Once social media accounts are in place, it is time to use it to take your brand to the next level. There are 7 elements of social media marketing that are important to its success:
- Develop your brand persona – You build your brand’s persona by being consistent in meeting their expectations and giving them the right perceptions. The content should be meaningful with only around 20% of it being self-promotional.
- Extend your reach – Efforts should be focused on the target audience while avoiding activities that could have a negative effect on the audience’s perception of the brand.
- Don’t give up – The publishing of meaningful and useful content must be persistent so that the target audience can obtain true value from the brand.
- Content – The content written in each post or status needs to be shareworthy. In other words, it has to be amazing and must be something that can build trust between you and your audience. Always make sure your marketing claims are backed up and establish your authority.
- Quality over quantity – Quantity does matter, but make sure each post has quality. Your brand is made more visible by publishing content that people are interested in. This will result in conversations so that you can interact with your audience.
- Don’t get buried in the clutter – You can stand out by being in the right places at the right times so that you can be seen by the right audience. Identify where your audience is spending most of their time on the Internet. Join in on the conversations on those sites and be seen.
- Harness the power – The power from social media comes from the collective strength of all of the previous elements. Together, every element is going to drive your brand to the success that you are looking for. In other words, you will be able to build the momentum you need to get the results you require.
Whether you take on your social media marketing on your own or you choose to have a professional do it for you, knowing what it entails will help you understand what is happening at each phase of the process and this can lead to long-term success.