12 Tips for Successful Social Media Marketing

Do you want to start with social media marketing, but don’t know how? Or do you already have a company profile on social networks, but struggle to acquire new customers? Then today’s article is exactly for you. We bring you a guide on how to build successful social media marketing step by step.

1. Before you start: embed social media marketing into your overall strategy

Social networks can bring you many new customers and sales, but your entire marketing should definitely not rely solely on them. Social media marketing must fit into your company’s overall marketing strategy: What do you want to achieve? Who is your target audience? Which marketing channels do you use to achieve your goals? How can you connect them? You will be successful on social networks only if you manage them in accordance with your marketing strategy.

2. Define your target audience

Knowing your target audience is important in all forms of marketing – but especially in social media marketing. It’s not enough just to target the right audience, but you also need to adapt the tone of communication, visual design, or for example the time you publish posts. And how do you find out who your target is? If you’ve been managing a profile for some time, you can find all the data in the profile manager.

Timi tip: Do you want to get the most out of knowing your target audience? Install Facebook pixel.

3. Choose the right network

From the previous two steps – clarifying your strategy and determining your target audience – it will become clear which social network is worth investing in. It’s also useful to know how individual networks work. Let’s introduce them one by one.

Facebook

Facebook gives you the opportunity to reach the widest audience – 5.3 million Czechs have an account on it. This user base is also very diverse – on Facebook you will find people of different ages, genders, professions and interests. For this very reason, most companies start with Facebook. If you have an e-shop, Facebook is an ideal way to improve communication with customers.

You can also read our article on how to build a lovebrand on Facebook.

Instagram

On Instagram you will generally find a slightly younger audience than on Facebook – 60% of Instagram users are under 30 years old. Compared to Facebook, Instagram is also used somewhat less for communication and somewhat more for sharing visual content. Instagram is the perfect place to share photos of your products.

You can also read our article on how to build a lovebrand on Instagram.

YouTube

Few companies work with YouTube, but in some cases it’s a pity. Try to think about it: Would it be possible to show your products in some way in a video? Can you add for example a product review or instructions for your product?

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is primarily a professional portal – you will achieve the greatest success if you operate in the B2B sector. It’s also worth using LinkedIn when looking for new employees.

4. Create posts that work

Create posts that engage. How? When writing texts, don’t think about what you want to tell users, but rather think about what they want to hear. Why do they follow your company on social networks? What problem will you help them solve? When you reverse your thinking this way, it will come naturally.

Real-life example: Imagine you’re selling lawn mowers and want to create a post about a new mower in your e-shop. The text Buy our new lawn mower won’t engage many customers. On the other hand, the text Create the perfect lawn offers customers something they desire, and the number of clicks will be much higher.

If you’re not sure what to do, use a professional copywriter.

5. Increase the reach of your posts

Due to the huge number of users on social networks, there are strict algorithms that determine who will see the post. To increase your reach on social networks, you must constantly strive to stimulate discussion and engage your fans – you need to get likes, comments, and shares.
 
Real-world example: You own an e-shop with clothing? Run a poll: Which dress do you like better? People will engage in the comments and the reach of your post will grow significantly.

6. Create a Facebook group

There are many reasons to use Facebook groups. We’ll tell you how to use a Facebook group to increase reach. You probably know that posts created by business profiles are shown by Facebook’s algorithm to only a minimal number of people. However, this doesn’t work for Facebook groups. The algorithm places them on the same level as posts from friends and family. If the nature of your products allows it, create a Facebook group and invite your customers to join.
 
Timi tip: Don’t know how to get customers to join the group? You can reward them by publishing content in the group that is only available to group members. Do you sell spices? You can share recipes in the group, for example. You can also motivate customers with a special offer just for group members: for example, a voucher with a 10% discount.

7. Gain new fans through paid posts

Social networks have the advantage that you don’t need to invest much in them. As we mentioned in the previous point, the algorithm can be very strict. To show your post to more people, you usually have to provide financial support. Try gradually promoting posts with different amounts and you’ll see what brings the greatest success.
 
Timi tip: Don’t know what amount to invest? There is no universal rule for that. If you don’t know what amount to start with, try 200 CZK per post.
 
You have a small or medium-sized business and are starting with social networks. Read the interview with our expert Monika .

You can support your Instagram account here

8. Use PPC advertising

PPC advertising is beneficial because you only pay for it when customers click on it. An excellent way to use it when promoting products is retargeting. Show ads to users for exactly those products they viewed on your website. Read the interview with Timi Lenka, where you’ll find more useful tips on PPC advertising.

9. Use targeting to the maximum

Targeting settings don’t end with age and interests. Often overlooked, but very effective, is for example targeting based on relationships and life events. What does that mean? If you sell jewelry, for example, you can target close friends of women who have birthdays coming up next month. You can also focus on upcoming anniversaries, births of children, and similar events.
 
Timi tip: Sit down with the ads manager and carefully read through all the targeting options available. Then brainstorm and try to write down what targeting options you can think of in relation to your products.

You can support your Instagram account here

10. Be consistent on Instagram

You can add photos on Instagram in two basic formats: to the feed or to stories. The feed is the page that users see when they look at your profile – they see the first 9 posts and form an impression of the entire profile from them. The key to success on the feed is consistency – how you achieve it is up to you. You can use the same filter for all photos, focus on certain colors, or perhaps alternate different types of posts (for example, alternate product photos and photos without products, or light and dark photos).

11. Leverage Instagram Stories

Is your company on Instagram? Then don’t forget about stories – over 500 million people around the world view them daily. Stories offer plenty of interactive elements that engage customers. Add polls, quizzes, or countdown timers.
 
Timi tip: Try different story formats – simple photos, videos, GIFs, boomerangs, a combination of text and graphics… Stories offer countless possibilities, so use them and discover what works best for your customers.

12. Consider All Stages of the Decision-Making Process

When creating posts, keep in mind that different customers are at different stages of the decision-making process. Sure, you can focus on just a portion of them. But wouldn’t it be a shame to miss out on the others, don’t you think? You should focus on three basic customer groups. Which ones are they?
 

• The first group consists of customers who don’t need your product yet, and therefore are not ready to buy it. However, you can think ahead – build brand awareness, and when these customers realize they need the product, it will be you they remember.
• The next group consists of customers who want to buy the product, but don’t yet know where to buy it. Convince them that your product is the best – at this stage customers appreciate, for example, a video review of your product.
• The third group, which you should not underestimate, consists of customers who have already made a purchase. The transaction doesn’t end when money is transferred to your account – customer care is just as important as acquiring new customers. Try to think about what posts these customers might appreciate. For example, you could create a tutorial on how to use the product as effectively as possible.

You can support your Instagram account here