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Stop Ignoring Your Social Media
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Stop Ignoring Your Social Media

Stop Ignoring Your Social Media

There are over 3.81 Billion social media users worldwide, representing 49% of the world’s population. Despite what you hear in your social circles, platforms like Facebook are not going away anytime soon. In fact, Facebook reported a 22% increase in sales in 2020 from the previous year, bringing in close to $86 billion. The same report showed the daily active users on Facebook was up 12% year-over-year. The truth is its users are addicted to social media. The question is, what is your social media marketing strategy?

I run a content marketing agency and we have clients all across the US who come to us for help creating and managing content. One of the biggest failures we see in businesses is a lack of a strategy. It’s amazing how many business owners and entrepreneurs have elaborate plans for everything from rolling out new products to building sales teams, yet no plan for social media. It’s almost an afterthought to small business owners or their only plan is to hire someone younger to manage their social media.

To understand the power of social media, you first have to understand the power of content marketing; Creating content to draw in prospects who fit your target demographic for your product or service. It is one of the most powerful ways to build brand loyalty.

Red Bull is an energy drink, yet Red Bull Media House produces more than 1,200 culture and sporting events a year according to their website. Why would an energy drink create and produce content? Because their target demographic enjoys watching extreme sporting events like surfing or planes racing in the air. Great content builds an audience that a business can use to market their product. That is content marketing.

But it’s not enough to just create great content, you have to have a distribution platform to get your content in front of viewers. If you’re Red Bull, you use the power of traditional television and social media. But as a small business owner, you also have access to the same social media platforms as the major brands.

Don’t feel like you have to use all of the social media platforms available. Nick Westergaard is a professor at the University of Iowa and a known brand expert. He writes in his book “Brand Now” that you don’t need to have all of your marketing platforms turned up to be effective. It really depends on your business and who you are trying to reach. For example, if your product is directed to business owners, you want to make sure LinkedIn is part of your strategy.  If you are trying to reach the teenagers, TikTok or Snapchat needs to be part of your plan.

Create great content, because the world has enough bad content. This is where most business owners start to get nervous. You want your content to be short and to the point. Less than two minutes. Think through what you are trying to communicate. Don’t be random, but also don’t be so polished it does not come across as real. Pay attention to lighting and audio. If your target demographic can’t see or hear you, they are not watching your video.

Remember the 90/10 rule. You have probably heard some form of the 80/20 rule, but in social media you want to use the 90/10 rule. Ninety percent of your content on social media needs to be informative or entertaining. Only 10% needs to be promotional. Your family and friends might follow your business accounts because you asked them to, but your prospects don’t want to follow a billboard sign. Give them a reason to follow your social media accounts by providing great content in 90% of your posts, then use the 10% to promote your business.

Ask your staff to repost or share the company’s social media posts. You will get more engagement from people’s personal pages than you will for the company’s page. Also consider setting aside a budget to boost posts or run ads on social media. A sponsored post is more visible. Remember the social media companies are for-profit businesses.

Finally, avoid getting sucked into controversial posts. This is true for your business, but I would argue is also true for your personal social media. The way social media algorithms work is to try to send the end user like-minded content. When a business or individual starts to post comments that lean one way politically, for example, they are running the risk of having their content only show up for half of the social media population. It’s really a no-win situation when a business starts to take a stand on the hot topic of the day. I am not suggesting businesses don’t need to or should not have a responsibility to stand up for things. Just be extra careful how that is communicated on your social media platforms.

Simple, right? The good news is there are agencies, like Centerpost Media, that can sit down with you and help you come up with a strategy for social media.

 

Scott Miller is the CEO of Centerpost Media and host of the Create, Build and Manage Radio Show and Podcast. You can find Scott on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter via “@scottmillerceo.” Centerpost Media is a marketing agency with a vision to help every business they encounter with their media needs by providing outstanding quality, service and value. Centerpost Media is the parent company to BizTV, BizTalkRadio, BizTalkPodcasts and Bizvod.