In today's digital age, social media has become an essential tool for businesses to reach and engage with their target audience. However, with constantly changing algorithms and new platforms emerging, it can be challenging to navigate the world of social media marketing. In this comprehensive guide, I'll be sharing tips, strategies, and best practices to help you unlock the secrets of social media marketing and take your business to the next level. Whether you're a seasoned marketer or just starting, this guide will provide you with valuable insights to help you succeed in the competitive world of social media. So, let's dive in!
In this blog post, we will explore the most popular social media platforms used by businesses and individuals today. We will cover the latest strategies and best practices for Meta (Instagram & Facebook), YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, Twitter, and Pinterest, highlighting the unique features and benefits of each platform to help you create a comprehensive social media marketing plan.
Topic #1: Why Is This Topic So Important?
Utilizing these various social media has proven to be beneficial for marketers, as they allow for a highly targeted approach to reaching potential customers. With millions of active users on each platform, businesses have the opportunity to build brand awareness, increase engagement, and generate leads at scale. Furthermore, these platforms offer unique features such as video content, influencer marketing, and advertising options that can help businesses stand out from the competition. Additionally, leveraging the real-time feedback and analytics provided by these platforms allow marketers to fine-tune their strategy and achieve maximum ROI for their marketing efforts.
Topic #2: Meta (Instagram & Facebook)
Instagram serves as the #1 influencer platform with over 1 billion active users. Collectively, the average user spends 2.5 hours a day on social media, with about half of that being on Meta’s platforms. It’s clear that Meta’s highly visual design is a staple in the daily routine for many Millennials and Gen Zs. Facebook’s user base skews slightly older, consisting of older Millennials and Gen X. Conversely, Instagram is the go-to platform for many younger Millennials and Gen Z. Meta is designed with mobile users in mind, catering to consumers who are always on-the-go.
Meta offers a wide range of targeting options and data points to assist with targeted advertising, making it an ideal choice for businesses with a goal of increasing brand exposure to their desired audience. Special features such as Shopping ads, make it easy for users to make purchases without going directly through the app. Businesses can take advantage of various other ad features offered by Meta that are placed directly into the hands of a potential buyer with minimal effort. Such features include:
Image ads,
Story ads (i.e swipe up feature),
Carousel ads
Collection ads
Explore ads
Reels ads
Instant Experience (to effectively promote the brand and themed products)
Meta’s targeting offerings will allow businesses to market specifically curated ads that will be placed in front of individuals within your target market(s). With a strong call to action (CTA) such as “Swipe Up,” “Download,” “View Now,” “Buy Now,” and “Order Now,” businesses can easily convert potential consumers into sales.
Collaborating with Instagram influencers is another effective strategy to increase businesses brand reach and drive sales through increased exposure and brand loyalty. By partnering with influencers, whose values and mission align with your businesses' target market(s), your business can easily promote your product and/or service to increase consumer interest and awareness. You can find more about influencer marketing with the influencer database website, lolly.
Other features on Meta like Instagram Live and Takeovers allow consumers a special look into the business. Businesses can and should create a series of stories/posts demonstrating the process of making their product, highlight behind the scenes content, post Q&As that answer your consumers most asked questions, or have an employee run a Takeover for the day.
Overall, with its large and highly engaged user base, targeted advertising options, and various features to promote brands, Meta platforms such as Instagram offer a powerful tool for businesses to reach their desired audience and drive sales. By leveraging these platforms and collaborating with influencers, businesses can effectively increase brand exposure, loyalty, and ultimately revenue.
Topic #3: YouTube
YouTube is not only the second largest social media platform, but also a major SEO information tool, second only to Google. With over 246 million active users in the US and 2.5 billion worldwide, YouTube has been a mainstay for generations, thanks to its exceptional product, brand promotion, and recognition (Statista). Users aged 18-36 account for 35.7% of worldwide viewers. Additionally, over 70% of users access the platform from their mobile devices, making it highly user-friendly.
