Whether you’re just getting started with social media marketing, or you’re an experienced marketer, there’s always something new to learn. Asking the right questions can improve your chances of success and help you avoid costly mistakes. In order to help steer you in the right direction, we’ve compiled a list of some common social media questions you might be dying to ask.
1. Do I Have to Be on Every Social Network?
Answer: No.
O Social media activity is seen by everyone in a user’s network (and sometimes the entire public), allowing people to re-post/share posts, causing the posts to be seen by even more people.
Here’s why: As tempting as it is to increase your visibility by jumping on every social network, a lot of times it’s too much to take on. Instead of creating accounts just for the sake having a profile, get strategic with the networks you choose.
An easy way to figure out which social networks to be on is by simply asking where’s my audience’s attention? If they’re not on Pinterest, there’s no need to spend a bunch of time and energy there. Check out our social media marketing guide to help decide which network is best for your brand.
Another good litmus test for which networks to choose is by asking yourself what value you can bring to the network. If you can’t create content that people on the network want to see, put your efforts elsewhere.
For instance, if you have the time and resources to make outstanding videos, then you should definitely have a presence on YouTube so you can share those videos across the networks your audience loves most. If you don’t have the bandwidth for video production, get off of YouTube and don’t feel guilty about not being there.
Remember, you don’t have to take on everything at once. Start out with one or two profiles. If you see success and have time to expand, then slowly add other networks.
2. Do My Social Media Handles Have to Be Consistent?
Answer: Yes.
Here’s why: Not only will it be easier for you to promote your social media handles if they’re consistent, but it will also be easier for fans to find and tag you. When usernames are different across every network, it can get confusing. If you Tweet an Instagram image but you have two different usernames, it complicates things. Inevitably, someone will tag your Twitter name on Instagram or your Instagram name on Twitter and you’ll miss opportunities for engagement.
Today it’s not only domain names that matter; usernames are just as, if not more, valuable in terms of digital real estate. Sites like Knowem tell you whether or not your desired username is available across multiple networks.
If your first choice isn’t available, don’t despair. Get creative. And it’s okay if your social media usernames are slightly different than your URL. What’s more important is that your usernames are consistent across each network. For instance, the toothbrush subscription company Quip was unable to get the username Quip on social media. So instead, they used GetQuip and kept it consistent across all their social channels.
If your exact username isn’t available, don’t sweat it. Use an alternative like “Companyhq” or “getCompany.” One thing you should avoid is adding numbers, characters, underscores or phrases that have nothing to do with your business. Keep your usernames as simple as possible.
3. What Type of Content Should I Share?
Answer: The type of content your audience wants to see.
Here’s why: It all comes down to knowing your ideal customer. If you have a solid understanding of their lifestyle, desires and pain points, it will become much easier to create or find relevant content they’re likely to enjoy and share.
Beyond that, start following influencers in your industry who create outstanding content and share their stuff. Or you can use it to inspire you to write a few blog posts or conversation starters that riff off the topic or expand upon it. You can also search relevant hashtags or check out what’s trending on Twitter and Instagram to understand what people are talking about right now, then join in on those conversations.
Idea generation is the hardest part, so let your audience do it for you. Talk to your followers or ideal customers and ask them what they would like to see. You can also ask your employees to contribute one blog post per month. When you divvy up the work, it becomes less stressful and more thoughtful.
Find out what your customers are talking about with Sprout’s social media listening
Whether you’re trying to stay ahead of a fast-moving industry or looking to build more detailed audience personas, social listening provides a trove of valuable insights.
Set up filters that help you catch conversations around everything from untagged or unusually spelled mentions of your brand and products to posts about the hottest topics in your niche.
Start your free trial to learn more about how social media listening and monitoring features in Sprout’s platform can take your content planning to the next level.
4. How Often Should I Post?
Answer: It depends.
Here’s why: Your posting frequency depends on your resources and audience. Your goal is to get quality content that your audience will love in front of as many eyes as possible. Never sacrifice quality for quantity.
