Social media marketing put simply, is finding potential customers and giving them what they want, in a social context, which helps educate them about your product or service, encouraging them to investigate further.
This could be achieved in many different ways and the key to getting your Social Media to work for you is finding the exact way to engage with your particular customer.
Some of the ways you could engage with your customer are with:
- something that makes them laugh
- something that they relate to
- something that teaches them something they’re interested in
- something that fixes a problem for them
We’ve all had those moments when scrolling and we see things that really pique our interest and we can’t help but respond, or better yet, tag and share the content with friends. That’s the goal of social media marketing – to really find things that resonate with our potential customers and make them feel like we ‘get’ them.
Before you begin you should know your options on Social Media.
There are a few different social media platforms:
- YouTube
- Snapchat
- TikTok
Each platform has its own unique demographic. When they’re online, they’re seeking different types of content for different areas of their lives. For example, LinkedIn is perfect for speaking to people while they’re in their ‘work’ headspace. If you’d rather speak to them in their ‘relaxed’ headspace, Instagram or Facebook is what you need.
Great marketing tells the same story in hundreds of fresh, interesting ways! Knowing who your customer is, where they will be searching online and what they want to see is the best way to decide which platforms will work best for you. Yes, we say platforms, plural. Getting out there on the best platforms for your particular business is the best way to have a working, balanced social media marketing strategy.
For the purpose of this article, we’ll be taking a closer look at Facebook, so the best way to know what you should be posting on Facebook is to find out exactly who you’re going to be targeting and just as importantly – how. There are a few things you should start with when looking at your marketing strategy.
This is what we call the Who, What, When, Where and How…
WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, HOW
Who is your customer?
To answer this, ask yourself the following questions about your business:
- What is your customer’s gender, age, annual income?
- What do they do for fun?
- What are their passions and dislikes?
- Why do they need you? What life event has caused them to seek your product or service?
- Who in the household (or business) generally contacts you or purchases from you?
Your customer’s demographic is the first thing to consider when thinking about your content for Facebook. The more detailed you can be about your target market, even to the point of creating an imaginary ‘persona’, the more likely it is that you will be posting content designed to win a sale.
What does your customer need?
Think a little further this time. What is it you’re trying to sell to your customer? Is it a product or service? Why does your potential customer come looking for you?
When you know the answers to the questions above it’s time to move on to:
What is the emotional response you need your customer to have to your product or service?
Some examples of these emotions might be…
- Inspiration
- Empowerment
- Relief
- Entertained
When you figure out the emotions you want to trigger with your content, you can then move on to answering this follow up question:
What kind of posts will help fulfil these emotional responses?
When you inspire the correct emotional response in your potential customer, you’ve started to give them what they need. This means they’re more likely to stay on your page longer and hopefully you’ll be able to encourage them to engage further. Some examples could be an inspiring quote, or a funny video, product releases or a graphic relating to your industry. Maybe you have some images from ‘in house’ activity that will make your customer smile. One of the most engaging things on Facebook are videos, so having a number of these on hand, either sourced online or created in house, is very helpful. When it comes to Social Media – Content is King – especially when it’s allowing your customers to get to know you better!
When it comes to Social Media – Content is King – especially when it’s allowing your customers to get to know you better!
When and Where
When are your current and potential clients online? Where are they? In this blog we’re talking about Facebook – but if you’re selling to businesses, LinkedIn might be your ideal space. On the other hand, if your product is very visual, Instagram might be your jam. The great thing about Instagram is it is also owned by Facebook and sharing between the two platforms is very, very easy.
It’s also important to ask WHEN they’re online – and WHERE they’re going online. Now is the time to decide which days to be posting. Are your customers looking for your services on weekends? If so, make sure you post Saturday and Sunday as well. If it’s very corporate, then probably just Monday to Friday will work.
How can you give them what they need?
It’s time to create a posting rhythm. The good news is that you’ve already done most of the work!
A posting rhythm is the foundation you’ll use to create a posting schedule. To build a posting rhythm, you’ll take all the content ideas you decided could work for you earlier and decide which days you will post them on.
Using the post ideas you’ve written down, decide which posts would work best on which days. Try to scatter them as evenly as possible. For example – it’s best to try not to post graphics two days in a row. Also, try posting something about your company every second day, so that you’re not bombarding followers.
An example could be:
Monday might be a great opportunity to inspire potential customers with an inspiring quote, created in Canva with your own branding. (Canva is a really easy to use graphic design app. Check out how easy it is by reading our blog ‘Canva – A Business Owner’s Guide’.)
On Tuesdays, you might share a news article that is related to your product and which helps educate your potential and current customers.
Wednesday could be a photo or video of you or your employees doing their thing and so on.
It’s also good to remember that it’s called SOCIAL media. While it’s a bonus that people can discover your business while they’re scrolling, it’s probably not their primary focus for being there. Here’s an article we’ve written on the balance of social vs business content you might find interesting.
Create A Schedule
Now it’s time to create a schedule. Using a simple online Word or Excel document would be the best way to keep things organised.
It’s simple and keeps everything right at your fingertips.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Date and Time (the post will be published) WHEN
- Caption (these are the words which will entice…make it sharp and interesting. Not long and rambling. You’ve got a couple of seconds (if that!) to catch people’s attention.) WHAT
- Photo/Link URL (What will you be sharing here? This is your content.) WHAT
- Rhythm (Fill this column in first and you’ll know exactly what you’re looking for.) HOW
Once you’ve created a schedule, there are many different ways to schedule the content to Facebook. You can manually schedule posts on your page or you can use Creator Studio.
If you’re still looking for answers on how to make this really work for you why not book a one-on-one coaching session with one of our Social Media experts? You can also find out more about our tips and tricks by reading more of our blogs.
At TheOnlineCo. we do much more than simply Facebook and Instagram posting. Read more on our website or just call us for a chat. We’re here to help.
