with the overall story or mood you’ve crafted for each platform.

5. Be Flexible, Timely and Nimble

Don’t be afraid to try new things and get creative. You should have a plan, but you should be prepared to strategically deviate from it. For example one of the biggest social media “wins” of all time occurred during the 2013 Super Bowl blackout. Someone at Oreo wasted no time to tweet, “You can still dunk in the dark,” and the response was both positive and overwhelming. Allowing some flexibility can pay off on a grand scale.

6. Hire an Experienced Marketer

Social media is an integral part of your communications, advertising and marketing strategy, and it’s a huge mistake to put it into the hands of inexperienced marketers. Those with the most effective social media collaborate as a team with marketing professionals, strategists, creatives and digital experts.

Guest Authored By Debi Hammond. Debi is president and CEO of Merlot Marketing, a public relations, social media, branding, advertising and digital agency in Sacramento. Follow Debi on Twitter.

Related Article: The Social Media Platform For YOUR Business?

“So if you can’t respond effectively the next time someone asks about your social media program, you may need to put down that glass of merlot and order a bottle..”

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  Authored by:

  Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at GetMoreHere.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Loveland, Colorado. I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)

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