10 Social Media Marketing Best Practices to Follow
Social media has dominated the marketing industry for nearly two decades. Over 91% brands and businesses have social media accounts. It’s a cornerstone of every digital marketing strategy.
There’s no doubt that social media is still relevant. However, like most marketing methods, social media marketing goes stale pretty quickly. You have to update your strategies as soon as user behavior, culture, and trends change.
Relevancy is just one best practice to follow. Here are ten more social media marketing best practices to remember in 2020.
1. Consistent Branding
Social media marketing is dynamic, but there are a few best practices that never change. One of those practices is consistent branding.
All your marketing materials, whether they’re printed flyers or social media accounts, should feature the same logo, brand colors, and messaging. Consistency helps consumers remember your brand. Mix messages create confusion.
Your social media design should be at the forefront of your mind when designing your logo. If your logo doesn’t create an impact on social media, go back to the drawing board. The best social media logos are simple, relevant, and bold.
2. Micro-Influencer Marketing
It wasn’t long ago that influencer marketing took the digital marketing world by storm. However, the market quickly saturated. Everyone and their grandma became an influencer, and large followings don’t have the same impact on sales.
Brands are taking a new approach to influencer marketing. They’re discovering that influencer marketing still works but on a much smaller scale. Influencers with small and engaged audiences have more value than YouTubers with dying channels.
3. Quality over Quantity
The new micro-influencer trend speaks to the growing importance of “quality over quantity” in social media. Social media isn’t a shiny new object anymore. You have to compete in a sea of billions of social media accounts.
Identify which content performs best, so you can invest your budget where it counts. This practice starts with data. You need data to understand your best posting times, messages, images, and more.
Invest in a solution that interprets and visualizes your social media data, so that you can make strategic decisions. Most social media platforms allow access to analytics free of charge.
4. Immersive Experiences
You know how quickly you get bored. Imagine how bored consumers get with the same old marketing strategies.
Keep your audience engaged with immersive marketing experiences. Social media plays a significant role in crafting these experiences. Create a social media video series, hashtag campaign, or giveaway that encourages user participation.
5. Be Authentic with Live Streams
Immersive experiences are also authentic. An excellent way to draw in social media users is live streaming. There’s something inherently exciting about watching something go down in real-time.
All the top social media platforms have live streaming capabilities. Once recorded, cross-promote your streams across your other social media channels. You can get a lot of marketing juice out of live streams.
6. Behind the Scenes
Live streaming is just one way to be authentic on social media. Don’t be afraid to let your audience in on all the behind-the-scenes action.
Create fun videos that capture the energy, mission, and look of your brand. Introduce your awesome staff. Give your audience a tour of your cool office!
These social media marketing best practices are an excellent way to recruit talent for your company.
7. Social Media Marketing Best Practices for Automation
Marketing never stops, but you can’t respond to every tweet or tag at 4:00 AM. Luckily, automation is here to save you.
Automation tools step in when you can’t respond in real-time. Brands depend on automated social media posting tools to respond to tweets, trends, tags, DMs, and mentions when they happen. That way, your brand never misses a moment of the action.
Remember to use automation wisely. Don’t let your authenticity get lost in the shuffle. Make sure automated messages sound human and personable.
8. Never Miss a Marketing Opportunity
Trends come and go in a flash. Social media helps you grow brand awareness by capitalizing on momentary trends.
Consider hiring a social media manager who can spot and respond to trending hashtags. You don’t want to miss an opportunity to promote your brand. Tweeting a viral response can generate national attention for your brand.
An excellent example is Wendy’s social media strategy. Who can forget when Wendy’s successfully roasted IHOP on Twitter for changing their name to IHOB?
Big risks yield big rewards. Don’t be afraid to inject a little humor into your social media content. Of course, you don’t want to go too far and get canceled.
9. Social Media Support Teams
Customers frequently sound off on social media about their experiences. Nearly every day, you can expect to find an upset airport passenger tweeting at an airline. That’s why you must treat your social media as a customer support tool.
Immediacy matters to consumers and more brands are creating social media support teams to answer customer concerns in real-time. Consider making this practice a part of your customer service strategy.
Make sure your social media support team has a backup iPhone in case of emergencies. Customer service can’t skip a beat!
10. Keep Exploring
Remember, social media marketing is dynamic. Don’t get too comfortable with the same strategy. Identify the latest consumer trends and social media platforms, so you can adjust your strategy as needed.
If you want to reach a younger audience, branch out and try new social media platforms like Snapchat or TikTok. As more baby boomers flock to Facebook, ramp up your marketing efforts there too. It’s crucial to understand where your target audience hangs out. This might be an emerging platform like TikTok. Here are 11 Best TikTok Bots You Need To Know About in 2021.
Final Thoughts
Become a Social Media Marketing Pro!
Social media marketing has a lot of layers, but you can become a pro in no time. Remember these social media marketing best practices as you develop your strategy.
Now, it’s your turn to make a splash on social media. These tips are just the beginning. Check back often for the latest trends in design and marketing!