12 Frequently Asked Questions About Social Media Marketing Answered
There is no more doubt that social media is one of the
biggest businesses the world has witnessed in the 21st century. It has
created more access to information than there has ever been. And even so, some business
owners and marketers are still lagging behind, some with different reason for
not wanting to venture into the social media world.
This brings to my mind the need to intimate you on some of
the thing people consider and the question people frequently ask. Check out the
questions, some of which you might be battling with, and learn to improve your social
media marketing strategies.
Why do I really need
Social Media?
The need for social media far outweighs what you think or
feel about it. Get this clear. In this internet age, you don’t look for customers.
Customers look for you. Whenever you attempt searching for 100 client/customers
in Lagos or Abuja, note that there are at least 1000 of them out there all over
the world, looking for you on their phones, tabs and laptops. And once you are
not there, it doesn’t take them a split second to try elsewhere.
Social media is where majority of your target audience is,
if not all. Every popular Social Media platform has a bigger reach than all TV
channels radio and bill boards combined. Was that a shocking fact? Expect more.
What should I post?
Everyone that goes on social media either has a question to
be answered or a need to be met. Posting irrelevant contents simply because you
feel like it, will push you out of the market. If you want to be successful on
social media, you must always have your audience (potential clients) in mind and
the right contents will come to mind.
For instance, if you are a fashion designer, your contents
on social media will not speak to ice cream and chocolate lovers. Listen; don’t
be scared to ask customers directly what they would like to read about If you
are stuck for ideas. You can also share an influencer’s valuable contents.
Which social media
platforms should my business have a presence on?
Advisably, be on the top most used social networks. Know
their functions and peculiarity. The knowledge of them will help you know which
network suits your business well.
How often should I
post and when?
According to Buffer, twitter can go for 3 times per
day. Engagement decreases slightly after the third tweet. Facebook – 2
times per day, at most. 2x per day is the level before likes &
comments begin to drop off dramatically. LinkedIn – 1 time per
day. 20 posts per month (1x per weekday) allows you to reach 60 percent of
your audience.
Google+ – 3 times per day and the more often you post, the
more activity you’ll get. There is a positive correlation between frequency and
engagement. When posting frequency decreases, the traffic may drop to up to
50%. Pinterest – 5x per day, or more. For Pinterest, the more you
post the higher the growth is.
Instagram – 1.5 times per day, or more. Major
brands post an average of 1.5 times per day to Instagram. However, there’s no
drop-off in engagement for posting more, if you can do it.
Blog – 2x per week. Companies that increase
blogging from 3-5X/month to 6-8X/month almost double their leads.
As touching when to post, Buffer states that, the early
morning hours appear to be the time in which tweets receive the most clicks, on
average.
Evenings and late at night are the times when your tweets
receive the most favorites and retweets, on average.
On further study, the best times to post on other social
networks are:
Facebook 1-4pm weekdays; LinkedIn 7-8:30am and 5-6pm Tuesday, Wednesday, and
Thursday; Tumblr 7-10pm weekdays and 4pm on Fridays; Instagram 5-6pm weekdays and 8pm on Mondays; Pinterest 2-4pm and 8-11pm weekdays with weekends
being the best; Google+ 9-11am weekdays.
Note: Your target audience determines you’re posting
schedules and time.
Why do I need a social media manager?
As a business person, paying someone just to tweet is a big
deal to you. Question is, why need a social media marketer? A lot. They engage
with customers and partners (i.e. reply to all comments, reviews, questions on
Social Media), follow up with connections and on projects, manage a
publishing calendar, Schedule posts, Monitor brand mentions and keywords, review
analytics and determine next steps; Curate content, run experiments to optimize
social media posts, etc.
A media marketer should be a good listener, thinker and a
narrator. They should be able to read and interpret data. With social
listening and Big Data key to the field, it is essential to understand numbers.
It is also possible to handle social media marketing yourself if you are good
in Social Media Management and Social Media Monitoring. This, though might
challenge your production competence.
Can I re-post the same
content to different social media networks?
Why not? Not all users follow the same brand on a number of
networks. So, re-posting the same content means reaching more people. Moreover,
you can post the same content on the same network multiple times, just in case
your followers haven't seen it the first time. A life of a Tweet, for example,
is only about 5 minutes. So only by posting it 3 or 4 times (on different days
and different hours) you can be sure that most of your audience has seen it.
How to handle
negative comments on social media?
Never argue and never delete any comments (remember Print
Screen) .Be smart enough to comment on it and thwart what might seem offensive at
the moment to something less offensive.
Is social media
relevant for my business?
No question about it. According to a recent LinkedIn
study, roughly 81% of small businesses are using social media. Social media
gives you a platform to reach the world. It provides you with opportunities to
cross international borders, market your brand to the world, and engage in
dialogue with customers, employees, shareholders, journalists, other
businesses, and audiences you haven’t even thought of.
What do I say?
There’s no golden formula. The general rule is to give.
Give your audience information about your company, about your brand, industry
information that is directly relevant to their lives. Entertain them, ask them
questions, generate buzz about new products, or current events and/or
legislation relevant to your brand. You also need to talk back. If your
audience reaches out to you, it’s important to respond in a timely manner.
Two-way communication is how relationships are built and your brand gets
shared.
All of this can be daunting, and that’s why there are professionals (like us!) to help you navigate the waters and break the ice.
Can social media
replace other marketing campaigns?
At all. Social media is meant to complement and integrate
with your existing marketing strategies. Traditional marketing such as email,
direct mail, promotions, etc. still have a powerful place, but by enhancing
those efforts with social media you’re getting quite the bang for your buck.
On LinkedIn, a company
Page or a personal profile: which is more preferable?
The two are okay. They help promote your business and your
info. But both have their specific role to play. A LinkedIn Profile connects
you with colleagues, employees, and other professionals in your community. With
a profile, you will be able to join and create groups that are relevant to your
interests and professional goals. You can link your profile to your company
page, where you can share content, post job openings, and keep people
up-to-date with everything you have going on.
How do I get my Facebook fans to follow me on Twitter or Google+?
Let your Facebook fans know that you’re getting started on a
new social network. It’s a great way to push for network right away. You should also make sure that they
have the option to connect on different social networks.
...with Manicle, it's all about you...
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