Building a strong social media account for your business requires more than uploading a stunning photo — although adding one to your feed certainly doesn’t hurt. Social media marketing often requires a balance of both strategy + creativity. Not only do you need to create content that appeals to your target audience, but you also need to find out what platforms you can find them on. When executed correctly, social media marketing can drastically increase sales rates while also improving your brand reputation. 

Whether you are completely new to social media or you consider yourself an industry veteran, it doesn’t hurt to brush up on your skills every once in a while. That’s why Pittsburgh web design firm Responsival is offering an up-to-date social media marketing guide for dummies in our latest blog post. 

How to Use Data Analytics to Inform Your Social Media Strategy

Data is Crucial for Measuring the Success of Your Content

In order to know what social media strategies are working for your business and which aren’t, you need to look at your data analytics. Not only will these analytics help you strategize future content plans, but they can also help you improve your social media workflow and shorten your response time to comments on your social posts. 

Data analytics measure numerous factors, including:

• Average likes per social media posts
• Daily impressions 
• Information about your followers, such as their age and gender
• How many people are mentioning your brand on their social media accounts
• Average number of comments per post

Each major social media platform offers its own data analytics tool. Some businesses use external platforms such as Sprout Social + Hootsuite to manage all of their accounts in one place. 

Different Social Media Metrics You Should Be Tracking

The specific metrics you track on each platform are typically dependent on your unique goals. You will want to make sure these goals are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound. Many professionals refer to these as S.M.A.R.T. goals. 

For example, if you want to improve your sales rate with a new social media campaign, you will need to measure its click-through rate from organic social media posts and paid ads. But if you want to reach an average of 100 likes per Instagram post, you should track information on your page’s average rate of impressions, likes, comments, and shares. 

If it seems like tracking your number of followers or likes is easier than measuring your conversion rates, you are right. But while tracking the former group of metrics is certainly easier, it usually isn’t as informative as the latter strategy. 

How to Create a Smart Strategy + Set of Goals

Failing to Follow a Clear Strategy Can Set Your Company Backwards

Once you have all of the data you need, it is time to create a smart + innovative social media strategy. The goal you set when you started tracking your metrics will also play an important role in this stage. Remember when we compared different types of metrics + their effectiveness? Challenging yourself to go beyond the number of followers and shares you have helps you focus on creating an informative + compelling strategy. By gathering data on your target audience such as their:

• Age
• Gender
• Location
• Interests and Hobbies
• Typical Careers
• Dislikes or Annoyances

You can create specific content tailored to their interests + needs that also reaches them on the networks they use the most. Once you have an idea of what type of content you want to create, you should create a social media content calendar. This calendar helps you track how many posts you publish each day, when you are posting them, and what type of content they contain.

Influencers — Are They Worth the Hype? 

20 years ago, the word “influencer” was pretty much non-existent. Nowadays, you hear stories of teenagers earning thousands of dollars from posting a TikTok video. But are these potential marketing tools worth the hype? Or will they eventually fade away from becoming stuck inside an oversaturated market? 

Customers tend to be suspicious of companies. Many consumers today are familiar with common marketing ploys companies use to sell their products. In general, they are more likely to trust a product recommendation from a friend or celebrity figure they consistently engage with. Because customers tend to be more receptive to what their favorite influencers recommend, brands see a high value in these new social media marketing “tools.” 

With millions of people signing up for different social media platforms each year, having a strong social media presence is more important than ever. Along with this growth is the emergence of new influencers ready to take advantage of growing platforms. 

So the answer is “yes” — influencers are definitely worth the hype. 

Content Creation

Learn How to Create Enticing Content That Your Audience is Actually Interested in

The content that you produce plays a critical role in your social media strategy. After you have gathered the necessary information on your target audience’s interests + what platforms they are most active on, you need to create captivating content that they want to engage with. This can include photos of your team members, infographics on relevant industry statistics, instructional videos for your products, and even funny GIFs you include in tweets. 

When creating your content, remember these tips:

• Don’t forget to add hashtags to help boost your reach
• Remember to stay on-brand with your copy + images
• Tell captivating + emotional stories that viewers will want to share
• Create an aesthetically-pleasing theme for your Instagram page while including valuable + informative captions or videos
• Share content from influencers or customers
• Try to use professional photos + videos for your social media feeds to add a sense of authenticity to them — we promise it’s worth the investment

Launching a successful social media campaign requires a number of behind-the-scenes steps. Sometimes, you might need a little extra help. No worries. The experts at top Pittsburgh web design firm Responsival are here to help you out. Contact us today to discuss your future goals + dreams for your business.