It’s better to put nothing out there than to publish content that’s subpar. If that means you can only post on Facebook three times per week—but they are three really good posts that get a lot of engagement—that’s perfectly acceptable. Just find a consistent schedule that you can maintain.
If you’re struggling to publish on a consistent basis, you can always repurpose content. For instance, if you made a YouTube video, take 30-second segments of it and post them on Instagram. Old blog posts can be Retweeted with new phrasing and imagery.
In fact, you can set a strategy in which every blog post gets shared across every network on day one, a repeat on Twitter on day three, a repeat on Facebook on day eight and so on.
If you share the same content across networks, each post should be phrased differently. For example, LinkedIn doesn’t use hashtags, so you wouldn’t want to copy and paste something from Twitter. An infographic might perform better on Pinterest than on Facebook.
You’ll have to track what kind of content and format does best on each network using social media analytics software. Take that data into consideration when publishing on each platform.
5. What’s the Best Time to Post?
Answer: It depends.
Here’s why: We actually have an entire post on the best times to post to social media. The reality is there is no single best time to post. It all depends on the network you’re using and when your audience is most active.
It’s going to take a little trial and error to get your timing down. A good idea is to use Sprout to schedule your content to be shared at different times and days of the week.
Then dig into your analytics to see which posts are getting the most engagement to get an idea of when the best time to post is for your audience, on each specific network.
6. How Do I Get More Followers?
Answer: By giving people a reason to follow you.
Here’s why: Regardless of which network you’re talking about, it’s the quality not quantity of followers that matters. You need followers who will actually engage with your content, not just add to your follower count.
Since people are bombarded with content from all over the place, you have to give them a compelling enough reason to follow you. You’re not just asking people to follow you. You’re asking for their attention which is a limited resource. Why should they give their attention to you instead of someone else?
There are plenty of ways to earn their attention. For instance, Taco Bell gets people to follow them on Snapchat by sharing exclusive content that fans can’t see anywhere else.
Another approach is to share exclusive industry news and events. This tactic works particularly well on Twitter because 86% of users use it to get news. NFL insider Ian Rapoport gained over 1 million Twitter followers by being a reputable source of the latest news in the NFL.
Another popular tactic is to share coupons, deals and giveaways exclusively for social media followers. National Geographic recently launched their Wild to Inspire Instagram contest where users had to submit videos that showcase wildlife or people making a difference for animals in the wild.
Beyond that, using appropriate hashtags (especially on Instagram) and potentially partnering with influencers for co-marketing campaigns to expand your reach are great ways to get engaged followers. Also, Remember that social media is a conversation, not a broadcast. Respond to your followers and interact with them. Go where they are. Get involved.
7. Does Social Media Affect SEO?
Answer: It can, but indirectly.
Here’s why: One common misconception about social media and SEO is that getting your content shared on social media will help improve your rankings. Google has flat out stated it doesn’t count social shares in its algorithm. Social shares are easy to manipulate, so they aren’t the most reliable metric to decide the value of a piece of content.
However, social media can still help your SEO efforts indirectly. You can use social media to network with influencers like bloggers, editors and journalists. These are all people that can potentially link to your website in their own content, which can help your SEO.
By using social media to build relationships with the right people, you can even land guest blogging or interview opportunities. Just be cautious of spamming people. You don’t want to come right out the gate begging people to link to your content. Instead, build relationships organically by liking, sharing and replying to their content. Build familiarity first, then when the time feels right look for an opportunity to work together.
8. Should I Connect With Everyone?
Answer: No.
Here’s why: You don’t always have to “follow back” on Twitter or Instagram or accept every LinkedIn request. Why? Because you’re curating a network. Who you follow says as much about your brand as who follows you. It’s ok to be selective about who you follow.
Here are some ideas on who to follow:
- Users you’re genuinely interested in hearing from
- Influencers you’re trying to build a relationships with
- Loyal customers
- People who frequently engage with you on social media or share your content
The downside of following a bunch of people is it makes it difficult to sort through your feed and see the most important messages like mentions of your brand or products. A good workaround is to use a social media management tool to manage your incoming messages. Sprout’s Smart Inbox makes it extremely easy to isolate messages that require a response.
