Social Media Marketing: The Top Strategies to Increase Your ROI
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A study from the Harvard Business Review found that companies who use social media marketing can improve their return on investment by up to 900%.
In this article, we explore the top strategies for successful social media marketing. We’ll guide you how to design a strategy, optimize your content, and make a measurable impact on your bottom line. Plus, we’ll give you some examples of social media campaigns that have been successful with these strategies in the past.
So what are you waiting for? It’s time to get started with social media marketing!
When it comes to social media marketing, you’ll hear a lot of people say that it’s important to create a strategy. What they mean is that you need to know what you’re going for and how you plan on getting there.
You could have some goals in mind and divide your marketing efforts accordingly (e.g., spend one day sharing blog posts on Facebook, another day running an ad on LinkedIn, etc).
Or maybe your goal is more complex and involves tracking your ROI over time (e.g., spending the first 3 months focused on building followers, then switching gears and focusing on engagement).
The main point is: don't fly blind and hope for the best! It's essential to know what success means for your business and set objectives accordingly. And remember: your strategy will change over time based on your company's needs and goals!
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Content optimization means to adjust your copy for different social media sites. For example, if you post on Facebook, you will want to use more conversational language. However, if you are posting on Twitter, then shorter sentences are better.
If you were to post the same thing on each platform, it would sound jumbled and confusing because it would be inconsistent with the different sites. For example, if I posted “What time will the event start tomorrow?”
To Facebook and to Twitter it would look like this:
- What time will the event start tomorrow?
- When does the event start tomorrow?
The first sentence is more appropriate for Facebook because it is more conversational than Twitter where people prefer short sentences.
It’s tempting to just jump into the deep end of the pool and start posting whatever you want on social media. But without a plan, your content will be all over the place.
Instead, create a strategy before you post. Deduce out what your objectives are and then create a timeline for achieving them. Maybe your goal is to get more likes on Facebook or increase web traffic from Twitter.
Maybe you desire to increase your email list or promote a specific product. Whatever it is, make sure you know what your goal is before you post anything onto social media.
The most important part of your social media marketing is the call-to-action. Your call-to-action should be specific to what you want your customer to do next. You should include a call-to-action at the end of every post, status update, tweet, post, picture, caption, etc.
There are many different kinds of call-to-actions that can be used on social media. If you want your customer to visit your website or shop online, then it would be best to use a button that says "Shop Now" or "Visit Site." If you're trying to get them to buy something online, then it's best if you include an image with a "Buy It Now" button.
Regardless of what button you choose, make sure they are clear and enticing so people will want to take action!
Sticking to a schedule is one of the most important social media marketing strategies.
The Harvard Business Review study found that a company’s social media activity should happen at the same time every day.
This helps your brand become a regular presence on social media, which builds trust and credibility for your company. It also makes it more likely that people will remember you when they see an ad or post from you in the future.
Another reason for sticking to a schedule is because it tells people what to expect from your brand on social media. They know they can count on you posting on Thursdays at 10 am, for example, so they can plan their social media content accordingly.
A third benefit from sticking with a schedule is that it creates a sense of anticipation for anyone visiting your page. When you post new content on Facebook, followers may get excited and share your post before they even read it just because they were looking forward to seeing something new from you!
That being said, there are always some exceptions to this rule? For instance, if there’s breaking news happening in your industry, you might want to update your followers about it right away rather than waiting until Thursday morning.
But if you have any doubts about whether or not breaking news warrants an immediate response on social media, stick with publishing at the usual time.
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To measure ROI, you’ll want to track your metrics. What is your goal with this campaign? Is it to improve customer service or sales? You need to know what you want to accomplish.
Once you know what you want to accomplish, you’ll need to set goals for this campaign. How do you plan on measuring success? Then, after completing this campaign, evaluate how successful it was based on the goals.
An example of a successful social media campaign is Wendy's Twitter account. They ran a campaign where they tweeted about random facts and people could win a year of Wendy’s food for free by retweeting those tweets.
This was a great way for them to increase both their brand awareness and online presence while also increasing their followers and engagement rate.
Consider two successful social media campaigns:
The first campaign was for a real estate company. They created a Facebook page and posted pictures and videos of their listings. Their daily post increased the number of followers to over 4,000.
Another example is a toy company who created their own Instagram account. They used the app to share photos and videos of their popular products. The account quickly became popular and had more than 1,000 followers in less than three months.
The key takeaway from these examples is that you should focus on creating content that will appeal to your target audience. You want to show them what they can expect from your business and how it will benefit them personally. The more personal your content, the more likely it will be shared with others and increase your ROI.
Social media marketing is not just for companies with big budgets. It is possible to use social media to grow your business with some creativity and follow some simple steps.
Successful social media campaigns are often the result of an integrated strategy, so before you plan your campaign, take time to create a strategy document that includes your goals, target audience, and objectives.
Once you have your strategy document created, it’s time to start executing on it. The first thing you’ll want to do is optimize your content for social media. With the use of hashtags, you can easily grab the attention of people who are interested in the same topics you are.
You’ll also need to create a plan before you post. This will help you figure out what content to post and how often to post it.
Social media doesn’t have to be a giant time suck. In fact, it can be a powerful tool for small business owners to reach a larger audience and grow their business.
If you follow these steps, you’ll be well on your way to a successful social media marketing campaign!