Want to start social media marketing but don't know how to do it? Or do you already have a company profile on the networks, but you are not able to attract new customers? Then today's article is for you. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to build a successful social media marketing business.
1. Before you start: build social media marketing into your overall strategy
Social networks can bring you a lot of new customers and sales, but your marketing shouldn't be all about 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 are you using to achieve your goals? How can you connect them? You will only be successful on social media if you keep it in line 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 to target the right audience, but you also need to tailor the tone of your communications, the graphic design, or even the timing of your posts. And how do you figure out who your target audience is? If you've been managing your profile for a while, you can find out all the data in the profile manager.
Timi'stip: Want to make the most of knowing your target audience? Install Facebook pixel.
3. Choose the right network
The previous two steps - clarifying your strategy and identifying your target audience - will tell you which social network makes sense to invest in. It's also worth knowing how each network works. Let's go through them one by one.
Facebook
Thanks to Facebook, you have the opportunity to reach the widest audience - 5.3 million Czechs have an account on Facebook. This user base is also very diverse - you can find people of different ages, genders, professions and interests on Facebook. It is for this reason that most companies start with Facebook. If you have an e-shop, Facebook is an ideal way to improve communication with your customers.
You can also read our article on how to build a Facebook lovebrand.
You'll generally find a slightly younger audience on Instagram than on Facebook - 60% of Instagram users are under 30. Compared to Facebook, Instagram is also used slightly less for communication and slightly more for sharing visual content. Instagram is the right place to share photos of your products.
You can also read our article on how to be a lovebrand on Instagram.
YouTube
Not many companies work with YouTube, but in some cases that's a shame. Try to think: Would it be possible to show your products in a video in some way? For example, could you add a video review or tutorial for your product?
LinkedIn
Linkedin is primarily a professional portal - you will find the most success on it 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 you're texting, don't think about what you want to tell users, but rather think about what they want to hear. Why do they follow your business on the networks? What problem can you help them solve? If you reverse the thinking in this way, it will work itself out.
Example from practice: Imagine you sell lawn mowers and you want to create a post about a new mower in your e-shop. The text Buy our new lawn mower won't attract many customers. However, the text Conjure up the perfect lawn will offer your customers something they want and the number of clicks will be much higher.
If you don't know what to do, use a professional copywriter.
5. Increase the reach of your posts
Due to the sheer number of users on social media, there are strict algorithms that determine who gets to see a post. In order to increase your reach on the networks, you need to constantly strive to spark discussion and engage your fans - you need to get likes, comments and shares.
Case in point: Do you own an online clothing store? Hold a poll: Which dress do you like better? People will engage in the comments and the reach of the post will grow significantly.
6. Create a Facebook group
There are many reasons to use Facebook groups. We'll show you how to use a Facebook group to increase your reach. You probably know that posts created by business profiles are only shown to a minimal amount of people by the Facebook algorithm. But that doesn't work for Facebook groups. The algorithm puts those on par with posts from friends and family. If the nature of your product allows it, create a Facebook group and invite your customers to join.
Timitip: Not sure how to get customers to join a group? For example, you can reward them by posting 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. Acquire new fans with paid posts
Social networks have the advantage that you don't have to invest much in them. As mentioned in the previous point, the algorithm tends to be very strict. In order to get your post seen by more people, you usually have to support it financially. Try supporting posts with different amounts over time and see what you have the most success with.
Timitip: Not sure how much to invest? There is no universal rule for this. If you don't know how much to start with, try 200 CZK per post.
You have a small or medium-sized business and you are starting out with social media. Read our interview with our expert Monika.
You can support your instagram account here
8. Use PPC advertising
PPC advertising is advantageous because you only pay for it when customers click on it. A great way to use it to promote your goods is retargeting. You show users ads for the exact products they viewed on your website. Read our interview with Timik Lenka for more useful tips on PPC advertising.
9. Make the most of targeting
Targeting settings don't stop at age and interests. Often overlooked, but very effective, is targeting by relationships and life events, for example. What do you mean by this? If you sell jewelry, for example, you can target close friends of women who have birthdays in the next month. You can also target upcoming anniversaries, the birth of a child, etc.
Timi'stip: Sit down with your ad manager and carefully review all the targeting options they offer. Then brainstorm and try to write down on paper 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 post photos on Instagram in two basic formats: on your feed or in stories. The feed is the page that users see when they look at your profile - they see the first 9 posts, and from those they get an impression of your entire profile. The key to success on the feed is consistency - how you achieve it is up to you. You can apply the same filter to all photos, focus on certain colors, or perhaps alternate between different types of posts (for example, alternating product and non-product photos, or light and dark photos).
11. Use Instagram Stories
Is your business on Instagram? Then don't forget about Stories - over 500 million people around the world follow them every day. Stories offer plenty of interactive elements to engage customers. Add polls, quizzes or even a countdown timer.
Timi'stip: Try different formats of Stories - plain photos, videos, gifs, boomerangs, a combination of text and graphics... Stories offer a wealth of options, so use them and discover what works best for your customers.
12. Consider all stages of the decision-making process
When creating posts, consider that different customers are at different parts of the decision-making process. Sure, you can focus on only a portion of them. But it would be a shame to miss the others, don't you think? You should focus on three basic groups of customers. Which are they?
- The first group are customers who don't need your product yet and are therefore not ready to buy it. But you can think ahead - build awareness of your brand, and when these customers find they need the product, you'll be the one they remember.
- Another group are customers who want to buy a product but don't yet know who to buy it from. Convince them that your product is the best - at this stage customers will appreciate, for example, a video review of your product.
- The third group that you should not underestimate are customers who have already made a purchase. It doesn't end when the money is credited to your account - nurturing customers is just as important as acquiring new ones. Try to think about what contributions these customers might appreciate. For example, you could film a tutorial for them on how to use the product most effectively.
You can support your instagram account here