Also keep in mind that you don’t have to follow people to engage with them. You Like Tweets or Instagram posts or leave comments whether you follow them or not.
9. Should I Pay for Social Media Advertising?
Answer: Probably.
Here’s why: On a platform like Facebook, you have to “pay to play” in many cases. In 2016 alone, organic reach dropped 52% for publishers. And with Twitter and Instagram following in the footsteps of Facebook with an algorithmic feed, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to get your content seen organically.
Whether or not you decide to try your hand at social media advertising will depend largely on your budget. If you can afford to spend some money to promote content on social media, it might be worth experimenting with. Decide on how much you’re willing or able to spend first, then create an advertising strategy within it.
Facebook is by far the most popular platform marketers use for social media advertising. In Social Media Examiner’s Social Media Marketing Industry Report, 84% of respondents said they use Facebook ads. However, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram (via Facebook), YouTube and other networks offer advertising as well. Feel free to test out different platforms to see which works best for you.
In addition to getting engagement on your posts and growing your follower count, you can also use social media advertising to generate leads, grow your email list or get more eyes on a piece of content.
10. Do I Need an Editorial Calendar?
Answer: Yes.
Here’s why: If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
An editorial calendar is a necessary step in bringing your strategy to life. It can help you stay on track and consistent in messaging across various networks. It can also help you create quality content by planning ahead. When you see the entire month across all networks in one place, it’s easier to edit the copy for strength and consistency.
Also, when you’re planning ahead, you have a better chance of maximizing your impact on social media. You’ll have time to plan a distribution strategy for any upcoming content, instead of doing everything as it happens. For instance, if you know you’re going to launch a contest or sale at the end of the month, reach out to influencers in advance and gain some momentum.
Content will be more likely to go viral if you’ve already lined up influencers to Tweet about your product launch or big announcement the same time you do. Check out this post that outlines four steps for creating a social media editorial calendar.
11. What’s My Social Media ROI?
Answer: The amount you earned from your social campaigns, minus the amount you invested.
Here’s why: Social media ROI can be a tricky subject, and 41% of companies say they have no idea whether or not their social efforts are paying off at all. But calculating the ROI isn’t as difficult as you might think. Read our guide on how to measure social media ROI for a complete step-by-step walk-through.
Keep in mind ROI might look different depending on your goals. If you’re using social media to get leads, your return won’t be the same as it would if you were using it to build brand awareness.
12. I’m in a “Boring” Industry, Do I Still Need Social Media?
Answer: Yes.
Here’s why: Social media isn’t just reserved for athletes, fashion brands and retailers. When it comes to marketing, your goal is to reach your target audience where they’re paying the most attention. And for the past 10+ years, that has been social media. A whopping 78% of Americans have at least one social media profile, so there’s a strong chance your target customers are on at least one of the major networks.
If you’re unsure which network to reach your audience on, we’ve compiled a list of the demographics of some of the most popular social networks. That’ll give you a nice starting point, but also make sure you dive in and get familiar with any network you’re interested in joining.
Remember, social media isn’t an advertising platform for you shout your message as loudly as possible. Instead, use it as a platform to educate and entertain your audience.
For instance, taxes are about as boring as it gets for most non-accounting people. But H&R Block puts together fun social media campaigns that don’t make you cringe at the thought of tax season.
13. Is It OK to Share Promotional Content?
Answer: Yes, but don’t overdo it.
Here’ why: There’s a fine line between using social media to promote your brand, and spamming. If every other Tweet from your company is promoting your products and services, you risk losing your audience. Our Q3 2016 Index found that posting too many promotions is the most annoying action brands take on social media.
Not only that, but 46% of people are willing to unfollow a brand for sending too many promotional messages.
There’s no magic ratio of promotional to non-promotional social media content you should share. You’ll have to find the right cadence for your audience. To be on the safe side, aim to share much more non-promotional content than promotional.
14. Do I Need a Social Media Management Tool?
Answer: Yes.
