TYBAMMC - Module 2 - Notes

MODULE 2:
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING:
What is Social Media?

Social media is a computer-based technology that facilitates the sharing of ideas, thoughts, and
information through the building of virtual networks and communities. By design, social media is
Internet-based and gives users quick electronic communication of content. Content includes
personal information, documents, videos, and photos. Users engage with social media via a
computer, tablet, or smartphone via web-based software or applications. Social media is any digital
tool that allows users to quickly create and share content with the public. Social media encompasses
a wide range of websites and apps.
Social media is about conversations, community, connecting with the audience and building
relationships. It is not just a broadcast channel or a sales and marketing tool.
Authenticity, honesty and open dialogue are key.
Social media not only allows you to hear what people say about you, but enables you to respond.
Listen first, speak second.
Be compelling, useful, relevant and engaging. Don’t be afraid to try new things, but think through
your efforts before kicking them off.
Understanding Social Media:

Social media originated as a way to interact with friends and family but was later adopted by
businesses that wanted to take advantage of a popular new communication method to reach out to
customers. The power of social media is the ability to connect and share information with anyone
on Earth, or with many people simultaneously.
Globally, there are more than 3.8 billion social media users. Social media is an ever-changing and
ever-evolving field, with new apps such as TikTok and Clubhouse coming out seemingly every
year, joining the ranks of established social networks like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and
Instagram. By 2023, the number of social media users in the United States is forecast to increase to
approximately 257 million.
According to the Pew Research Center, social media users tend to be younger. Nearly 90 percent of
people between the ages of 18 and 29 used at least one form of social media. Further, these users
tend to be better educated and relatively wealthy, or earning over $75,000 per year.
Benefits of Social Media:

Social media has changed the way that we all interact with each other online. It's given us the ability
to discover what's happening in the world in real-time, to connect with each other and stay in touch
with long-distance friends, and in order to have access to endless amounts of information at your
fingertips. In many senses, social media has helped many individuals find common ground with
others online, making the world seem more approachable.
- Notes by Siddhant Shah

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
According to a survey by Pew Research Center, the use of social media is correlated with having
more friends and more diverse personal networks, especially within emerging economies.7 For
many teenagers, friendships can start virtually, with 57% of teens having met a friend online.
Businesses are also using social media marketing to target their consumers right on their phones and
computers, building a following in order to build a loyal fan base, and create a culture behind their
own brand. Some companies, such as Denny's, have created entire personas on Twitter in order to
market to younger consumers using their own language and personas.
What is Social Media Marketing:

Social media marketing is the use of social media platforms to connect with your audience to build
your brand, increase sales, and drive website traffic. This involves publishing great content on your
social media profiles, listening to and engaging your followers, analyzing your results, and running
social media advertisements. The major social media platforms (at the moment) are Facebook,
Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, and Snapchat. There are also a range of social
media management tools that help businesses to get the most out of the social media platforms
listed above. For example, Buffer is a platform of social media management tools, which can help
you achieve success with your social media marketing. Whether you want to build a brand or grow
your business, we want to help you succeed. “Social media marketing (SMM) is the use of social
media websites and social networks to market a company’s products and services.”
“Social media marketing is the process of creating tailored content for each social media platform to
drive engagement and promote your business.” Social media marketing is all about connecting with
your audience or customers and helping them understand your brand better. It is incredibly
beneficial to your business growth.
Social media marketing first started with publishing. Businesses were sharing their content on
social media to generate traffic to their websites and, hopefully, sales. But social media has matured
far beyond being just a place to broadcast content.
Nowadays, businesses use social media in a myriad of different ways. For example, a business that
is concerned about what people are saying about its brand would monitor social media
conversations and response to relevant mentions (social media listening and engagement). A
business that wants to understand how it’s performing on social media would analyze its reach,
engagement, and sales on social media with an analytics tool (social media analytics). A business
that wants to reach a specific set of audience at scale would run highly-targeted social media ads
(social media advertising).
As a whole, these are often also known as social media management.
IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING:

