There are so many different ideas out there on how to successfully run a social media campaign. There are also guidelines that you should follow to be able to get the most ROI on your campaign.
I am not here to tell you what to do and what not to do, just here for a little support. I want to give some insight on what a great social media campaign encompasses and how to run a successful social media campaign.
What does a Successful Social Media Campaign Consist of?
First off, a great social media campaign is nothing without a great, overall, inbound marketing campaign. These two go hand in hand. Inbound marketing, for those who don’t know what I am talking about, is a synchronization of blogging, SEO (Search Engine Optimization), PPC (Pay-per-click advertising), website optimization, video, analytics, conversion rate optimization, and social media. This is just the base of inbound, but there is much more to it.
Through inbound marketing, social media makes sense. The goal with inbound marketing is to not interrupt the customer, but to lead the customer to you and your site (A.K.A. Business). Social Media, when done well, will do this.
The reason why I say that inbound marketing and social media work so well together is because social media runs through every aspect of inbound. An example is blogging.
If you blog (which should always be a “YES”), you can post your blog throughout social, as well as link your social media into your blog posts. You can also add social media links to your website. As well, social media citations are a part of SEO. Facebook is a very popular citation.
Lastly, you have your Facebook, and other social media ads, which are PPC. You see how it all flows? That's why it's so important to have everything in sync.
Who's P.A.T.R.I.C.K. ?
Now let's get to the good stuff. I have created an acronym to better demonstrate how to be on top of your social media game. This acronym is P.A.T.R.I.C.K.. Every letter symbolizes some sort of guideline to be effective, and successful, over social media.
Purpose: Every post has to have a purpose. Do not post just to post. Have an objective and a point you want to get across. Basically, don’t post garbage with no meaning.
Alter: Every social media platform has a different purpose and a different audience. So posting on multiple networks, and altering your content for that network, is a great way to reach multiple target markets.
Now, not every platform will suit every type of business so you will have to be aware of that as well.
Another thing you should be very aware of is your buyer persona and what they would like to see on their timeline. This is because it’s not about you and what you want to see, it is about your buyer.
Time: Again, by doing some research, figure out what your market and buyer personas are. Find out what times are most convenient for your target audience to be on social media and to see what you are posting.
You do not want to be posting all of your information at 3am, when your buyer persona/market is not active on social media until around 10 am. This means their timeline will fill up with other information since your post and you are basically wasting your time and content. So the scheduling of your posts is very important.
Relevance: This here, is a tricky one. You want all of your content to be relevant to your business. At the same time, it is ok to post irrelevant content once in a while.
A good way to do this is to post a tweet or something about breaking news, pop culture, a special holiday, or things along those lines.
If your content becomes to irrelevant all the time, you will lose followers because they follow you for reason; and that reason is not to be getting live updates on the world 24/7. They want to know about your business!
Intelligence: It is always a good idea to try and educate your customers or clients.
Everybody likes to learn more about what they are interested in. Therefore, if they follow you that means they are interested, so they want to learn! Post articles and information about new products, new additions to the company, ect. to educate your buyers.
Consistent: You need to be consistently posting. You can’t be updating your status, posting pictures, and tweeting randomly. This is how you lose followers.
On the other hand, you don't really want to be posting obnoxiously either. This will also lead to fewer followers since they will feel “bombarded” with information, and their feeds will be blown up. This is especially irritating when the information is irrelevant or has no point.
All content has to be consistent and smooth. Then your followers will be more loyal.
Kindness: Be kind. I don’t mean in the way of don’t hurt others feelings over social media (even though you shouldn’t). I mean kind as in that old saying, “treat others how you want to be treated”.
Let me explain: Post other peoples content too. Do not just post your own and be selfish! This will entice others to post your content too.
As well, in return with posting other content you will gain followers and respect as a company. So..….. treat others (post their content) the way you want to be treated (you want others to post your content). It is good karma and it is being “kind” over social media.
Well, there it is; the P.A.T.R.I.C.K. of social media. Social media for business if very important and all of these tips and guidelines will guarantee a great social media campaign. Along with being combined with a strong inbound campaign, your business is on its way to take over the world (or Google).
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