You know you have an audience using social media. You know social media is a relatively inexpensive way to reach a targeted group of people. But you don’t know how to choose the right platform, or how to make it the right platform.
You have a journey ahead of you. Here are the first steps:
1. Know your brand voice, and stick to it
2. Know your audience, and stay relevant
3. Set your goals, and measure to them
4. Build credibility
5. Understand your brand within specific platforms
That’s right—the first steps are about your business profile, not about a post or a tweet. A well-built business profile can do wonders for your brand, because your social media accounts are basically landing pages for each platform. In that way, you should consider your social accounts as extensions of your store front.
Don’t take Rogue’s word for it: Social Media Examiner stated that 87% of all marketers indicated that their social media efforts have generated more exposure for their businesses.
That’s huge.
Your social media platforms draw people in with relatable or intriguing content, and then funnel that audience towards a specific goal.
Brand Voice is what makes you identifiable—similar to when your friends say, “That sounds like something she’d say,” but this time for your brand. Don’t Coke ads sound like Coke ads? Don’t Apple commercials sound like Apple commercials?
That’s brand voice.
It sets the bar for expectations, and it helps with deliverables and goals by keeping everything cohesively on track. In Sprout Social’s words, “By maintaining your fundamental beliefs across content, advertising and social media posts, you create similar experiences. These recognizable actions help drive people through your marketing funnel.”
You may already have your brand voice figured out. But if you’re looking to tune it up, here are some of the questions we use at Rogue to help clients identify their brand voice:
If you haven’t caught onto your brand voice yet, don’t fret: reference these two articles for inspiration and further assistance.
Your company has invested in several marketing initiatives, like PPC, PR, marketing automation, etc. And you’re gathering data from those efforts by the truckload. Here’s one more way to use the systems you already have in place to know and reach your audience.
When Rogue gets a client’s social media up and running, there are some initial best practices that we follow:
When you know your audience, your brand can create the right content to generate buzz and engage your ideal consumer.
You’ve already learned (and probably mourned) that you can’t put a check-out form on a social media page. So while your CEO may want revenue from social media efforts, you know that social media is at least one step removed from the actual revenue model.
So if you can’t attribute every dollar in new business to a Facebook post, then what do you hope or expect to get out of social media? Consider your brand’s current weaknesses and where your brand could use some improvement.
Rogue’s view of social media is that you should be driving toward a specific goal so that the ROI you measure is defined and clear. No clear goal? No clear ROI. Here are a few examples of how social media can help you drive towards a goal:
Whatever the goal might be, it is achievable through a social media campaign and easier than you might think. Reference this article if you need more goal inspiration.
You know that credibility is trust, and trust is consistency. That’s why your brand’s credibility is built through cohesive content and thorough strategy. When each piece of content connects to your brand’s voice and addresses the right audience, it builds credibility by showing your audience that you understand what they day in and day out.
Rogue starts this process by researching the competitors within your industry on social media to see what they’ve done in the past and how they’ve improved—and where they’re falling short.
Questions to keep in mind:
Brands that have been successful on social have figured out what sets them apart from their competition, and they use it to their advantage in every single way possible. Know who you are, and own it.
Think of social media platforms as individual stores. The audience for the platform is browsing the different “stores” expecting to see a variety of visuals on display that pertain to the “store” they’ve entered. The “stores” for B2B and B2C might mesh and seem to “sell” similar ideas, but they’re all uniquely tailored to specific demographics, mindsets, and aesthetic. You’ve probably already picked several platforms for your brand, and they are the right ones. Here’s how to make the right platforms stay the right platforms.
B2C powerhouses are Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter; while B2B powerhouses are Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Here’s what Rogue always keeps in mind for each post on each platform:
Formatting
Each platform has unique image requirements, which means that as a brand, you should never “recycle” images from one platform to another. Mismatched images that don’t fit your As a company, formatting is important because it shows users that you know how to operate within their realm, and you respect it. It’s professional.
For specifics on formatting, reference this article.
But beyond image dimensions, what should you do with your social images and posts?
A general rule of thumb for Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter is to keep it simple with the captioning while staying on brand. Though each platform caters to specific demographics and mindsets, the general public interacts most with easily digestible messaging that is simple, relatable, and/or useful.
LinkedIn, however, goes in a different direction. Longer posts that examine a concept are more successful that the short, punchy fare that occupies other platforms.
Check out Hootsuite’s blog post on ideal social media post length for more details.
Content Creation
From the topics you address to the look and feel of every image, the consistency—or lack thereof—will make or break your social media account. Many brands will treat their social media accounts like a storage closet where they can throw anything and no one will care.
But that’s not your brand. Your brand is keenly aware that your audience trusts your audience to provide relevant, cohesive content…and you know that trust costs much less to earn than it does to earn back.
Video Length
Video length changes for each platform as well. Hubspot took a plunge into the analytics. They found that users interact best when the video length is as follows:
Keep in mind that these recommendations are different from the limits and allowances per platform. These recommendations are specifically based on user behavior and analytics. In recent years, or rather decades, the human attention span has nose dived from 12 seconds to nearly 6-8. In other words, a consumer’s attention span is now less than that of your average goldfish.
Much like the human attention span, social media platforms are constantly evolving. They enhance their applications and features frequently, which means there is always a new skill to conquer. Knowing your brand, your audience, your goals, and your platform make it easier to keep pace with endless modifications. Stick to who you are as a brand, and create unyielding credibility.
You’ve got this; and when you need help, the team at Rogue is here to help.
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