Consumers rush to browse social media when they want to know more about an organization or
product because that’s where they’ll find others talking about that business.
What if you don’t have a social media presence? You’ll miss a great opportunity to make an
impression.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
Take a look at these stats from Oberlo to have a feel of why having a sound social media marketing
strategy is imperative to business success in 2020 and beyond:
• 71% of consumers who have had a positive experience with a brand on social media are
likely to recommend the brand to their friends and family.
• 90.4% of Millennials, 77.5% of Generation X, and 48.2% of Baby Boomers are active social
media users.
• Facebook alone has over 2.7 billion monthly active users.
Your customers and prospects are using social media channels every single day, multiple times a
day.
Social media is an ideal place for brands looking to gain insights into their audience’s interests and
tastes. The way experts see it, smart companies will continue to invest in social media to achieve
sustainable business growth.
Whether you want to launch a new product or a business, social media is the perfect launchpad to
create a buzz around your initiatives. As we move further into the future of e-commerce, it’s clear
that social media marketing isn’t just an option.
In an increasingly competitive environment, your business can’t afford to miss out on social media.
It's especially competitive in the social media influencer space, where there are thousands of new
influencers starting a brand every day. If you're trying to build more of an online presence to
become a social media influencer.
Benefits of Social Media Marketing:
1. SMM Consistently Warms Up A New Audience For Your Business

Social media marketing opens up doors to tools and tactics that make it easy to warm up a new
audience for your business.
Facebook and other social platforms allow you to use content to connect with the potential audience
and warm them up. While it’s hard to get people’s attention, you can easily break through the noise
with engaging content.
For example, creating an interesting Facebook video ad can drive people to know more about you.
2. SMM Builds Stronger Relationships With Customers

Successful brands connect and engage with their social media audiences to build lasting
relationships.
For instance, when they share something on a platform, they respond to whoever leaves a comment
or question to provide them any assistance they may need.
Rather than selling your products or services, you can simply ask your social media followers
questions about your products or share something that could make life easier for your audience.
This way, you build trust and show them how much you care about their needs and opinions. It's
always a must to serve people first before asking them to invest with you. A Facebook group is a
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
 
great way to use social media to grow a loyal audience of people who will advocate for your
business or brand for a lifetime.
3. SMM Generates More Leads & Conversions

Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Linkedin allows companies to generate leads. You
can use a mix of paid and organic tactics to boost conversions.
Video marketing, paid ad campaigns, giveaways, and email opt-ins are some of the leading
strategies to get prospects into your sales funnel.
For example, running a giveaway campaign on Facebook can help you boost your list of qualified
email addresses.
Since everything happens online, SMM is a measurable, quicker, and easier way to build a database
of prospects. With increased visibility, your business finds plenty of opportunities for conversion.
Compelling content can lead your social media followers to your company’s website and turn them
into loyal customers.
4. SMM Gives You A Leg Up On Competitors

There’s a lot to learn from your competitors’ social media presence, especially if you have just
started exploring social media and lack good marketing ideas.
Progressive companies always monitor their competition to see what’s working for them and
whatnot. Tracking what your competitors are up to should be a key part of your social media
marketing strategy. You can start experimenting with things that are working for your competitors.
For example, if paid Facebook ads are generating good results for your competitors, you should try
it too. However, you shouldn’t copy your competition in a way that could hurt your reputation.
Make sure to stand out.
The ad library provides advertising transparency by offering a comprehensive, searchable collection
of all ads currently running from across Facebook apps and services, including Instagram.
5. SMM Is Cost-Effective
Social media marketing is probably the most cost-efficient and diverse way of promoting a
business.
It doesn’t cost anything to create a profile on most social networking sites. In case you want to run a
paid campaign to boost your content, the cost is relatively low as compared to other advertising
platforms.
When done well, your chances of producing greater returns on your investment are higher. If paid
advertising is a part of your social media marketing strategy, be sure to start small and work your
way up as you become more comfortable.
There’s always something you can do to improve your digital advertising results. One of the
benefits of social media marketing is that it allows you to track your performance and fine-tune
your strategy using real-time data.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The 5 CORE PILLARS of Social Media Marketing:
1. Strategy:
Before you dive right in and publish something on social media, let’s take a step back and look at
the bigger picture. The first step is to think about your social media strategy.
What are your goals? How can social media help you achieve your business goals? Some
businesses use social media for increasing their brand awareness, others use it for driving website
traffic and sales. Social media can also help you generate engagement around your brand, create a
community, and serve as a customer support channel for your customers.
Which social media platforms do you want to focus on? The major social media platforms,
mentioned above, are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, and Snapchat.
There are also smaller and up-and-coming platforms, such as Tumblr, Tik Tok, and Anchor, and
social messaging platforms, such as Messenger, WhatsApp, and WeChat. When starting out, it’s
better to pick a few platforms that you think your target audience is on than to be on all platforms.
What type of content do you want to share? What type of content will attract your target
audience best? Is it images, videos, or links? Is it educational or entertaining content? A good place
to start is to create a marketing persona, which will help you answer these questions. And this
doesn’t have to be fixed forever; you can always change your strategy according to how your social
media posts perform.
To help you create a great social media strategy, here are our long-form, step-by-step guides
on creating a social media strategy and social media marketing plan.
2. Planning and Publishing

