Content Creation - Social Media 101
7 SOCIAL MEDIA WINS EVERY BUSINESS SHOULD FOLLOW

7 SOCIAL MEDIA WINS EVERY BUSINESS SHOULD FOLLOW

by | Jun 9, 2021 | Community Management, Content Creation, Data and Analytics, Digital Strategy

Over the years, businesses have enhanced their digital footprints tremendously. Social media is undoubtedly one of the best vehicles that brands can use to drive their business objectives and achieve their goals. With that being said, not all businesses achieve success through social media. Here are a couple of things that you can do to gain an edge over your competitors.

CONTENT THAT DRIVES BUSINESS OBJECTIVES

Social media is not fluffy, it is a strategic tool that can be used to drive tangible business value. These objectives could include (but not limited to): brand awareness, building a database, increase app downloads, registering for an upcoming event or driving traffic to your online store. Whatever your objective, it is important to create content that provides value to both the business as well as the customer.

UTILISING THE RICH PLATFORM DATA

The various social media platforms have gathered an incredible amount of user data, by utilising this data you are able to communicate directly to your ideal customer with little to no wastage. You are able to target your ideal customer based on demographics, interests or behavioural data. Thus, allowing your business to speak to the right person, at the right time, with the right message – at scale.

SUPPORT THE ENTIRE CUSTOMER LIFE CYCLE

 
Social media can support the entire customer life cycle all the way from brand awareness through to the actual sale and even after sales support. With the data contained within the various social media platforms you are also able to track and retarget users with customised content based on where they are in the sales cycle and to support them throughout their customer journey.

CUSTOMER SERVICE THAT DELIGHTS

Customer service online should not just be a box that needs ticking. It is important that when your customers reach out to you online with questions, queries or complaints you are able to respond quickly and effectively. There is nothing more frustrating than reaching out to a brand online only to be redirected to a dusty email inbox. It is important that your community managers are empowered to solve issues in real-time.

PEOPLE DON’T HATE ADS

People don’t hate ads; they hate irrelevant ads. Social media allows brands to connect and advertise directly to their ideal customer solving real problems, offering solutions and adding value. Make sure to customise your content and messaging based on your target audience.

CONTENT SCHEDULE

It is important to keep track of your digital marketing strategy. A good way to do this, is by preparing a monthly / weekly content schedule. Not only is this for time management, but this allows you to have a bird’s eye view of your key messaging, content and publishing dates.

LESS IS MORE

The saying ‘less is more” is oh so relevant on social media. The notion that businesses have to post every day is flawed. Content creation is expensive and takes a lot of time and resources, thus you have to ensure that you’re getting the most value out of the assets that you have created. Focus should be on quality over quantity. This is where utilising paid adverting can be useful in terms of extending the longevity of your posts.

If your business needs support with its overall digital strategy, paid media booking, content creation or community management schedule a free call with one of our digital specialists.
7 SOCIAL MEDIA SINS EVERY BUSINESS SHOULD AVOID

7 SOCIAL MEDIA SINS EVERY BUSINESS SHOULD AVOID

by | May 11, 2021 | Community Management, Content Creation, Data and Analytics, Digital Strategy

Social media has increasingly become a powerful tool that businesses in various industries have tapped into as means to drive their business objectives. With that said, some businesses are unaware of the social media sins that they are inadvertently committing that could be hindering their success. Here are Social Media 101’s 7 social media sins that every business should avoid.

WASTING TIME GROWING FOLLOWERS

Over the years, social media platforms have throttled the organic algorithm. This means that the organic reach is now limited to 1-5% of people who follow your page and have opted in to hear from you. The days of posting and expecting your entire audience to see your posts are in the past. Paid advertising is a must for every business on social media. It allows you to reach a wider audience than just the people following your page. The advantage that comes with paid advertising is the ability to target your ideal customer based on their demographics, interests and behaviours. This ultimately gives your business an edge over others that have not yet tapped into this social media function.

ONLY FOCUSING ON ENGAGEMENT

While engagement looks good on your business and personal page, does it drive business values? Engagement is a vanity metric that gives the business social clout however there are other metrics that you should be focusing on to measure true business value. Tracking metrics that drive business objectives should be the number one focus. Metrics such as ‘Traffic’ lead potential customers to the website, and more often than not turn into sales, while ‘Reach’ helps businesses get more eyeballs on their content. It is important to track the metrics that directly relates back to the business objective that you are looking to achieve with a post. Ask yourself the question “does this metric support my business objective.”