Here’s why: Native social media apps are great for personal use. In fact, it’s what they were made for. But as a business, your needs are a little different. You often need to schedule content in advance, look at in-depth analytics to measure performance and work in teams. The native social media platforms weren’t built for that, which is the reason why social media management tools like Sprout Social exist.
If social media is an important part of your business (it definitely should be) then you need the right tools to work more efficiently and effectively.
15. Should I Outsource My Social Media Marketing?
Answer: It depends.
Here’s why: For brands that don’t have the resources to put together social media campaigns from scratch, working with an agency can be a smart move. Social media agencies understand the nuances of different networks, and can often help you be much more effective.
On the flip side, you don’t want to take a completely hands-off approach. That’s why often times social media agencies prefer to work with clients, rather than completely take over everything. Nobody knows your brand like you, so you should always have a hand in your social efforts. But there’s nothing wrong with getting help from specialists.
Have a question that’s not answered here? Comment below or Tweet us and we’ll see if we can answer it for you. Remember, there’s no such thing as a dumb question, so ask away!
CHAPTER
04
If marketing is about putting your message where your audience hangs out (which it is), then social media is a no brainer.
That said, many businesses fail to fully leverage social media in their marketing plans. They dabble, sure, but their strategic efforts end with content and advertising.
That's a big mistake, and here's why...
Today, 79% of US internet users are on Facebook. Six out of ten Americans stay updated on news through social media, while 35% have used social media to look for or research a job.
And these same numbers are reflected worldwide. Is it any wonder marketers are going social to grow their business?
The trouble is that 'going social' isn't as easy as it looks. There’s a lot more to social media marketing than simply posting to Facebook and Twitter.
In this chapter, we cover the basics of a successful social media program, including methods and metrics, the business roles that should own your social media marketing, and the lingo you’ll use to talk about it.
Keep in mind, there’s a big difference between a social media manager and a community manager. (Yes, both manage social media efforts, but their focus is different.) Learn more in our article, Social Media Manager vs. Community Manager.
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Methods of Well-Executed Social Media Marketing
There are 4 stages in a successful social cycle:
- Listening
- Influencing
- Networking
- Selling
The social success cycle has 4 stages, beginning with listening.
All 4 of these stages are key to reaching social media success. But all of it hinges on Stage 1: Social Listening.
Listening gives you the insights you need to perform the other 3 stages well. It helps you develop a strategy that will give you influence, a strong network, and lots of leads and sales.
The key, of course, is to get your information in front of your prospects and customers where they hang out online. For most businesses, that includes one or more of these top social networking sites.
If you’re worried about the time drain that social media can be, don’t worry. Social media marketing isn’t about hanging out with your prospects and customers. It’s about executing the social cycle while minimizing costs—which means you need to master the methods and metrics for all 4 of the stages.
1. Social Listening
As with any marketing strategy, you need to start with your target audience. That’s why social media marketing starts with listening.
This is key to creating a successful social strategy.
Whether you’re paying attention or not, people are talking about you and reaching out to you on the social web. They’re sharing their experiences with your products. They’re talking about the things you’re saying or doing. They’re even asking you questions.
Whether you're paying attention or not, people are talking about you on the social web.
Some comments, like these, are positive. You’ll want to celebrate them—and respond with a great big thank-you.
Negative comments need immediate attention.
Other comments aren’t so positive (and some are downright negative). They need immediate attention so followers know you’re present and accessible.
It’s a lot like customer support. And in the same way, it can help or hurt your public perception.
Every day, your social phone is ringing.
If you don’t answer, it leaves a bad impression. On the social web, it’s a bit like leaving your customer service lines unattended.
But when you do answer the call, listening and responding appropriately, you can connect with your fans and followers, find and fix issues you may not be aware of, and build incredible good will.
The key, of course, is to make listening your #1 priority and use your insights to inform the other 3 stages of the social success cycle.
Goals of Social Listening
What are you listening for? When tuning in to social conversations, your goals are to:
- Track public perception of your brand.
- Identify the topics you need to be talking about.
- Keep a pulse on the industry, where it’s going, how it’s being perceived.
