Jona Jone, BreezyHub.com
The days of conversing with your followers and minding your likes alongside tallying the number of times your blog has been viewed, are over. The more cohesive and strategic practice of content marketing has forced brands to look at how to build sustainable social media mileage. The key is to hinge all your social media efforts on specific, measurable content marketing goals.
Taking your consumers inside the process of content creation is the best way to jump-start a conversation-worthy message. The idea of getting people on the boat to join your Twitter discussions backed up with a hashtag, or curating ideas from thought leaders alongside digital enthusiasts give your social media a more humanizing form, in the same manner that it emanates a more strategic way to reach both existing and potential customers. Now is also the best time to filter your followers. While social media usually starts with a numbers game, carving a sustainable fan base is better than a large one. Take the liberty to check the profile of your followers, and if you have to, hit the unfollow button, but do it in moderation.
Another simple yet powerful way to reach consumers is to tailor your engagement based on their geographic location. Twitter has already made great strides on this department as it offers very specific trending topics based on local searches. On top of this, timing your engagement and social media efforts with the time your audiences are most keen to getting information about your brand or service, is a surefire way to engage them.
Content marketers must watch out for the ever-changing interface of Facebook ads on top of having to deal with the free traffic limits. It's about time to thoroughly look at your fan base and your fan page metrics before you make the jump to increasing ad spend on the network. Quantifying the worth of your fanbase must be matched against the time and resources you've put aside for X number of Facebook hours.
The most engaging posts on Facebook are backed up with a compelling photo. Indeed, social media is no longer confined to well-written posts. These days, people are craving for noteworthy chunks of ideas that would make their walls and social media accounts talked about, as well.
Don't know where to start? See how your target customers spend their time online. Seek the websites, Twitter handles, forums and communities they are pouring their hearts and minds on. For novice marketers, the best site to explore is Pinterest; as it fuses photos that translate to conversions and conversations. From these alone, you can get a clearer snapshot of what photos and visuals they engage with the most. You may even repost visual content from your roster of followers and influencers. Do not forget to check the copyright laws on top of crediting them.
Since readers are more likely to click on thought-provoking, inquisitive posts, harping on a witty, funny, or even sarcastic shoutout on social media platforms is a favorable way to magnify a content you've work hard on. To make sure that your content gets to your desired audience, take time tailor your social media shoutouts to what industry influencers and your own followers are familiar with. Using hashtags that are both relevant and trending as you get your content out there increases the chances of being on top the social media ladder.
An important factor that marketers must not forget is to check the metrics of their shoutouts. If a blog content works, replicate it; so as to maximize it. If a blog content fails to deliver the amplification your brand needs, make the iterations and adjust your strategies accordingly.
For LinkedIn blogs, make sure that your message answers a pressing need or a pervasive want of your audience. Strive at presenting ideas that are rooted on thought leadership. More so, invest on connecting with communities within your circle and your brand's peripherals, too.
People are always looking for ways to do it themselves - home improvement, fashion, cars, and even their own health concerns.
Start small by creating your brand's YouTube channel. Get help in writing short scripts that answers questions regarding your brand. Toward the end of your podcast, encourage people to comment or share your content. It is very crucial that you speak the language of your market.
Businesses still see email as a vital content marketing tool. A tip to marry email and social is to place prominent yet subtle social media buttons on your email feeds. You may even give your email fan base incentives for touching base with you brand through exclusive offers that do not necessarily require a purchase nor a store visit. While this may seem counter-intuitive, the cost of doing so is based on bringing brand loyalty to consumers who are faced with too many alternatives and messages that may lead to loyalty loss.
Mindful and human-centric conversations eventually make people more aware of your brand. Guided by your content marketing goals that are data-driven, your every post, your every comment, your every share, now has something that the brand can bank on. Social media efforts could be channels to provide after-sale service, information seeking feeds done by customers who search actively online, or mere social media passersby who happen to stumble upon your engaging content.
In the realm of the evolution of content marketing, positioning your brand in all possible social media platforms makes your brand more approachable, more visible, and even more accessible. Treat your every social media content marketing as a king, and let me know how your brand fares at bringing real results to your ROI in the next couple of months or so.
Jona Jone was a mortgage originator in Philadelphia, PA and is now a Business and Property Specialist. She writes about real estate investment, business, marketing and digital era. Follow Jona on Twitter.