Likes, Tweets, and Bounce Rates, Oh My!

Source: (In Twitter [ArtGalleryofNSW]). 

    A majority of brands nowadays are using social media to promote their company and product, to connect with customers, and to generate brand conversation. Being comfortable with using social media is very important as it has become the future of marketing. Brands should use multiple platforms instead of choosing one and neglecting the others (Business.com, 2020). Today's top platforms include Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. By posting on multiple platforms, brands will be a part of multiple communities and will be able to reach more people (Business.com, 2020). Size aside, if your business isn't on social media, you could be missing out on valuable opportunities such as acquiring new customers and insights into brand, audience, and competition. 

What Platform to choose 

    Marketers at Blue Corona always ask their clients three questions; (1) are you B2B, B2C, or both, (2) who's your target audience, and (3) what's your overall goal? (Blue Corona, 2018). These three questions are needed to know what social media platforms they should work with. Being B2B or B2C determines what platform your business will be most successful on, while target audience will tell them what kind of content needs to be curated. Articles on Sprout Social focus on platform demographics, giving out tons of free information on what audiences make up each. With articles like these, businesses can determine what audience makes up a majority of each platform and then plan out content that will be most valuable to them. 

    While it may seem like that your business has to operate on every platform, that is not always the case. If your business is relying on the wrong platform, it could end up being a waste of money because your audience isn’t majorly present there. It's imperative to perform prior research to determine where your customers lie in order to develop the best social strategies for success. 

Advertising

    

    Advertising on Facebook and Instagram can either be through boosted posts or ads made entirely from scratch. While businesses can utilize both, most find that creating ad campaigns are more effective because they can fit into a wider content strategy rather than a one off boosted post (Abbamonte, 2019). Each ad in a set is like a cog in a machine that is dynamically running. However, it has been discovered that boosted posts are better for goals like increasing brand awareness and engagement, while ad campaigns are more effective for driving website traffic and developing leads (Abbamonte, 2019). What your business wants to do and achieve will determine what type of content is best.  

Resources & Budget

    Running multiple accounts may sound challenging, but there are programs available to help with that. Platforms such as Buffer or Hootsuite were built to solve this exact problem. Hootsuite is a social media marketing and management dashboard that allows businesses to house all their social accounts under one roof. Capabilities include everything from scheduling and posting content to viewing post analytics (likes, comments, shares, etc). Pricing tiers between $49, $129, and $599 per month (Hootsuite, n.d.). 

    Other resources include Facebook Ads Manager which allows businesses to boost posts or create ad campaigns for Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger. From here, businesses can choose their budget, spending as little as $1 per day. Starting on the low end will allow businesses to see which ads are performing the best and then increase ad spend accordingly (Keller, 2020). Across all industries, the average CPC for Facebook Ads in $1.72 (Irvine, 2020). 

Content vs. Conversation 

    "Social media was created around the idea of virtual communication" (Torossian, 2019). Conversation doesn’t only revolve around direct communication from a brand, but rather customer to customer and customer to brand. People are seeking a connection with each other and their favorite brands. Each piece of quality content should have a common goal in maximizing customer engagement (Torossian, 2019). Without the engagement, social media would just be media.

    Facebook labels it meaningful engagement or the idea that posts with more active and thoughtful interactions will get more reach (Eckstein, n.d.). Combined with quality content, engagement builds more quality relationships with the brand community. Customers expect brands to engage with them, particularly when it comes to providing support. From Twitter research, 71% of users expect brands to respond within the hour and addressing complaints can increase customer advocacy by 25% (Eckstein, n.d.). 

    One company that excels in social media conversation is Delta. They use Twitter specifically for addressing customer service questions and complaints. Along with social conversation, Delta also utilizes social listening to get ahead of the curve and address customer issues directly. Social listening is defined as "the monitoring of social conversations around certain topics" (Dukart, n.d.). Since 2009, Delta has greatly expanded their social presence by offering 24/7 Twitter support with each tweet or direct message being immediately acknowledged (Maerowitz, 2018). 

Maerowitz, S. (2018, May 14). 5 tactics brands can learn from delta's customer support on twitter. PR News. https://www.prnewsonline.com/delta-customer-support-twitter

    Via Twitter or the Fly Delta app, Delta now uses iMessage to connect with their customers. Being the first airline to do so, flyers can now message Delta representatives to receive assistance or talk to a virtual assistant for FAQ (Delta, 2019). Vice President of Customer Care, Tori Forbes-Roberts says the switch was made because customers would rather message the brand directly rather than using other channels like social or email (Delta, 2019). As they have been doing for years, Delta wants to be accessible with only a tap. 

Conclusion

    Social media marketing strategies should be focused on and dedicated to your brand and its customers. It is one of the most popular forms of marketing, both personally and professionally. Whether they are large or small, businesses all over the world are using social media for marketing, growth, and even customer service. Social media has become the apple of the eye for people all over the world and they are reachable from the palm of their hand. With apps available on almost all cellphones, potential customers can be marketed to from almost anywhere, aka marketing via social media almost never stops. Therefore, it is extremely important that brands utilize social media in order to keep up with competition and impress their customer base. As I'm sure we all know, social media is the bee's knees. 

References

Abbamonte, K. (2019, July 9). Facebook ads vs. boosted posts: What's the difference & which is better? Databox. https://databox.com/facebook-ads-vs-boosted-posts

ArtGalleryofNSW. (May 30, 2016). Timeline [Twitter account]. Retrieved April 2, 2021. https://twitter.com/ArtGalleryofNSW/status/737459701206552577

Blue Corona. (2018, November 18). The best social media platforms for businesses 2019 (and how to choose the right ones). Blue Corona. https://www.bluecorona.com/blog/which-social-media-platforms-best-for-business/

Business.com. (2020, April 13). Why every business should be using multiple social media accounts. Business.com. https://www.business.com/articles/why-every-business-should-be-using-multiple-social-media-accounts/

Delta. (2019, June 28). Delta becomes first airline to use apple's messages app with customers for on-the-go assistance. Delta. https://news.delta.com/delta-becomes-first-airline-use-apples-messages-app-customers-go-assistance

Dukart, B. (n.d.). 20 important benefits of social media marketing every business should know. CoSchedule. https://coschedule.com/blog/benefits-of-social-media-marketing-for-business/

Eckstein, M. (n.d.). Social media engagement: Why it matters and how to do it well. Buffer. https://buffer.com/library/social-media-engagement/

Hootsuite. (n.d.). Plans. Hootsuite. https://www.hootsuite.com/plans/upgrade

Irvine, M. (2020, August 5). Facebook ad benchmarks for your industry [data]. WordStream. https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2017/02/28/facebook-advertising-benchmarks

Keller, T. (2020, November 5). How to run facebook advertising on a small budget. Delta Marketing. https://www.godelta.com/blog/how-to-run-facebook-advertising-on-a-small-budget 

Maerowitz, S. (2018, May 14). 5 tactics brands can learn from delta's customer support on twitter. PR News. https://www.prnewsonline.com/delta-customer-support-twitter

Torossian, R. (2019, June 5). Why social media should be treated as a conversation. Ragan's PR Daily. https://www.prdaily.com/social-media-engagement-you-must-monitor/