- Perform customer research.
- Conduct competitive research.
When social listening, you’re tuning into 5 key bits of information.
In particular, pay attention to these 5 things:
- Your brand – Watch for mentions of your company name, your products, or any other identifying information.
Example: Apple might watch for mentions of the Apple watch or anything related to iOS. - Topics relevant to your industry – You want to stay on top of the pulse of your industry. So listen to the topics people are bringing up, their questions, and their hot buttons.
Example: Apple might follow conversations around wearable tech or smartphone cameras. - Your competitors – What’s being said about them? Is it positive or negative? And what are your competitors saying about you?
Example: Apple’s competitors might be Android or Jeff Bezos. They’d be wise to watch for mentions of them. - Influencers – Listen for the topics thought leaders and influencers are talking about, and look at the content they’re producing. They’re all clues for where the industry is moving.
Example: Apple should probably keep an eye on GigaONE and John Gruber. - Public facing people in your company – Watch for mentions of your leaders and influencers. What’s being said? Is it positive or negative?
Example: Mentions of Tim Cook and Arthur Levinson can reveal public perception of the Apple brand.
Your aim is to tune into the pulse of public sentiment towards your brand, your industry, and the topics that relate to your brand. In a sense, it’s reputation management. But it can also help you perform real-time customer service and identify product or content gaps that need to be filled.
Putting Your Listening to Work
Listening is only half of the equation. You also need to respond to the things you see and hear.
A strategic 'feedback loop' is the best way to do this.
What is a feedback loop? It’s a process you create for your teams to use when addressing issues that arise during social listening. It clearly maps out the people or departments that issues should be routed to and who has responsibility for resolving them.
Here’s how it works...
You put a social media manager (or team member) in place, actively listening.
When your social listener sees a complaint or issue, say in Twitter, they'll perform 'triage'—responding with an empathetic 'you've been heard' response—and then route the issue to the proper team. This happens within 12 hours of the complaint/issue.
Once the issue has been forwarded to the appropriate person, this specialist will then respond to the issue, aiming to resolve it completely within 24 hours.
Here’s why it works...
Having a social media listener is well and good, but in the real world, they often don’t have the specialized knowledge or authority to resolve the issues that will arise. And sometimes they don’t know who should take care of those issues, either.
That’s how issues get overlooked and forgotten, resulting in untold damage to your brand.
But with your feedback loop, that won’t happen. This flowchart clearly maps out the most appropriate departments for resolving different issues. For example:
- Who in Customer Care will handle customer service issues.
- Who on the Content team will handle content issues.
- Who on the Product team will handle product issues.
So your social listener knows exactly who to alert when issues arise, and your social media team is able to quickly respond to anything they see.
Let’s break this down into 3 basic steps.
The 3-Step Social Customer Service Plan
For social media marketing to work, you need to make it human and authentic. Even when you’re dealing with a complaint, your aim is to align yourself with the person, de-escalate the situation, and provide a compassionate, human touch.
Here’s the 3-step process for doing that:
- Respond quickly. Social media moves quickly. Make sure you perform triage within 12 hours and resolve issues within 24 hours.
- Empathize. Make an empathetic statement as soon as possible: 'I'm sorry you ran into this,' 'I know this is frustrating,' or 'I can understand how important this is to you.'
- Move it to a private channel. If you can’t solve the issue in a sentence or two, take it off public channels. Private messaging, email, or a phone call allow you to talk in detail without the rest of your followers adding their two cents to the discussion.
This approach demonstrates that you’re listening. It also allows you to express compassion. And by moving the conversation to a private channel, you make people feel as if you’re committed to giving them a real solution.
Metrics to Watch
What should you measure to track your social listening efforts?
- Reputation score (AKA sentiment level). Are people happy or sad when talking about you? Is the tone negative or positive?
- Retention rate. Are you retaining customers (and followers)? If not, why?
- Refund rate. Are you able to resolve issues without having to issue refunds?
- Product gaps identified. What suggestions are people making for new product features?
- Content gaps identified. What content should you develop to answer questions and resolve issues before they arise?
