What worked for your business on social media in the past — even six months ago — will probably not work today.
Social media is constantly changing, and keeping up with the latest trends and growth strategies is a full-time job. So in this episode of One Next Step, BELAY Social Media Strategist Jessica Doehling provides a state of the union on social media.
She breaks down the biggest trends, explains how to determine which platforms you should focus on, and gives an overview of the most important things to include in a social media strategy.
Whether you’re running your socials or just want to better understand the landscape your marketing team is working in, this conversation is packed with useful information.
Here are some takeaways I shared:
1. To succeed on social media, you need to set aside some budget for social media.
You need to pay to play. Organic growth is much less common than it used to be, and the brands that are succeeding are typically boosting their posts or paying for ads.
You need to set aside an ad budget to reach the people who are looking for you. The most successful brands are doing this and increasing their social media ad budgets. This can look like boosting your top-performing social media posts or ads – or both.
2. Short-form video is king and allows you to put a face to the brand.
Video is not just reserved for TikTok; it’s one of the best ways to build a personal connection with your audience on most platforms. Think: YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels.
These videos put a face to your brand. And people don’t connect with brands; they connect with people. When you’re showing your face, more trust is being built, and that allows for more engagement.
When you know who your audience is and who you’re trying to serve, you’ll be able to know what kinds of things they want to hear about and what videos you can create for them.
3. Make things easy for your customer.
Allow social selling, e-commerce, and customer service on your social media accounts. Linking your audience to your website or link in bio is starting to create more work for your customer.
Give them all of the information they need for you to make a sale in a post or on your feed.
4. To start your social media strategy, focus on creating these resources for your company.
Make sure you have the foundational documents that will make it easier for your social media manager to manage your platforms. This includes brand guidelines, voice guidelines, community guidelines and FAQs.
Building these types of documents that will serve your internal team is crucial.
When you build a brand guide, this should clearly define your messaging, your mission, your vision and your target audience. This document not only serves your social media strategy but serves everyone in your company.
Once you have these resources, begin solidifying your target audience. And then determine how your brand interacts with your audience.
You can do this by creating profiles of people from the demographic of your target audience. You will then know exactly who you are speaking to when you’re creating your social media content.