TRYING TO NOT LOOK LIKE A BRAND

Several businesses try to slide into social media timelines trying to not look like the brand to feel more relatable, but all that does is confuse the user. If you are a brand, brand like a brand and add value. The key here is to be a brand that posts content that adds value to both the business as well as the end user. As business you have access to a wealth of industry knowledge use this opportunity to inform, educate, inspire and convert the user.

NOT UTILIZING RICH DATA CONTAINED WITHIN SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS

Spraying and praying is one of the biggest sins businesses make on social media. If a butchery would not waste time trying to sell meat to vegetarians, there is no reason for you to speak to people who are not interested in your products. When it comes to social media, businesses should be razor focused about who they want to speak to through ‘Targeting’.

NO STRATEGY

Winging things may work in other things but certainly not on social media, especially when running a business. Social media has the ability to drive tangible business objectives, not #MondayMotivation & cat pictures, this is why it is crucial to have clearly defined business goals that can be supported through social media. Some common business goals that can be supported through social media includes website driving traffic to your online store, event registration, ticket sales and even customer service.

TRYING TO BE EVERYTHING TO EVERYBODY

Trying to be everything to everybody is never a good idea as it leaves users feeling confused. In a world with limited resources it is vital that you use your time and money optimally to drive maximum bang for your marketing efforts. Having a clear picture in mind of your niche audience, you are better able to create content for them that speaks to their needs.

NOT RESPONDING TO CUSTOMER COMMENTS

Leaving customers high and dry is a recipe for disaster. If you wouldn’t turn your back on a customer if they walk into your shop, why do that online? What happens when you do not respond to customers? In the world of business word of mouth is everything! If customers can give good reviews about a wonderful experience they had with customer service, they will most likely give a bad review too should they feel ignored. After using their hard-earned cash on your business, people expect a response. Don’t lose your business credibility because you failed to respond to a customer.

If your business needs support with its overall digital strategy, paid media booking, content creation or community management schedule a free call with one of our digital specialists.
COMMON MISTAKES BRANDS MAKE ON SOCIAL MEDIA

COMMON MISTAKES BRANDS MAKE ON SOCIAL MEDIA

by | May 10, 2020 | Community Management, Content Creation, Data and Analytics, Digital Strategy

Running a successful social media campaign can be tricky. Below we have highlighted the most common mistakes that brands make on social media and how to avoid them.

INCONSISTENT POSTING

When it comes to social media marketing, consistency is key. Similar to traditional marketing efforts brands still need 6-8 touch points on social media in order to convert their prospective customers. It is therefore important to share regular updates that help build brand awareness and trust – so that when your customer is ready to buy, your product or brand is top of mind.

POOR QUALITY CONTENT

Social media is all about snap judgments and just like in real-life first impressions matter. Before a customer will buy from you, they will do some product research. Whether that is checking out your catalog, website, or social media pages. If you content is badly sized, not legible on mobile, pixelated, or blurry it will leave a negative impression. Business owners spend a lot of time making sure that their in-store experience is positive, but often forget that the same principles and attention to detail is required for their online presence.

ADDING NO VALUE

There is nothing more annoying than brands that take, take and take. When building an online brand it is important that business’s focus on a healthy value exchange. Content shared on social media should add value to both the customer and business. Successful brands keep their audience updated and engaged with valuable content.

OBSESSING OVER PAGE FOLLOWERS

Historically having a large audience allowed you to share regular updates with customers who have opted to follow and hear from your business. Unfortunately, as the platforms have evolved organic reach drastically decreased and social media now is a pay to play platform. Page followers have become a vanity metric. Having a large audience makes you look good, but contributes very little to your overall marketing success, because you are no longer able to speak to them.

NOT RESPONDING TO QUESTIONS, QUERIES AND COMPLAINTS

You would not turn your back on a customer in real-life, so why do it online? We are always shocked to see how many customer questions go unanswered. Customers are the life force of any business, without them there is no business. It is important that brands respond to customer questions, queries and complaints timeously.