EXTRA: Read more about social listening and Feedback Loops here: https://www.digitalmarketer.com/social-listening/
2. Social Influencing
At this stage, your aim is to lead and direct your followers’ opinions, attitudes, and behaviors. And since you’ve been listening, it’s relatively easy. You already know the trending topics and conversations taking place, so adding your authority voice is the natural next step.
What are the signs that your influence is growing?
- You get more engagement – people retweeting or sharing your posts, and people responding to your posts.
- Your traffic numbers increase – people click on your links.
- You develop a greater mindshare – people share their questions, thoughts, and opinions with you, and they eagerly seek interaction with you.
- You become a recognized authority and a brand people watch.
Keep in mind, this stage of the success cycle is influenced by the social listening you did in Stage 1. But the reality is that you’ll continue listening at every stage. In fact, once the cycle is going, you’ll perform every stage every day.
Goals for Social Influencing
During this phase of the social success cycle, you’re trying to:
- Increase engagement with your brand and your content.
- Start conversations around the topics related to your business.
- Boost traffic to your site.
- Build awareness of your products and offers.
- Grow your retargeting list.
Retargeting is an advanced tactic that can significantly boost your bottom line. To learn more about retargeting (or remarketing), read The Remarketing Grid: The Science of Ad Retargeting Audience Segmentation.
Metrics to Watch
How do you know you’re building your social influence? These are the metrics that matter most:
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- Site engagement rates. Are you getting more social shares and comments?
- Traffic by channel. Traffic from your social media channels should increase over time.
- Offer awareness. People see and respond to the offers you make in social media.
- Retargeting list growth. Through retargeting, you’re able to get your offers in front of people who are most likely to buy from you—and they respond by downloading your lead magnets and subscribing.
Need help boosting traffic from social media? The key is to leverage your blog posts in social channels. This post gives you a 6-step process for socializing a blog post.
3. Social Networking
It’s at this stage of the social cycle that you connect with other influencers and authorities and begin to move the needle.
Social networking is important for all businesses, whether you’re just getting started, scaling, or expanding into new markets.
It may help to think of social networking as a live event—except your interactions are online rather than face-to-face. After all, networking is networking, no matter where (or how) it happens. And it can lead to deep and lasting relationships, both with your followers and potential partners.
The Process of Social Networking
Each time you publish an article on your blog, produce a new piece of content, or have a new offer, you’ll create social media posts designed for the channels you’re posting to (think “native” content) that get the word out.
You’ll share valuable content from peers and, yes, even your competitors. If it relates to your brand’s primary topic and helps your followers, it’s worth sharing. You’ll also engage with people one-on-one, both asking and answering questions.
That’s it.
Now let’s look at this process in action.
Here’s one of our own articles, which we shared in Facebook and Twitter. Notice that each post is appropriate for the channel.
We also post conversational posts, like this one from our Twitter stream:
Conversational Twitter posts
But we also want to share content that would help beginning digital marketers. After all, they may someday become our customers. So we share back-to-basics content and useful information from other brands.
Take these, for example:
This post from ThinkwithGoogle aligns with our values.
Email marketing is one of the core competencies we teach, so this post from MailChimp is a good fit.
By adopting a similar approach, you won’t just attract happy followers, though you’ll have plenty of those. By sharing useful content from other brands, you’ll build good will and strong alliances with the brands you share.
For example, we’ve consistently shared content from Content Marketing Institute, Buffer, and MarketingProfs. Initially, that led to a robust network. But some of those relationships have turned into strong partnerships, as well.
Your Goals for Social Networking
During this stage of the social success cycle, your aim is to:
- Share content that fills gaps left from your own content. This content may relate topically or target people at different skill levels.
- Create good will with brands that are similar to yours.
- Over time, transform that good will into profitable partnerships.
Metrics to Watch
To measure the strength of your social network, watch these metric:
- Number of inbound links. A strong network will result in more backlinks to your content.
- Number and description of earned media mentions. Consider the relevance and value of the mentions, who they come from, and the value of those mentions.
