Jennifer Wallace
Want to know how to get the biggest bang for your buck with social media marketing (SMM)? So do I! In this post, we’ll explore why it’s important to stay relevant, how to choose your platforms, and tools that can help along the way.
1. Do Research on Your Target Audience
Ever tried talking to someone you don’t know? It’s awkward, right? Before any marketing effort, you need to research your target audience.
Things to find out about your target audience:
- Age range
- Gender
- Ethnicity
- Location
- Marital status
- Family dynamics
- Other brands, etc. they’re interested in
The more you can learn about your target audience, the easier it will be to hone in on them.
2. What Platform(s) Should You Choose?
While some advocate that marketing efforts are as widespread as possible, I don’t hold to that view. It sounds utterly exhausting, and each platform has its own quirks and things that work. It’s very hard to genericize a post so it’ll work across all platforms, and if you do, you run the risk of not standing out.
I prefer to stick to 1-2 (three, at the most) social media platforms and do them really well. (By the way, this isn’t even my idea – it’s someone else’s. Probably someone on LinkedIn. I thought Luke Matthews said it but I have no proof.)
After all, business owners are busy – so starting small will help you make a bigger impact. So how do you choose which platforms to use? Revisit the research you did! See what platforms line up best with the target audience you want to reach, and start doing that.
(Still not sure where to start? Check out this awesome Hootsuite post that breaks down social media demographics by platform!)
3. Start with the Right Goal: Relevance
There are plenty of people smarter than I am about social media marketing, and do you know what they say? That most businesses are doing it wrong by starting with their brand instead of their audience.
“…So many brands start with ‘What do we have?’ and then pivot to ‘How can we make it work on social?’ A much more effective tactic would be ‘What is working really well on social?’ and then, ‘What can we create that would work in that setting?’” – Jacob Shipley (summarizing Jake Bjorseth).
In other words, “Don’t copy your competitor. Copy the content your audience is already watching.” – Jake Bjorseth. Creating engaging content is key to hooking the audience.
Not sure how to do that? Danae Moksnes has a tip: “When brands hop onto trends and are active in comments, social media users pick up on that quickly, and it can help (with) brand recognition!”
One case in point: “Seemingly Ranch” – a trend that started with a comment about what condiments Taylor Swift liked with her chicken, but evolved into new products, costume ideas, restaurant offerings, and a ton of social media gold.
Authenticity is also important, Danae says. “Viewers can see a brand deal or sponsorship from a mile away. If you can be relatable, and not overtly salesy, you might get people to stick around for longer!”
4. What Tools Can Up Your Social Media Marketing Game?
Like the platform that you use, the tools that will help you most depend on what platforms you choose for your social media marketing efforts.
Here’s a quick review of tools that can work, broken down into the type of content used:
- Written content. Some tools that could help include AuthoredUp and Supergrow. Remember, you want the copy to fall in the character count and be aesthetically pleasing to look at while making people want to keep reading. ThreadMagic can help change Twitter posts into LinkedIn ones.
- Image-driven content. Canva is the undisputed champion of design for people who aren’t designers and is especially popular with people on LinkedIn who make carousels. If you’d rather make fast carousels using AI, Simplified seems like a good option! Other tools for image-driven content include a tripod and lighting.
- Video content. If you’re posting to TikTok or YouTube, you’ll need to add video editing software to your list (Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects are industry standards, but if you want an AI option, Descript and Opus Clip are both good ones). For great equipment ideas, check out this post by Alex Sheridan.
Looking for general social media marketing tools? Sprout Social, Cloud Campaign, and Buffer are helpful for managing content across multiple platforms.
5. Advertising on Social Media
All the tips up to this point can be helpful whether you’re doing organic social media marketing or paid advertising, but this one’s just for advertising. If you’re planning to spend some money on ads, make sure that your marketing budget can handle it. This article by WordStream gives you some of the cost-per-click (CPC) benchmarks you can expect based on your industry.
User-generated content works very well, especially on short-form video platforms like TikTok. If you can start a partnership with an established creator, you’ll be able to add credibility to your brand. (There’s nothing quite like having a video endorsement from a stellar creator!)
Don’t forget to A/B test your social media ads! It’ll help you get an idea of what’s working best with your potential clients.
Bonus: Repurpose Your Content
Running low on ideas for content? If it’s been over two months since you shared it, chances are many of your audience members didn’t see it.
In this case, it can be helpful to repurpose your content. You can do this by creating an entirely new form of content (a video inspired by a carousel, for example) or by tweaking critical parts of the post, like changing the hook or playing with the structure of the post. Try it!
Affordable Social Media Marketing at Content Cucumber
Did you know that we offer a plan that includes pain-free social media marketing for small businesses? With our Alive Plan, you can get four social media posts a month, plus one blog post, for just $100. Interested? Check out our other plan options here!
