The Mind-Boggling Questions of Social Media

So, what’s so great about this social media thing?

Social media is all the buzz. The continued hot trend for businesses and marketers. If you’re still asking yourself why that is, just look at the consumer trends! What media outlets are your customers using?

In the U.S. alone, there are nearly 200 million active social media users. That’s more than half of our nation’s population. Of those active users, more and more people now prefer to interact with businesses through their social media profiles rather than on the phone or face-to-face. See that? They want you there.

What social networks should I be on?

Ah, the million-dollar question. Let’s play Jeopardy and let me answer your question with a question – who are your customers? Yes, Facebook is the almighty king of social media as the largest network with the most users, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that’s where your customers hang out the most. Who is your core target audience? Is it yoga-loving moms ages 35-65, or boppy teens ages 15-19? This info is critical for selecting an appropriate social network for your business. Different demographics use social networks differently. Know. Your. Audience.

What do I post about?

Ah, the two-million-dollar question. Rewind a bit and think about the foundation that social media was built on. When Facebook first launched in 2004, you didn’t see a hint of advertising.
In its infancy, Facebook only allowed you to create your super-basic profile that consisted of one picture and some general information about yourself. That’s it – and people were knocking down Facebook’s door and couldn’t wait to get in, even before the newsfeed or all the other exciting features were introduced.

The point in telling you this is that Facebook exploded with popularity because users were so interested in connecting with others and forming those ‘digital relationships’ with people. The same goes for brands. Zuckerberg created the platform extremely focused on positive user experience and has kept that promise to this day. When creating content, think about what value you can provide to your followers that keeps them wanting to see posts from your brand. Whether it be important facts they need to know about, deals or special offers, or even the silly memes that they just love seeing.

Social media allows you to build your brand personality. So think less about “sell sell sell” and more about relationship building. This brings us to the Rule of Thirds when creating content on social media:

1. Promoting – Of course, the end goal as a business owner is to grow your customer base and increase your profits, so yes, you do need some “look at me” posts in your social content mix. But picture yourself on a first date, if you talk about yourself the whole time your date will go running for the hills. We call that an “unfollow” in social media world. Notice how this is only one-third of the content mix, there’s still two more!
2. Sharing – Know that clever old saying that two brains are better than one? Even if you’re the very best in your industry, it shows character to embrace other’s perspectives. No, this doesn’t mean share all your main competitor’s posts on your own profile but do take an interest in key leaders in your industry and share some of their content on your profile. This demonstrates your experience in the industry and offers your followers more value. Back to the first date scenario – people can see right through when it’s all “me me me” talk, and nobody likes that. Sharing is caring!
3. Interacting – Ah yes, the beauty of social media: DIRECT INTERACTION WITH EXISTING OR POTENTIAL NEW CUSTOMERS! If you couldn’t tell by the use of all caps, this is a big deal! Whether someone asks a question about your business, leaves a super positive comment, or leaves a nasty comment, you have the opportunity to address it immediately.

Basic principle: Nobody wants to feel like they’re talking to a robot when they’re interacting with a business, especially on social media. Use the rule of thirds to have a balanced mix of content that humanizes your brand.

How do I reach the right audience?

There are about 200 million social media users in the U.S. Do all 200 million care about your business? Sorry to be a bubble burster, but probably not. We want to show your content to people who are actually interested in your business or industry and are more willing to take action to learn more. All social platforms offer incredibly niche targeting capabilities through advertising to reach your core target audience based on demographics, psychographics, online behaviors…it’s actually kind of creepy. But it works! Take advantage of these micro-targeting capabilities to narrow your audience.

How do I know if it’s successful?

Yes! I was hoping you’d bring this up. Tracking capabilities on any digital campaign are mind-blowingly amazing. You almost get too much information to even process – but let’s not consider that a bad thing. Social media is no different. Each platform lets you know exactly how many people saw your ad or post, interacted with it, went to your website, or even converted. There’s no doubt that you’ll know exactly how your social media is working for you and helping you reach your business goals.

Did I mention that we can do all of this for you? We’d like to introduce you to your new best friend, social media. Ask us how!