If your business needs support with its overall digital strategy, paid media booking, content creation or community management schedule a free call with one of our digital specialists.
Post a lot of social media content for business success. [FALSE]

Post a lot of social media content for business success. [FALSE]

by | Nov 13, 2019 | Content Creation, Digital Strategy

We get this too often, a new client brief asking for 3 posts per day per platform and generally the brief is asking for at least three platforms. We hear you, social media is about being social, it about engaging, it’s fast paced. Live fast die young – with reference to social media posts that is.

 

The reality is that people don’t unfollow brands who don’t post. They unfollow brands who post too much.

 

If you were to post three social media updates per day, across three platforms, that’s nine posts per day. That makes 63 posts a week (including weekends) and a staggering 270 individual social media posts every month. Keep in mind that ideally all of these should be well-thought-out valuable pieces; is there even that many things to say in a month? There are exceptions in the case of media houses or publicists where it is part of their brand mandate to provide ongoing, updated news and content. Oh and of course influencers who mostly document their daily lives.

 

The key focus is value. Quality over quantity, meaning less really is more. It is realistically impractical for brands to post this amount of social media content when considering the cost implication of designing, uploading and promoting all of these posts. Time is money and putting out such a vast amount of content requires a lot of resources that most businesses don’t have access to. Ideally, we are all about getting as much bang for your buck by being razor focused with the content in making sure that every post is contributing toward driving strategic business value. Content should be designed to align with over-arching marketing strategies and business objectives while also not spreading the brand too thin by trying to be everything to everyone on every platform. Decide on key messaging and then direct these posts through the channels where your customers are more likely to be and where they prefer to engage with your brand. Social media at the end of the day is about the user, not about the brand – think about how you use the platforms.

 

We have proven success with as little as 2 posts per month for some of the brands we work with. If you find yourself being overwhelmed with working out what to post next on social media, reach out to us and let us support you with a best fit strategy.

Should Every Brand be on Every Social Media Platform? No, not really.

Should Every Brand be on Every Social Media Platform? No, not really.

by | Feb 5, 2019 | Content Creation, Digital Strategy

Social media, an ever-expanding online universe of tweets and blue ticks, connections and conversations, followers and fallouts. We are all well submerged into social media and there is no denying that it is unlikely to go away any time soon.

 

The Short History of Social Media

In tech terms and lighting speed evolution, social media can express historical progress to what we know it as today. Mostly starting out in university dorm-rooms and presenting itself as a forum for groups to connect online, social media still very much has this same initial vision just with a lot larger groups and a lot more options. In its simplest form, social media provides a platform for all users to search for, connect and engage with niche communities – users being businesses too.

The challenge is with the volume of information, the sheer size of possible audiences and the never-ending need to stay connected. How does a brand decide which platforms to use to connect with their required niche audiences of clients, customers and prospects?

 

A Guide to the Galaxy of Social Media

It is fair to say that in all this enormity, we can drill down on the top 5 social media platforms since these are the most well-known and, more importantly, most widely used. Just to disclaim that last statement, this is not to say that these big 5 will be forever. As mentioned earlier, social media is ever-expanding and there is no guarantee that it could evolve (within our lifetime) to something different, but with the same vision.

While immersed in our online safari, we typically see the big 5 as being Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube. Let’s look at each of these in more detail in terms of their unique role in this ecosystem and typical behaviors:

 

Facebook

The granddaddy of all social media platforms. Not quite first to market but definitely leveraging off all longevity tactics and currently with the biggest user base of 2 Billion active users worldwide. With one in three humans having an active Facebook account, the same ratio is seen in South Africa with 17 Million active users. People turn to Facebook as a way of keeping abreast of close-knit communities within this global village. Most users frequent the platform to see uploads and updates from their closest friends, family members and acquaintances.

Facebook is by far the most superior of all platforms in terms of its data capturing and targeting abilities meaning for brands there is really little to no wastage when serving content to your specific niche audience. The platform also offers the most innovative and flexible content options supporting a whole host of different ways to get your message across. Because of this extensive data and massive captivated audience, Facebook should always be considered as the primary platform for any business.

 

Twitter

The estranged stepchild of social media has had a chance to be great and we suppose it is, in its own right. Twitter is widely used for news updates, current affairs and customer service. It can be overwhelming with the sheer volume of content and in some cases be quite a dark place to frequent however if for your business customer service is imperative then Twitter is a no brainer. Aggrieved customers are likely to turn to Twitter after frustratingly taking steps to have their concerns addressed and resolved. They do this because of the volume and quick fire response that the platform enables. With the average lifespan of a tweet being 15 minutes, these updates are also the internet tinder that could catch a crisis a send a bush fire expanding out to the rest of the big 5.

