Social media marketing (at least organic) is already common for most businesses today. However, new channels are constantly being added, and sometimes it can be difficult to see which channels your business should appear on. It also makes you wonder how to get the full power out of the selected channels.
A sock machine that generates leads and trades consistently always requires a background strategy. A carefully considered social media strategy is the sum of goals and activities that help a business move toward a goal.
If you have not yet thought about marketing in any way through a strategy, you will find some important tips in this blog on how to get acquainted with this topic.
Which channel should we start with?
I always recommend taking over a channel as a whole first and only then expanding your marketing to other social media channels. Note. In this sense, Facebook and Instagram should be thought of as a single channel, since the marketing of these channels is carried out from the same tool.
Why start with a channel:
- When you learn all the nuts and bolts of a channel, you get the most out of it. Many channels can only be learned by most people at an inadequate level, even if the results are only achieved through master-level work.
- You’ll learn how to accurately measure results and see which marketing measures produce results.
- All social media channels update so fast that it’s easier to keep up with the pace of change in a channel.
- With a firmly struggling social media channel, expanding operations is much easier. You’re just wondering how much of your marketing you can take from one channel to another.
Then that important part, namely choosing the right channel. Typically, companies choose from the following:
- Youtube
- Snapchat
- Tik tok
Each channel has its own strengths and weaknesses, so channel selection plays an important role in achieving your marketing goals.
In general, businesses choose Facebook as their social media marketing channel. Facebook is a great marketing tool, but at the same time you have to accept the fierce competition for people’s attention. That is, most companies have made the same channel choice. However, Facebook has the largest user base and outside help is also available to implement marketing. In addition, Facebook offers most of the features, such as Chatbots, as well as its own analytics as an advertising platform. Facebook’s highly advanced advertising tools also offer the ability to create buyer-specific funnels.
Intagram marketing used to be understood primarily as a channel for young people, and especially young women. However, there has been a change and now Instasta reaches everyone from B2B decision makers to your grandma and grandpa. Redirecting traffic from Instagram to your own website just got easier, and Instagram’s stories feature in particular is effective at moving people to service pages as long as the content is interesting enough. Instagram marketing works on the Facebook platform, so channels are easy to mix and match, too.
LinkedIn, on the other hand, is a very suitable channel when it comes to B2B customers and a precisely defined target group. If your business is in the B2B field and you want to reach new business, I recommend LinkedIn marketing with good content. LinkedIn’s targeting is precise, so you can reach business decision makers effectively, for example.
YouTube is the most popular video streaming service in the world, and if you have marketing-friendly video material, you should seriously consider introducing the service. Also, YouTube videos rank well in search engines. In many countries, YouTube is the most popular social network for young people. 16-29 years upper segment. A good example of this is the hugely popular phenomenon of tubes. On YouTube, the level of content has risen rapidly, so with bad content, I wouldn’t start setting up my own channel. In that case, you would prefer to use Instream advertising to drive traffic to the website. However, it is worth investing in good content, since the investment is rewarded in euros below the line.
Above all, Twitter is a widely used channel for sharing information. Many companies see Twitter as an important channel to engage in discussions with customers about important industry topics and to inform them about company operations. However, you need to actively participate in the conversation, and the channel may not be the best option for those who want quick results. Using Twitter is also a bit risky as commenting and arguing is sometimes extremely critical and often negative in tone.
Of these channels, Pinterest is the least used in Finland so far, but it also has its own unwavering fan base. For example, followers of various interior design channels can conveniently find leads for many companies.
TikTok and Snapchat are very popular channels globally, but the advertising tools are still far from their Facebook and LinkedIn counterparts. In fact, TikTok’s advertising tools are not yet available in Finland.
Social media marketing goals
In strategic marketing, goals should always be set for all measures. So can you start by thinking about which social media marketing goal best supports your business growth?
The most common goals in social media marketing are:
- Drive traffic to your business website
- direct sales website
- Sales in the channel itself
- Company awareness
- Increase company brand awareness and create positive company images for people.
- Communicate the image of the employer
- Engagement with the client
- Increased interaction
Whatever goal you choose, remember that it should ultimately have a positive impact on your business. When the goal is also precisely defined in social media marketing, it is easier to choose a channel.
Only well-done marketing works on social media
Because your goal is to do effective marketing, remember that only with well-done marketing can you expect results. People know how to see through their marketing and only really entertaining or useful marketing works.
Remember to think of your client. Would you be interested in a bad image or a wrong offer? Would you buy a product for which you could find no use? Very few answer yes to both questions.
Think about the angle at which you are going to build your marketing, i.e. plan your marketing strategy carefully.
When you choose the right channel, message and angle, and know how to take advantage of all the essential technical solutions, you stand out from your competition. In this case, you are allowed to wait for the results.
Also, keep in mind that digital marketing needs to be constantly evolving. As you develop the way you work every day, your results will also improve, or at least your competitors won’t.