Social media is just a way of life these days. Even if you aren’t engaging on a channel, or multiple channels, every day, hour or minute, you’re vividly aware that they exist and that they have an impact on almost every aspect of our lives.
The way we consume news, communicate with friends, voice our opinions, doing business, shop, or even date. Social media channels have infiltrated the fabric of our society.
And for brands and organizations, navigating social media can be frustrating, especially because of how much opportunity there is to connect with audiences and drive meaningful results for your business.
And let’s be real – there’s a lot of money waiting for every business in the world of social media. It is, after all, one of the most effective ways to reach billions of people.
But, even the basics on how to get started or what to do on social media can be complicated. So, I connected with a longtime colleague and friend, and social media expert, Lauren Cresta of WaveCrest Marketing, to fill us in on some crucial elements of navigating the social media landscape.
Lauren is the owner of WaveCrest Marketing, and she has extensive experience designing and implementing strategic brand marketing, digital and social media campaigns for regional and national brands in the hospitality, travel & tourism, food and beverage and entertainment industries, to name a few.
6 Questions about Social Media Marketing
We’ve heard different names – social media, shared media, owned media, etc. Tell us what you mean by social media and how we should think about it?
Social media is essentially any digital tool that allows users to create and share content with the public. Over time, social media has evolved from a place where we used to simply share updates with friends (who out there remembers Facebook’s “My Wall”?) to platforms we rely on as sources for news and information. And for brands, it has become an ideal place to reach consumers through targeted advertising based on any combination of demographic info.
Should everyone be engaged in social media, from a professional or personal standpoint?
Every brand or company should be engaged on social media, as it’s become an integral piece of the marketing puzzle. Billions of people are on social, and most spend an average of 3 hours per day on mobile devices. Many times, it’s how we become aware of a product or service for the first time. Through either paid or organic messages, social can lead the customer to a direct conversion, or purchase to what your brand is offering. To miss out on that conduit to reach your customers simply isn’t a viable option anymore.
From a personal perspective, most of us who work in mar-comm or PR inherently are drawn to sharing and receiving content on social, so it seems like everyone in our industry is active on all the major platforms. If you personally choose to unplug from social media for your own sanity, more power to you! But all of us marketers should at least stay aware of the ever-changing landscape of social to stay on top of how brands are interacting with their consumers. I’ve always liked following Mashable, AdWeek and social topics on Linkedin to stay on top of new trends and developments in the space.
If you’re going to start (or increase) your social presence, do you need to be on every platform? How do you pick and choose?
No – in fact, a saying we use in our team at Aware Media Solutions (an Atlanta agency I’ve been working with for about a year) is: “Be there. Don’t be everywhere.” Meaning, while it’s key to “be there” where your current and target demo are active online, you shouldn’t feel the need to create a presence on every single available channel.
As of late, most clients ask us: “Should we be on Tik Tok?” If your target consumer is between the ages of 13 and 35, and your brand lends itself well to short-form video content — then yes, it’s a platform you should consider. But if not, do not get on Tik Tok just to say you’re on Tik Tok. A brand’s presence on every channel needs to have a specific reason and content strategy behind it. Think about the “why”’ and the reason it would serve your brand before launching a presence on a new channel.
What sort of resources do you need to do social media the right way?
Like all marketing initiatives, your social strategy should be grounded in a strong brand foundation. There’s a saying, “People don’t buy products, they buy your story” – and it’s true. We’re all inundated with thousands of advertising messages daily, so to break through, any successful company needs to have a good grasp on telling the story behind the brand. Social is the ideal way to do that, which is one of the reasons I love working in this field.
It’s also key to invest in scheduling platforms, and to monitor online chatter about your brand through social listening tools. These are investments for every brand, and costs can have a wide range. Whatever your budget, these tools are well worth the spend when you need to schedule out a month’s worth of content – or if you want to aggregate what people are saying about your brand into one clear report.
Why do I need a strategy? Can’t I just start posting?
Strategy is key to social media success. Trends come and go – and I recommend experimenting with different content types all the time to see what resonates best with your audience. But if your approach to social is rooted in a strategy, it will ensure that your content always stays on brand and you can connect with your audience at a deeper level over time.
Every piece of content should be put through a quick internal filter: How does this ladder up to our brand house? What part of our story is this content helping us to communicate? If you can’t answer those, then whatever it is, don’t publish it!
Is every strategy different, or can we learn from and use what others are doing?
Every brand strategy is different, and it’s good to benchmark against not only your competitors, but even companies outside of your industry who are doing things on social that you admire. Ultimately what is important is to make sure your social strategy is aligned with your overall sales and marketing goals, and that it’s serving to foster an online conversion, or share something of value with your customer.
A HUGE thanks to Lauren for taking the time to share her expertise and knowledge of the world of social media. If you want to hear more from Lauren, make sure you connect with her on LinkedIn!
In the meantime, check out some of our other posts.
Let’s Get RADD
I’ve also been discussing how you can find success following the Coronavirus crisis through the RADD approach, which is Recognize, Adapt, Develop, and Deploy. Check out our previous posts to see how you can succeed with the RADD process:
– Get RADD And Plan For Success Following Coronavirus Crisis
– Prepare for Success and Get RADD, Part 1: Recognize
– Finding Success By Getting RADD, Part 2: Adapt
– Get RADD, Part 3: Develop Plans For Success
Deploying Your RADD Communications Plan
Here are some additional resources for your crisis planning efforts:
– There’s Still Time To Communicate During the Coronavirus Crisis
– Is Pitching Media A Good Idea During COVID-19?
– Internal Communications During A Crisis
– A Meaningful Message, Or Pandering Without Purpose
And here are some additional blogs to help with your strategic communications planning:
– Pitching Media Like The Pros
– 7 Tips for Successful Media Interviews
– Don’t Let Perfect Be The Enemy Of Effective
– Wake Up. Kick Ass. Repeat.
– How to Create Content That Engages Audiences and Builds Brand Trust Quickly
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