Accelerate your sales and grow your business

Social media management is the process of creating and scheduling content, tracking activity, and engaging with your audience on the appropriate social media networks.

Social media plays a vital role in building relationships with customers and prospects.

And this is true whether you sell products business-to-business or business-to-consumer.

Potential customers in your target market want to buy from businesses they identify with – and your social media team can make or break that perception.

Social media marketers can also help you increase brand awareness among your prospects and existing customers, which will help you stay top of mind and increase your sales.

The success or failure of your social media strategy depends in part on the social media channels you leverage in your marketing efforts.

Are you investing time on TikTok when selling health insurance to the Fortune 500?

Are you putting all your social media efforts on LinkedIn when you open a new dance club for 18-21 year olds?

Social media marketing on the wrong platform is a waste of time and money. Let’s review the most popular social media software with a view to selecting the right channel or two for our social media marketing strategy.

The most popular social media platforms are:

Facebook

When should you choose Facebook?

Facebook remains popular for creating and building relationships with customers on a more personal level.

Do you run a local business?

Or just any business with a physical location that you want people to visit?

Facebook can be effective for sharing the latest news, upcoming promotions and driving foot traffic.

How do you use Facebook effectively?

Think about it:

• Create engaging content that tells a story or promotes an event (like an upcoming sale).
• Use images and videos to make your posts more visually appealing. Post photos of the area and your customers (with their permission), to give people images they can relate to when scrolling through their feed.
• Think about Facebook Live and use it the same way you use images and videos, showing people others “like them.”

Twitter

When should you choose Twitter?

Twitter is great for sharing quick updates, newsworthy content, and connecting with press, influencers, and select businesses and consumers.

How do you use Twitter effectively?

Here are some tips:

• Brevity above all.
• Use appropriate hashtags so people who aren’t currently following you know what you’re up to.
• As with all forms of social media, images, videos and live events can boost engagement.

Instagram

When should you choose Instagram?

If you’re in a visually-focused industry, Instagram is a must-have.

Show a team member volunteering in the community and create a connection with shoppers.

Promote upcoming events (e.g., a sale, conference attendance).

How do you use Instagram effectively?

• As on other platforms, images and videos count (but even more so on Instagram).
• Leverage Instagram Stories to make your brand visible at the top of the screen in the app.
• And always use hashtags for additional visibility.

LinkedIn

When should you choose LinkedIn?

Do you sell to other businesses (B2B)?

In most industries, in most countries around the world, you’ll find the decision-makers in your target market on LinkedIn.

How to use LinkedIn effectively?

Here are some tips:

• Do not log in or launch. Don’t do it.
• Use company pages and overview pages to build brand awareness.
• Videos, images and live events remain important.
• Access the newsletter feature to complement your email marketing activities.
• Share general information about your industry and demonstrate in-depth knowledge of your business and yours.

Pinterest

When should you choose Pinterest?

Pinterest, like Instagram, is a visual platform, and your social media strategy will work here if you sell visually interesting products.

Wedding planners, florists, restaurateurs, real estate agents, and anyone who has visually appealing products to showcase should have a presence on Pinterest.

How do you use Pinterest effectively?

Think about it:

• As on other platforms, images and videos matter (but even more so on Pinterest).

Snapchat

When should you choose Snapchat?

Snapchat is great for those special clients you’re trying to keep “in the know.”

Use it to promote events, highlight new merchandise, and anything of visual interest.

How do you use Snapchat effectively?

• Quality images and videos are important.
• Have fun with filters and lenses – Snapchat is ideal for a target audience who likes fun and interactive social media management practices.
• Like on Instagram, use Snapchat Stories to stay in touch with your prospects.

YouTube

When should you choose YouTube?

YouTube remains one of the most searched platforms on the planet.

If you create educational, evergreen, and practical content, you should create some of it on YouTube.

Do you want to highlight your merchandise and explain, while showing it, the differences and why one is better than another for certain situations?

How to use YouTube effectively?

Creating a great video is essential, but so is planning for discoverability.

• Use keywords in your titles, descriptions, and tags to help people find your videos.
• Make sure your thumbnail is attractive and stands out from others.

• TikTok

  When to choose TikTok?

  TikTok is another great platform for creating short, entertaining video content to promote events and behind-the-scenes information.

  How to use TikTok effectively?

  All the advice we gave for Snapchat, Instagram and other platforms applies. WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger

  There are countless options for reaching your audience in a more personal way. WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and other similar platforms are similar to text messaging and offer great solutions for interacting with customers.

Okay.

Now we know what social media management is, we know the landscape of social media platforms, and you’re probably ready to get your social media posts going.

First, though.

We really need a clear social media strategy.

How do you develop this?

• Clearly define your goal – what is the goal of your social media management efforts?
• How will you measure progress toward these goals? What social media analytics will be used?
• Are you a one-person team or will you hire others to manage social media listening, posting, and other activities?
• Who will create the social media content to support the calendar you need to create?
• As we mentioned, you will need a social media content calendar. Your social media planning will need to specify what you post, on which platforms, how often, for what purpose, and so on.
• This means you will need to conduct sufficient audience research to determine the best time to post, in what format, and on what topics.
• If you’ve been doing these efforts for a while, you’ll want to conduct a social media audit to understand what’s working and what’s not. Do this regularly on a macro level and on every social media platform.
• Consider how you will track activities in a way that supports other team members. Do you need to update the customer relationship management (CRM) platform?

There are many things to consider.

It’s not just about shooting TikTok videos and talking to social media influencers.

A social media manager is responsible for creating content (or at least collecting content), scheduling and publishing content, as well as monitoring social platforms for key analytics and brand mentions , and sometimes help with lead generation for the sales team.

Social media marketers are familiar with the most common social media platforms and how to use them to achieve business goals.

The most common responsibilities are:

• Market research on what your prospects are doing on social media
• Create, curate and use content.
• Develop the content calendar
• Programming content on each platform
• Social Media Performance Tracking
• Interact with your target audience to generate engagement

At this point, you probably have an idea of ​​the skills needed to manage social media effectively.

However, for completeness, the most common skills for this role are:

• Written and verbal communication skills
• Organizational skills
• Time management skills
• creative thinking

We’ve already covered a lot of topics, so let’s wrap it up with these 19 tips.

• Schedule your posts in advance using tools like Sprout Social or PromoRepublic.
• Use relevant hashtags to reach your target audience.
• Images and videos are essential on most social media platforms.
• Do everything with clear business goals in mind, and use data analysis to understand the impact of your efforts.
• Encourage employees to build relationships with customers on social media – but within your policy.
• Define platforms and activities that are suitable for professional purposes.
• Monitor mentions, messages, and comments daily.
• Respond quickly to comments and questions.
• Don’t just promote yourself, share relevant information that your potential customers will appreciate.
• Avoid sales pitches – adopt a helping attitude.
• Be authentic and transparent.
• Stay positive and don’t get drawn into debates.
• Use paid ads if your budget allows
• Test everything from time of day to posting to content types and more.
• Play around with new features, but don’t chase cool new features unless they fit your goals.
• Stay at the forefront of the industry and leverage new platforms IF they fit your buyers.
• Quarterly, review your strategy, usage policy, and other key documents.