- Number and description of earned strategic partnerships. Are you reaching out to partnership prospects, or are they reaching out to you? How relevant are those brands to your business, and what is the value of those relationships?
Getting more clicks from social media requires irresistible headlines. Steal from this headline swipe file.
4. Social Selling
The fourth and final stage of the social success cycle is social selling.
This is where social media marketing gets interesting. Finally, after listening to your prospects, building authority in your space, and establishing a strong network, you can start putting your offers in front of people—and converting them.
What does good social selling look like?
Good social selling integrates with your funnels
The short answer is funnels. But you’ll use multiple channels for getting people into those funnels, from blogging to retargeting to pay-per-click advertising.
So, for instance, you’ll lead with blog content that’s perfectly targeted to your audience, and in that content, you’ll embed an opt-in offer. Then you’ll promote the content in social media (leveraging Stages 2 and 3 of this cycle).
Your social promotion will direct traffic to your content, where they’ll see your offer. If they respond, you’ll immediately make an upsell offer—a low-priced product designed to convert your new lead quickly into a customer. We call that entry-level product a tripwire.
But what if a visitor doesn’t respond to your offer?
You’ll retarget them with a relevant ad, so they receive multiple touches that could lead to a conversion after they leave your site. The ad takes them to a funnel, where they’re offered the same (or a related) lead magnet—and then an entry-level product.
Of course, you should also try to upsell and cross-sell to existing customers.
Upsell and cross-sell to existing customers.
For example, if they buy a patio cover, they’re probably in the market for patio furniture. Retarget them with the next logical offer.
The point is this: Don’t simply create one offer. Create a buying path that boosts the lifetime value of every customer.
Goals for Social Selling
Your goals at this stage are to:
- Generate leads to grow your email list.
- Acquire new customers and upsell/cross-sell existing customers.
- Increase buyer frequency, turning one-time customers into raving fans.
Metrics to Watch
To track your success at social selling, watch these metrics:
- Number of leads. Over time, your email list show grow.
- Offer conversion rate. Are your offers converting? Maybe your offer isn’t relevant or isn’t close enough to your prospects’ bottom-line desire.
- Buyer recency / frequency. You want customers to buy repeatedly and often.
We’ve covered the metrics you should watch for each stage of the social cycle, but maybe you’d like more information. For a deep dive into metrics and social ROI, read 7 Ways to Actually Track Social Media ROI.
Relevant Roles in Social Media Marketing
Once you understand the basics of social media marketing, you need to identify the people who will be responsible for managing your success.
There’s no right answer. It will depend on your organization and goals. But in most cases, you’ll find your best solution in one of three departments.
Marketing
Marketing and social media integrate so closely, it’s hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. And most marketers are already involved in social media since it gives them the 3 things they need to do their job well:
- Customer insights.
- Understanding of the trends and conversations influencing their prospects.
- A powerful channel for disrupting the status quo.
Because they’re already actively participating in social media, marketing professionals could be a good fit for managing/directing your social media efforts.
Sales
Like marketing, successful sales depends on being relevant and current. Salespeople often use social media to engage with prospects, identify talking points, and figure out what matters most to people evaluating their products.
That being the case, someone on your sales team may be a good fit for managing/directing your social media program.
Public Relations
Public relations is another good option for taking responsibility of your social media. PR is all about creating a positive brand perception, and it’s already customer centric, which makes it social by default.
Community Manager
One last source to consider is your community manager, if you have one.
Social media is about being present and truly engaging with your fans and followers. That’s pretty much the definition of a community manager.
If you already have an active social community, your community manager could be a good fit for taking on your social media efforts. They already create, maintain, and encourage member-to-member relationships. As your social media manager/director, they’ll simply scale those efforts.
The Lingo You’ll Use in Your Social Cycle
Knowing the lingo will help you communicate what you’re doing with other professionals. Here are 5 terms you need to know.
'Value First' Offer
Social media marketing is really just another channel for your marketing, which means you’re creating an environment where you can make successful offers.
Offers that are appropriate for social channels include:
- Valuable content. Link to content that has embedded offers and CTAs.