For businesses looking to expand their social media presence, leveraging YouTube’s position as a distribution network is key. Using the platform not only as an advertising tool, but as a space to document and highlight the company is a highly effective marketing strategy that will increase exposure. Sticking to a strict posting schedule of 1-2 videos a week will not only boost brand exposure, but also increase chances of viewership.
It's important to create content that resonates with users, such as “day in the life,” “DIY,” and “behind the scenes,” “Q&As” “funny/interactive challenges”, or “interview style” videos, which are popular formats among consumers. By showcasing the process of making your product, taking viewers on a day in the life, the brand can build deeper connections with its audience. Businesses can also utilize YouTube's "Clip" feature, helping make long-form videos into short-form videos to be used on other platforms.
While users can skip ads, most videos have a required 5-20 second commercial and remain a crucial aspect of any marketing strategy on YouTube. YouTube Ads offer Skippable ads, Non-skippable ads, In-feed video ads, and Bumper ads. Investing in ads and creating authentic content that resonates with viewers can increase brand exposure and create brand loyalty through subscribers. By using YouTube strategically, businesses can increase its visibility and engagement with their target markets/audiences.
Topic #4: TikTok
TikTok has broken the internet and become one of the fastest-growing social media platforms of our time. With over 1 billion monthly active users worldwide (Statista), business owners are now starting to recognize this platform’s potential and consider it an essential and vital marketing tool to reach their target audience. TikTok is an entertainment site first and foremost. Adopting a style of short-form videos is the key to grabbing and maintaining users attention (shown to be less than 8 seconds).
To successfully incorporate TikTok into your marketing strategy, businesses should keep the following tips in mind…
Aim to post 4-10 times per day in order to increase brand awareness and exposure. Although there’s been a lot of debate over the ideal frequency, it’s important to note that high-quality content will always perform well regardless of the number of posts. However, if you’re just starting to utilize TikTok for your brand or business, posting more frequently can help you figure out what content resonated with your audience.
Create unique and interesting videos that connect with users in target markets. Researching current trends can also be helpful (Answerthepublic.com and/or Google Trends are great tools), but authenticity has proven to be the most effective approach. Businesses can browse the app to see what sounds, dances, or challenges are trending.
Engage with the audience; Successful brands like the Detroit Lions are known for commenting on both their own posts and fans’ videos with humor and personality.
Use TikTok video cases such as "day in the life," "like-hack," "catchy dance or sound" to help your business stand out from the competition.
Host a TikTok Live session. Lives can provide a behind-the-scenes look at the brand and offer an opportunity for a Q&A with the audience.
To increase video awareness and reach specific demographics on TikTok hashtags can be a powerful tool. With diverse sides of TikTok such as #SportsTok, #HarryPotterTok, and #FoodieTok, it's important to use a combination of both trending and niche hashtags. Carefully selecting relevant hashtags can expand the reach of your content, but it's important to avoid overusing them. Strike a balance between popular and more niche hashtags, businesses can effectively target their desired audience and boost their TikTok presence.
Collaborating with TikTok influencers can be an effective way to boost brand exposure and promote brand awareness, similar to the approach used on Instagram. By having influencers share the product with their followers, participate in a challenge, or even meet the winner, businesses can tap into the influencer's existing audience and gain valuable exposure for their brand. To maximize the potential of collaborating with a TikTok influencer, businesses can offer a spherical discount code exclusively for their influencer partners to share with their followers. This type of influencer marketing can be a great way to reach a wider and more diverse audience on TikTok, ultimately increasing brand popularity and awareness.
Lastly, to elevate brand exposure, visibility, and sales in this digital space, businesses can invest in TikTok Ads. By leveraging TikTok’s ads, businesses can effectively promote their brand and reach new customers in a cost-efficient and effective manner. TikTok offers a diverse range of ad options including: TopView, Brand Takeover, In-Feed, Brand Hashtag Challenges, and Branded Effects.
