Social media: this combination of words triggers many different emotions in people. For some, curiosity, fun and (leisure) enjoyment, for others perhaps annoyance, information overload or even fear. Nowadays, using social media is almost mandatory for every age, every company and every person. Especially if you want to place new products on the market or tap into new customer groups, social media marketing can help you achieve your goal.
If you're someone who can't quite grasp social media or your company isn't warming up to the channel, this article will give you a perfect springboard into the subject. The article lists the social media best practices that you can use to optimize your online presence as a B2B company, but also as a private individual on various channels and achieve more success.
Social media: The formula for business success or just a bunch of cat videos?
Social media has long since developed into more than just a collection of cat videos - that is common knowledge. By actively using various social media channels, companies can gain numerous advantages. A presence on platforms such as Instagram, Pinterest, X (formerly Twitter), Meta, TikTok or LinkedIn enables companies to increase their reach and visibility among billions of users
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In addition, you can build a deeper bond with your customers through authentic and approachable communication. If the focus is on the return on investment of social media marketing, it is clear that increasing the reach or expanding the network can lead to more leads, conversions and ultimately higher sales. In view of this, it would be inefficient for a company not to have a presence on social media channels.
From zero to social media hero: How to rock your marketing with social media best practices
Ready for take-off? Do you know your users?
Before starting with any "fancy" strategy, complicated videos or the most creative post, a starting point should be determined: The foundation of any social media plan is your target audience.
Who do you want to address and/or win over? It is not enough just to collect superficial demographic information here, you should really be able to slip into the shoes of your target group and see through their eyes, so to speak. What problems, expectations, wishes or needs does your audience have? What topics interest or inspire them?
You can only do effective and successful social media marketing if you know your audience well.
Through such an analysis, you gain insights into the added value you can promise your target group by purchasing your product or service. But be careful! This promise must not only be kept, but also communicated to customers in the right way.
Social media channels are used for specific communication. Find out how your target group interacts with each other. Is the exchange open, approachable and personal or do potential customers value professional distance? This audience research gives you an idea of your ideal clientele and the knowledge of how you can now address them with the right content on social media channels.
Ready, set, go? With a strategy for social media success
An important point among social media best practices is definitely strategy planning. Even if it may seem as if everyone on Instagram & Co is just posting away, this is not the case and not the most promising way anyway. Here, agreed goals should be the motivation for successful marketing. Similar to any other area of the company, plans and strategies are developed to achieve these goals as quickly as possible.
Consider and treat your social media presence and the content you post as an extension of your marketing mix and business. Therefore, create a social media calendar in which you enter all important dates: these should be product launches, company events and other relevant moments for the company, but holidays and event days can also be included.
You should always have content ready for these. Therefore, focus on preparing content in various formats. If you create and plan this content in advance, you can create logically linked campaigns more effectively. This can relate to paid ads or organic content, for example, but also applies to linking social media marketing with events, etc. If you plan more time in advance and ensure correction and approval loops, the quality of your content will be assured. Then you have the "go" for posting.
And hop - be authentic
Be authentic! It's always easier said than done. But on social media, this is the be-all and end-all. Users of social media channels are looking for a credible appearance and exchange. Because you won't get far without this, it's part of social media best practice. Therefore, make sure that your brand has a clear identity and that the posts can be easily associated with you. Also be open and transparent. By providing insights into everyday company life and sharing your team activities, you build a connection with your followers.
Reflect this authenticity in your images and videos, as overly staged or edited content often has the opposite effect. Avoid straying from the truth or presenting lurid, misleading content just to attract more attention. Inspiring, credible storytelling is the right approach. If you engage in authentic interaction with users, you may soon go viral.
Are you ready to go? Have fire guidelines been set?
As briefly mentioned above, a clear brand identity is important. This includes setting certain rules regarding tone, style, color, etc. It is also important that the visual aesthetic is consistent across all social media posts. This also applies to the spelling, structure and layout of the content. The careful use of hashtags is particularly essential. Of course, the hashtags vary depending on the content of the post, but stick to the ones that are always used.
The more uniform and well thought-out the post or ad is, the more professionalism and know-how is conveyed to the user.
Employee social advocacy guidelines are just as important for authentic social media engagement. If you want to get your employees on board, it is important and only fair to support them with such a guideline. In it, you set out how the company should be represented and which guidelines must be adhered to. This way, nothing can go wrong with social advocacy.
Speaking of going wrong - unfortunately, you don't always encounter friendliness on social media. Unfortunately, the internet is also full of negativity. If this happens to your company profile, it is important to have crisis communication guidelines. In such cases, it is essential to respond consistently and not simply delete the comment. Once you have all this in place, you are ready for your social media experience.
And off you go! Always stay in touch with your customers
New customers can be easily found and approached on social media. Just remember that it's not just about social networking, but also about customer care. The competition never sleeps, especially on Instagram and the like, so it's crucial to always respond to direct messages as quickly as possible and keep your customers happy. If there are a lot of interactions - which is desirable - you can use tools that create structure and, if necessary, respond for you with the help of artificial intelligence.
In addition, a proven social media best practice is to create ads or posts that viewers can interact with. Add a CTA to your ads and motivate the customer base to comment and share. Most social media algorithms, which are responsible for delivering your post, value a high level of engagement with the posts. But not only for this, your customer loyalty also benefits considerably. Stay in touch and always be present for your customers
The goal? Only an effective analysis will get you there
Now that you have applied the social media best practices mentioned above, it's time to analyze your performance. A thorough analysis will help you market effectively by focusing on what's working and improving what's not. Find out which posts or ads worked best, where the most engagement was achieved and which topic particularly interested your target group. The insights gained will show you what works best for you and your target group. This allows you to use social media more and more effectively.
Does this really make me a social media hero?
Of course, there is a lot more to social media marketing. But this article shows that you don't need superpowers to use social media to your advantage. Take note of these essential tips and jump into your social media marketing with the social media best practices in your pocket.
If you have any further questions or suggestions on the topics of social media marketing, performance marketing or employee social advocacy, please contact us. Our experts will be happy to help you further.
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