- Lead magnets, or opt-in offers. These are designed to get cold traffic into your funnels.
- Tripwires, or deep-discount offers. Use these to upsell and cross-sell new and existing customers.
Feedback Loop
You need a system where complaints, praise, and other useful comments “heard” during social listening are routed to the correct person in your organization.
This makes it easy to apply the 3-step social customer service plan:
- Acknowledge the concerns.
- Forward the issue to the right person.
- Take the issue off public channels and resolve it in a timely manner.
Social Media Bouncing
Much of the success of social media marketing is the frequency of 'touches.' If you’re on more than one social channel, and people see you on multiple channels, you create a j-curve of exposure.
That’s what we call social media bouncing: A social media follower on one channel is exposed to your brand on another channel.
Take Taco Bell, for example.
First, you see them on a billboard.
Here at @tacobell we appreciate naked chicks! pic.twitter.com/Axs45jIvAa
— Jr.? (@JaredRowland1) May 12, 2017Then you follow them on Twitter.
Then you click through to their site or a Buzzfeed post where you see them yet again.
Your goal is the same—to engage with your followers on all your channels, fully immersing them in your brand.
Social Media Topic Map
Two keys to successful marketing are relevance and focus. Your topic map helps you stay 'on brand' with both. As a bonus, by narrowing the topics you post about, you actually increase engagement.
Here’s how it works...
Take your brand, the products/services you offer, and your primary message. Then figure out the topics and subject matter that are 'on brand' to discuss on social channels.
For example, for a health insurance company, the topic map would include the primary topic, insurance. But it could also include financial management and health.
Read more about topic maps here. https://www.digitalmarketer.com/increase-social-media-engagement/
Long-tail Media Outreach
This is the process of earning mentions from lots of small media players (bloggers, podcasters, etc.) instead of a small number of large media players.
You see, traffic may surge after a mention by a large-media player, but it will soon return to normal. Smaller media channels, on the other hand, have a more targeted audience that’s a better fit—and their audiences actually listen to them.
As a result, a few mentions from these smaller players can give you higher quality leads that actually convert. You may not get traffic surges, but your bottom line will get a boost.
The strategy? Figure out who the influencers are in your space, who’s listening to them, and whether they’re competitors or potential partners. Then build relationship with the small players who are a good fit for targeted outreach.
Your Social Media Success Metrics
We’ve talked about specific metrics for tracking the 4 stages of your social cycle, but there are a few more metrics that can show you whether you’re nailing your social media strategy overall. Here are 3 you need to watch.
Applause Rate
Every social share and mention is a form of applause. Because let’s face it, no one shares something they don’t perceive as valuable.
Measure the sum total of all social shares (Facebook, Likes, Tweets, LinkedIn shares, etc.) and comments on a piece of content.
Traffic by Channel
It’s important to know where your traffic is coming from. So use a tool like BuzzSumo that can measure your social traffic by channel.
Lots of engagement indicates you’ve found a topic your audience resonates with. Low engagement tells you you’ve missed the mark.
Ideally, you want to know who likes your content and how often it’s being shared. From that, you can figure out what’s working and where you need to improve.
Conversions from Social Media
Once you know the traffic that’s coming from social channels, the next step is to calculate your conversions from social media.
You want to know the percentage of visits from social media that take the action you’re driving on a web page. For that, the formula is:
[traffic from social media] divided by [total traffic]
Ultimately, this is the number you want to impact. The higher your conversion rate, the more successful your social media marketing is.
Bottom Line
Like it or not, we live in a social world. Your customers are on the social web, sharing experiences and opinions related to you, your brand, and your industry.
Are you listening?
The approach we’ve shared in this chapter will help you create a strategic social media plan that helps you keep up with the conversations taking place online, as well as getting you in front of your customers—and helping you lead, engage with, and sell to them.
But there's another (more direct) way for you to have conversations with your prospects and customers: email. And it's a vital piece of your digital marketing strategy.
Email is hands-down the most effective way to move prospects through the Customer Journey. It's also your ticket to loyal customers and repeat sales. So don't miss it.