TikTok has taken over the market and has become a daily place where individuals spend a considerable amount of time mindlessly scrolling. Incorporating these tips into your marketing strategy can help your business reach a wider audience. Take a look at another blog I wrote that dives deeper into TikTok Marketing: 6 Steps To Get Started with TikTok for Your Business.
Topic #5: Snapchat
Snapchat has solidified its position as a prominent social media platform, boasting an impressive 635 million active monthly users, including 375 million daily users, with a significant user base among Millenials and Gen Z (Statista). Despite claims that Snapchat is losing its appeal, it remains a vital component of any social media strategy.
One of the primary benefits of Snapchat is the valuable targeting options it provides for ads, including location, demographics, interests, devices, and more though customer audience, lookalike audiences, and retargeting. By creating a Discover Story that showcases your brand, highlighting a Hashtag Challenge, and other engaging content, businesses can increase awareness and drive traffic to their website.
What many individuals do not know is that Snapchat is also among the top 5 social shopping sites, providing businesses with the opportunity to turn their social media presence into a shoppable experience, while simultaneously enhancing brand awareness. By leveraging Snapchat’s targeting capabilities, businesses can tailor curated content and ads to each specific market. The platform allows filers to be created and purchased for a daily fee, with the price depending on the desired reach. Additionally, Snapchat has been exploring AR (augmented reality) features that have become increasingly popular among tech-savvy consumers and can be utilized by businesses to increase brand exposure.
Ultimately, Snapchat provides businesses with numerous opportunities to enhance their social media presence and strategy, while engaging with their target audience. By leveraging targeted ads, engaging content, and Snapchats innovative features businesses will increase brand awareness, drive website traffic, and successfully achieve marketing goals.
Topic #6: Twitter
Twitter has a staggering 556 million monthly users, with around 217 million daily users who flock to its platform for its unique microblogging style (Statista). Furthermore, Twitter’s users are incredibly active, sending out more than 350,000 tweets per minute and an astonishing 500 million tweets per day (Hootsuite). Given the sheer volume of content, it’s essential to approach Twitter with a clear strategy in mind.
Twitter is a real-time platform that has become a go-to source for many seeking information and news. As such, businesses and marketing cannot afford to rely solely on sporadic tweets. Fortunately, Tweet offers an array of powerful tools and features such as Trends, Circles, Communities, Spaces, and Lists, that can help businesses achieve their brand goals. To learn more about these tools and how to use them effectively, check out this Hootsuite blog, which also offers valuable marketing tips to help businesses leverage their twitter accounts to the fullest.
Forming Twitter Communities, or joining existing ones that align with your target market or brand person, can be an effective way to boost engagement and brand awareness. Other critical Twitter elements include mastering hashtags, running ad campaigns to promote your business account or individual tweets, and leveraging Threads to increase engagement and campaign visibility.
Twitter presents an abundance of opportunities for businesses to connect with their audience and achieve their marketing goals. With a clear strategic and effective use of its features businesses can establish a powerful presence on Twitter and make a lasting impression on their target consumer.
Topic #7: Pinterest
If you're looking for an effective way to increase your brand's visibility and awareness, you can't go wrong with Pinterest. This popular platform boasts over 445 million active monthly users, making it a valuable channel to tap into (Hootsuite). However, to make the most of Pinterest, you'll need to optimize your content for Pinterest SEO. By doing so, you can connect with your audience, deliver relevant content that resonates with your consumers, and improve your overall reach.
While Pins continue to dominate on Pinterest, short video clips are quickly gaining popularity, especially those under 10 seconds. To generate more saves and impressions, make use of the Pinterest search engine to find valuable keywords. Additionally, creating a board and utilizing hashtags can help improve your visibility on the platform. Keep in mind that Pinterest may take longer to gain traction compared to other social media channels, but it can be a helpful tool for driving website traffic.
Finally, don't forget to highlight key aspects of your brand values, mission, and product/service through your Pins. By doing so, you can build a strong brand identity, increase engagement with your target audience, and ultimately drive more traffic to your website.