Twitter users pride themselves in the news to Twitter first landscape of the platform where most of the others only catch on to newsworthy topics a few hours or even days later. It is not all doom and gloom since the internet tinder can also spread good, like seeds sprayed from a low flying plane to replenish a scorched earth. Live event coverage, influencers and listening campaigns provide opportunities for brands to inform, engage and delight their customers through Twitter. It is a balancing act for businesses, however integrity and transparency are key in keeping out of the Twitter CSI spotlight.

 

Instagram

This platform can be likened to the darling of all platforms with its lustrous flow of never ending Rapunzel-like timelines, dotted with gorgeous sunsets, sublime cuisine and equally stunning influential personalities. Its captured the hearts and cameras of the younger generation and we are keen to see what this platform could evolve and grow up to become. For businesses, it’s a little trickier… Facebook bought out Instagram recently, meaning the same rich data which Facebook holds, is the same for Instagram users.

The challenge here is that the platform relies solely on visual impact where the promotional qualities of the platform really only enable brands to gain post likes and comments. The best news in all of this is that through Facebook, brands are able to promote content onto Instagram without having a set up or active page on the platform. We wouldn’t consider it the go-to social media platform in all industries unless lawyers and accountants can figure out extremely creative ways of presenting their legal cases and balance sheets in photo format. There are however creative ways of expressing a brand on Instagram that could still drive user engagement.

 

LinkedIn

The boss of social media, LinkedIn of late is really stepping up and coming to the party. Their platform was traditionally stuffed into a recruiter paradise where users knew the relevance of having a LinkedIn profile, but only checked into the platform when they happened upon a connection request. In the last six months or so and with the platform’s buy-out by Microsoft, LinkedIn has rapidly started to introduce additional functionality and is definitely the platform to watch. Now, users are likely to peruse LinkedIn for insightful business anecdotes and opinions by their connections. They see this platform as a place that levels the playing field of the hierarchal traditional business structure; now anyone can connect with any CEO of any multi-national and/or blue-chip business – this is power!

Personal brands are becoming more and more required on LinkedIn where now everyone is considering the professionalism of their online persona. For businesses, we are still waiting for equally innovative functionality and targeting abilities like Facebook, but for now if you operate in the B2B space, LinkedIn is a must! That is not to say that B2C businesses and brands should turn their nose up at LinkedIn because relevant messaging could still find its way to those consumers, especially since aren’t we all consumers anyway?

 

YouTube

The wise advisor and also Mr Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, YouTube takes on multiple personalities dependent on what trip the user is after. Effectively a relevant platform to consider with SEO as when users Google a question, they are expecting an answer; where relevant, YouTube could provide a quick and easy-to-follow how to user guide – if this is relevant to your business and/or industry. Being only video content, YouTube can be seen as the big brother to Instagram where users can delve into a long and drawn out rabbit hole in collecting information. It is fair to say, however, that the content does not need to be anything ground breaking or earth shattering on YouTube since there are viral anomalies that pop up all the time. Who knew Justin Bieber got famous out of a YouTube video?

For businesses, YouTube is a great library platform to host informative content and, if necessary, your TV commercials for stakeholder reference. It is important to state at this late stage that snap judgements are hard and cruel on social media and brands should always consider the quality of the content being produced and posted. Video of course comes with a higher price tag, but when done properly can prove fruitful returns for a brand.

Choosing the right platforms for a business can be equally easy and difficult, however it really comes down to knowing your customers. Effectively the same person is on all of these platforms, however they look to each platform to fulfil a different need. It’s the brand’s responsibility to realise that social media provides a platform to speak to the right person, with the right message at the right time. Content is king, context is queen and value reigns above all. In this space quality far outweighs quantity, so when considering your social media strategy, choose platforms where you are confident in delivering quality content consistently to customers as opposed to just posting, everywhere, for the sake of it.

As a social media consultancy, Social Media 101 are skilled in guiding our clients to choosing the right platforms. We are solution minded and driven by results meaning if you win, we win too. Should you wish to talk more on social media and delve deeper into these platforms and how they could work for your business, feel free to reach out.