You must expend a lot of effort to make content go viral on social media because it has to be innovative, relevant, and catchy. Content marketing is the most important part of social media without which it will be challenging to get leads, user engagement, and business contacts.
Without good content, it is almost impossible to conduct a social media campaign. Apart from content, your brand’s social media profile must also be managed properly to get the required amount of exposure.
A business can no longer survive only through the traditional forms of advertising such as TV, radio, and billboards. Big brands are turning to effective digital marketing which is delivered at a competitive price. Since the online population is increasing by the day, brands must be active on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. People are becoming more involved with sharing and communicating their activities on social media. So, businesses these days take advantage of social media to reach potential customers and clients.
Each day tons of content is being updated on the Internet every day, and the chances of going through all of that are very slim. MarketingProfs found out that over 2 million blogs are posted on the internet every day. Due to this, businesses have separate pages so that online users can read content they’re interested in and reach out to companies quickly.
Start-ups as well as developing companies have little knowledge on the importance of social media and also lack employees who have online marketing experience. Managing social media accounts come with a price and hence, they avoid it.
So if you’re not active on social media, create a page for your company at the earliest. If you have already set-up a page, post often and connect with your existing users. Business pages become famous within a short period with the help of sponsored feeds on Twitter and Facebook. So don’t take social media marketing lightly.Come up with ideas to optimize the content you post. Content should reach your target audience, and they must also be actively engaged. Only through active engagement, content will reach a wider audience.
To create and promote such type of content, you need to follow the tactics below. If you follow them, you can concentrate on other activities, and the results will also be promising.
Timing
According to an infographic in the Kissmetrics blog, posts on Facebook have the highest amount of shares at noon and after 7 p.m. Even though you don’t get results initially, don’t stop posting. People will start following the page gradually. You have to continue doing your part by staying active and posting content at the right time.
Schedule
If you come up with a schedule for posting content, it will save you time, and you will never miss updating a post.
Facebook has an option where you can upload multiple posts and schedule it in a way that your page will be active throughout the day. This is a well-organized way because you have completed planning a day’s worth of content within 20-30 minutes. Even if you don’t get access to a proper internet connection, your content will be online because you have already scheduled it.
If you’re not satisfied with Facebook’s native features, try third party software such as HootSuite, which is free for basic functions. To use the advanced options, you can opt for premium features in this software. You may have pages for your business on other social sites. Now you don’t have to log out of each account to post content. Schedule posts by using this software on multiple platforms.
Keep a record
Apart from planning and posting at the right time, you must have a sufficient amount of content that you can post on all the sites.
You can handle the shortage of content by spending time on researching. Go through blogs and other pages that are relevant to your article to get ideas for new content.
Research popular hashtags and keep track of trending articles. You can also find such articles by compiling a customized list. It will save you time as you don’t need to keep searching for pages. Just open the list and you will find all the articles. You can add it in the order that is convenient for you.
These articles will be your temporary solution when you’re short of content ideas. Share the articles on your page. You can also change their captions, provided it’s relevant.
How you can ‘sell’ ideas
When it comes to sharing content on social media, it must be unique and informative. For example, when you post on Facebook, the algorithms will promote content if it seems like the users are showing interest and if it has a possibility of getting maximum shares. Post pictures, videos, and other content that users will enjoy.
- Pictures
Studies have proven that visual content has higher user engagement than any other content. Pictures are a better form of communication when compared to written content. Instead of posting pictures that are bare, you can also liven it up by adding captions to it. The HubSpot blog states that 65% of experienced marketers believe that they were able to communicate the story of their brand effectively through visuals such as photos, videos, illustrations, and info-graphic.
You can also create an infographic which is a pictorial representation of information.
- Quotes
Imagine a quote like this popping up on the user’s feed first thing in the morning.
They will be motivated and have a positive mindset throughout the day. Your page should not be only about brand promotion; it should be a mixture of everything.
Everyone loves to read motivational and humorous quotes which are apt to their daily lives. Every quote has a different meaning that readers will relate to in many ways. If you want to increase user engagement, posting quotes will be helpful.
For instance, this is how Domino’s Pizza promoted its Pan Pizza. Apart from being funny, it also promotes the brand
Questions and polls
Another way of connecting with people is by asking them for their opinions. People love expressing themselves, so frame questions in such a way so that you can maximize engagement. You can also conduct polls like what they prefer for breakfast, either pancakes or cereal. Studies have proven that response rate of users is more when they are asked to take some action that requires minimum effort.
Since most of the polls come with options, people don’t have to spend time coming up with other ways of answering.
Taco Bell wanted to find which of its Doritos Locos Tacos people prefer the most. So they conducted a Twitter poll to find out. Check out the response rate it had – close to 17,000 people voted on it
- Custom made Posts
Pictures and videos that have behind the scene shots make way for more interesting conversations than formally clicked pictures. The response rate is high because it connects with users on a more personal level; candid pictures will show how your business works.
For instance, take a look at the behind-the-scenes video about making of the Ford GT. The $ 400,000 model is one of the rarest supercars made by the company. Even though the car is only being released on 2017, they’ve already started promotional activities.
The company will build only 500 of these supercars, and it won’t do if you just show up with a briefcase full of money. Prospective buyers had to fill out an online application and submit it before May 12th, 2016. In the application, buyers had to use a photograph, write a paragraph or make a 1-minute video on why they would be suitable to buy the car. Ford has pulled out all stops on the way to creating buzz for their supercar!
I know what you’re thinking. This is an established brand, and it doesn’t need many promotional activities. You should be aware that even though they are well-known, it doesn’t stop them from promoting their product. Get inspired, and learn a thing or two about how big brands are promoting their products. You may even get an idea on how to promote your own product from this.
Landing page
Apart from business pages in Facebook, landing pages are helpful in collecting leads that will be useful in other forms of online advertising like campaigns, email marketing, and video marketing. WordStream conducted a survey on landing pages and found out that 96% of such pages have at least one link that leads prospects off-page.
Among the various categories that are under landing pages, the lead capture pages are the most important.
Landing pages will help you get information about your target audience. Through this information, you can create better social media ads and campaigns. Do some web research to find out more about landing pages.
To get more followers and likes for your page, you have to increase the rate of interaction with your fans. If you want users to respond to your posts, you have to reciprocate. Social times have published an infographic on the facts and figures relating to social media where it found that 75% of post engagements in Facebook happen within the first five hours. Below are some of the points that you have to concentrate on.
1. Answer any of the questions and concerns users have within a certain period
2. You may even get queries through mail. Don’t forget to answer these as well
3. If a user expresses his concern through negative criticism and complaints, make sure your reply has a positive tone
4. If the views voiced by the user are genuine, you have to respond to it. If you don’t, then it will be a bad marketing move for your brand. Also, it is safe to ignore hateful comments
This is how Nike handled one of its customers.
These are some of the ways through which you can make your existing followers loyal to your
brand. An easy way to make a good impression and to increase your followers is by responding to their comments quickly.
Summing up, focus on creating good quality content. The only way to maximize user interactions is by posting content that is informative and has value. Concentrate on this and you can market your brand effectively to the online community.
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