Social media marketing for small businesses usually starts with having a consistent presence on
social media. Close to three billion people (3,000,000,000!) use social media. By being present on
social media platforms, you give your brand an opportunity to be discovered by your future
customers.
Publishing to social media is as simple as sharing a blog post, an image, or a video on a social
media platform. It’s just like how you would share on your personal Facebook profile. But you will
want to plan your content ahead of time instead of creating and publishing content spontaneously.
Also, to ensure that you are maximizing your reach on social media, you need to publish great
content that your audience likes, at the right timing and frequency.
There are now a variety of social media scheduling tools, such as Buffer Publish, that can help you
publish your content automatically at your preferred time. This saves you time and allows you to
reach your audience when they are most likely to engage with your content.
3. Listening and Engagement

As your business and social media following grow, conversations about your brand will also
increase. People will comment on your social media posts, tag you in their social media posts, or
message you directly.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
People might even talk about your brand on social media without letting you know. So you will
want to monitor social media conversations about your brand. If it’s a positive comment, you get a
chance to surprise and delight them. Otherwise, you can offer support and correct a situation before
it gets worse.
You can manually check all your notifications across all the social media platforms but this isn’t
efficient and you won’t see posts that didn’t tag your business’s social media profile. You can
instead use a social media listening and engagement tool that aggregates all your social media
mentions and messages, including posts that didn’t tag your business’s social media profile.
4. Analytics
Along the way, whether you are publishing content or engaging on social media, you will want to
know how your social media marketing is performing. Are you reaching more people on social
media than last month? How many positive mentions do you get a month? How many people used
your brand’s hashtag on their social media posts?
The social media platforms themselves provide a basic level of such information. To get more in-
depth analytics information or to easily compare across social media platforms, you can use the
wide range of social media analytics tools available, such as Buffer Analyze.
5. Advertising
When you have more funds to grow your social media marketing, an area that you can consider
is social media advertising. Social media ads allow you to reach a wider audience than those who
are following you.
Social media advertising platforms are so powerful nowadays that you can specify exactly who to
display your ads to. You can create target audiences based on their demographics, interests,
behaviors, and more.
When you are running many social media advertising campaigns at once, you can consider using a
social media advertising tool to make bulk changes, automate processes, and optimize your ads.
19 Social Media Myths to Leave Behind in 2021
1. My customers aren't on social media.

In 2021, over 3.7 billion people worldwide are active on social media. Today, it seems like there's a
social platform for everything and everyone. While family and friends connect on sites like
Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, professionals are networking on LinkedIn.

 
 
     
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
Odds are, at least one social media platform has an audience that will align with your brand. Not
sure which one is the best for you? Check out this blog post to explore which social platform(s) are
best-suited for your brand — and which probably won't work for your needs.
2. You should join every single social media network immediately.

Just because I can name a lot of social networks, it doesn't mean I should set up a profile on all of
them.By all means, research other social networks. Set up a company profile or page and give 'em
the old college try. But you may find that some aren't really worth your time. If that's the case,
consider removing your profile and move on. You should only devote time and resources to the
platforms that align most with your audience and marketing tactics. The best marketers use data to
identify which marketing activities yield the best results — if a social network isn't helping you out,
cut it loose.
3. Pinterest is only for B2C organizations.

