By Kudakwashe Tirivavi
Despite the fact that for many of its users, social media has replaced other traditional means of marketing communication, marketers are still unable to fully manage them since they fall outside the traditional marketing communication domain.
Customers today want the same amount of interaction with businesses as they did when they first started using social media to connect with others.
It makes sense to take advantage of every chance to be as visible as possible when potential international clients start the process of picking a business for what they need, especially because many people now seek for businesses online rather than anyplace else.
It is equally critical for businesses to be completely aware of what is being said about them.
To be able to achieve both things, you need to practice the following in managing your social media.
- Creation and promotion: Driving traffic
Promote your own or your brand’s content.
Although it is beneficial when these posts are viewed (impressions) or engaged with (likes, comments, and shares), the main objective is to create traffic (clicks).
Making these social media postings with more effort makes a significant impact.
Don’t expect much for your two seconds of work if you simply click the share button next to your post.
However, if you spend five or ten minutes on a single social media post, you could see improvements.
The most engaging posts contain a lot of small details, each of which increases the post’s appeal. Marketers can consider the following when constructing a post:
- Headlines – Numbers, questions, detail, urgency, and emotion all have an impact.
- Second headline- Provide readers with a further incentive to visit your content by taking a second bite at the apple.
- Emojis and special characters – These make text stand out visually and add visual emphasis. Depending on your brand, they might be straightforward and professional or a little more playful.
- Hashtags – Unless you’re on Instagram, one or two should enough.
- Line breaks – Simply by adding breaks and increasing whitespace, you may occupy more space in the social stream. You may also include small lists/pointers.
- Quotes – Insert a brief, memorable quote into the social media post by selecting it from the content that is relatable or from influencers.
- Visuals – Images are important. However, video is the most effective. Little 30 seconds to one minute video ads are by far the ones that get the most traffic. It is the most efficient social media strategy.
- Mentions – Anyone who contributed should be mentioned in the social media.
- Power trigrams – These are three-word phrases known as trigrams, and they frequently occur in social media postings that get the most shares. When you use these trigrams in headlines, you are making promises to the reader and providing them with certain benefit. For instance:
- Explanatory – This is why, this is what, this is how, the reason is, X reasons why, X ways to.
- Explicit – How to get, X things you, here are the, Will make you, why you should, You can now.
- Emotional – make you cry, Shocked to see, is too cute, Give you goosebumps
Explanatory trigrams are typically considered to be more effective in marketing than emotive ones.
Avoid clickbait titles, which grab attention but may not meet their expectations.
They may provide a short-term gain, but they undermine trust in the long run.
If your headline reads, “These 10 breath-taking photographs will make you buy our drink,” they must ensure that the visitor does so or else potential buyers will have a poor opinion of your brand.
- Curation: Industry content and networking
These are the posts where you share other people’s content.
They have the potential to help you build relationships through influencer marketing, account-based marketing, digital PR and blogger relations.
They include:
- industry news, information, tips, and research – to keep your followers informed of current events and trends, making your stream more valuable.
- Mentions of your firm in the press or in publications – should be provided/tagged, as well as the author’s name. It’s just good digital manners.
- Online content produced by influencers, collaborators, and friends – Mention people you would want to know more about and share their content. This makes you appear in that person’s notifications.
Do this consistently and you’ll gradually become known to all those people you’d like to eventually collaborate with.
That includes journalists (for PR) and even prospects (for sales).
Curation posts are managed by creating a schedule which is a time management trick.
Make time to conduct research and read.
Go through your newsletters and social feeds on a daily or weekly basis. This might be in the early morning or at lunchtime.You’re bound to come across two or three fascinating pieces.
However, if you share them all at once, they will be clumped together in your social stream. Schedule them to appear at various intervals throughout the day.
- Conversation: The personal interactions
This is the most social part of social media.
These are the “hello’s” and “thank you’s”. The answers to questions. The thoughtful comment.
Talking directly to influencers, customers, strangers, friends, and anyone else.
These posts make your account more personal, more human.
This is one of the most important social media best practices for businesses and brands since this is part customer service.
Here are some tips for post scheduling:
- 3:5:2 – recommends 5 posts of curated content, 3 self-promotional post, 2 conversational posts.
- 4:1:1 calls for 4 curated posts, 1 retweet, 1 post of your own content
- 3:6:1 the “Golden Ratio” formula: 3 are shares of content you created, 6 are curated from other sources and 1 are calls to action for actual conversions.
- 5:5:5+ calls for thirds: 5 posts of your original content, 5 posts of curated content from others, 5 responses and replies. The plus is for miscellaneous value adds such as #CleanUpFridays.
The majority of social media updates from most brands are self-promotional.
Whatever the ratio, every excellent social media marketing approach incorporates all three categories, as well as plenty of sharing, friendliness, and connection.
They work together to drive visitors, establish a brand, strengthen connections, and, eventually, enhance rankings and profitability.
ZimTrade offers trainings on Online Marketing in its flagship program that called M.B.I.C (Marketing and Branding for International Competitiveness), also in its award winning youth incubation program called EaglesNest and its export development initiative for women led enterprises called Next She Exporter.
