The social networking landscape is shifting dramatically in 2018. From Facebook’s updated news feed focus to YouTube’s updated influencer marketing rules, brands hoping to capitalize on social media marketing for brand growth need to be aware of changes in the social media sector. Failure to have an updated social media marketing strategy for 2018 could mean your company is losing out on opportunities for revenue generation and brand reputation development. If you are ready to take a long, hard look at your company’s social media marketing strategy (you do have one, right?), following are five crucial factors you should include in your updated outreach efforts.
1) Conversation is critical for effective social media marketing in 2018. With platforms like Facebook placing increasing importance on engagement and time-on-site ratings, it is brands focusing on consumer conversations who will be the big winners in social media outreach this year.
2) Encouraging and motivational content will be crucial for audience acquisition in 2018. Gone are the days of filling your followers news feeds with informational content about your business or your latest product/service release. If you don’t already have someone on your team creating uplifting social media images, now is the time to start. The more uplifting and universal your visual marketing images, the greater your chances are of social shares. Be sure to share your own images on multiple social networking platforms including Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
3) For maximum social networking ROI, start thinking of your business as a media company. Regardless of your business’ niche, you must be willing to think in terms of audience acquisition, branding opportunities, return-on-investment ratings, and format optimization. The sooner you adjust your brand’s outlook on social media marketing, the sooner you can reap the rewards for your company.
4) Maximize your social networking efforts by performing ongoing analysis on platform to target audience metrics. Understand which platforms offer the highest engagement rates and which platforms deliver the highest revenue generation opportunities for your business. When your social media marketing team has a clear understanding of the benefits of each network for your brand, they can develop an outreach strategy that helps your business achieve your desired KPIs (key performance indicators).
5) Social intelligence is critical for effective social media marketing in 2018. Integrating social intelligence tools (crunchbase.com/search/principals/8ad73cf1fd04823aaf078daeab1b2798502ae73a) into your networking strategy is no longer optional. If your brand isn’t putting social intelligence to work for your company, you are at a serious disadvantage to other savvier competitors.
Focus on incorporating these five factors into your 2018 social media marketing strategy and you will see increased ROI for your investment of time. No longer is it enough to be active on social media platforms for brand growth; you must be strategic in your approach to customer acquisition and brand development. Discuss these business growth tips with your team and develop a plan-of-action to integrate these critical factors into your 2018 growth initiatives.