Pinterest is totally awesome for B2C marketers, to be sure. But usually when someone says a
channel is only for B2C, the B2B marketer in me takes that as a challenge to prove it's not so.
Turns out some of my colleagues feel the same way, because one of them wrote an entire guide
to using Pinterest for business. You can also check out the accounts of brands like GE, Microsoft,
Econsultancy, and yours truly for some B2B Pinterest inspiration!
4. You should only try to get fans and followers that will become customers.
Quality is important, yes, but don't underestimate the power of a large social reach. Remember
some of these points next time you bemoan acquiring a fan or follower that lives outside of your
sales territory or target demographic:
• More fans and followers means you're gaining access to their fans and followers.
• If they're an influencer, their clout transfers to you by association.
• When they share your content, your SEO improves.
• They may still refer business your way.
Of course, that doesn't mean you shouldn't also target a specific, high-converting audience on your
social channels — to figure out your ideal target audience on social media, check out this post.
5. You should only schedule posts during the work week.

While you shouldn't force your social media manager to work on the weekends, you
certainly can schedule posts or launch social media ads on the weekends ahead of time — and,
depending on your audience, it might be a good idea.
Of course, you'll need to identify when your audience uses certain social platforms the
most. While pique social media engagement times occur around the middle of the week, most
platforms also have high engagement times during the weekends and evenings as well.

 
 

6. You'll have amazing social media engagement if you ask your friends and family "Like"
every post.
You can't just have your mom and uncle Like every post you put up on Facebook. Although it might
feel like you see a lot of posts that your friends or family members like, Facebook and other social
media algorithms are a bit more sophisticated than that when it comes to determining which posts
get seen.
To get social media feeds to favor your content, you'll need a variety of people interacting with
your content — both to grow your reach, and to show up in users' news feeds.
So, rather than encouraging just your friends or family members to Like or heart your posts,
encourage your followers to Like, comment, or share to encourage further discussion and spread
your brand awareness.
7. You have to respond to social activity immediately.

There's no doubt a speedy response is appreciated, but it isn't always required. People understand
that you're running a business. There are other things going on. If you get back in a timely manner,
but not in mere seconds, it's alright.
There are exceptions, of course. For instance, Verizon runs a few Twitter accounts. One
is @VerizonSupport. While Verizon will share blog posts and educational marketing materials on
this Twitter, it also uses it to respond to questions or concerns from prospects or customers.
Because Verizon's support account is for customer service rather than marketing, reps who manage
this channel should be responding immediately to inquiries. Another example could be if you're
running a social media account that receives a complaint which is public to all users and could hurt
your credibility. In that scenario, you should consult your service team as soon as possible and write
a thoughtful reply that shows you're taking the feedback seriously.
8. Social media is only about engaging conversation — and not a place to share branded
content.
It's not that conversations aren't important. You can't just ignore your fans. But, while it's beneficial
to stimulate conversations and discussions with your audience, it's not the only point to social media
marketing.
If you publish valuable posts, they might not always stimulate conversation, but they could lead
people to your website and products.
9. Social media marketing tactics don't drive bottom-line results.

Piggybacking off of the last myth, you can actually generate value beyond just "engagement" and
"brand equity" from social media. Social media drives leads and customers, period.
Don't believe me? Here are a few stats you should know:
• 54% of social browsers use social media to research products.

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
• Facebook ads are used by 70% of marketers, and there were 9 million active advertisers on
the platform in Q2 2020.
• 83% of people use Instagram to discover new products and services and 87% said they
took specific action, like making a purchase, after seeing product information.
• Answering a complaint on social media can increase customer advocacy by 25%.
• 54% of Gen Z and 49% of Millennials say social media is their preferred channel for ad
influence.
• 79% of people say that user-generated content on social media significantly impacts their
purchasing decisions.
Ultimately, particularly through advertising or influencer marketing strategies, social media can be a
viable opportunity for increasing sales. (Just check my bank account every time I scroll Instagram
and "Swipe Up to Buy".)
10. It looks tacky to seem relatable as a brand on social media.

The content you publish on social media should always keep your target audience in mind — but
that doesn't mean you can't also publish content that shows your brand's personality. Or, frankly,
even your community manager's personality.
There are people behind your company; don't be afraid to show that with your own special brand of
humor, pictures of people that work at your company, and links to news content that you find
particularly entertaining ... even if it's not directly related to your industry.
11. Hashtags are essential for every post.

You know those tweets that look like this?
Love this article on #socialmedia #marketing that talks about #pinterest and has an image of a
#puppy #lol
The point of hashtags is that they join together common conversation threads. So while it's nice to
have a hashtag for an event, like a webinar or a trade show, don't lose your mind if it doesn't
become a trending topic. It's not necessarily going to blow your leads goal out of the water if it does
... think of hashtags as a way to be more user-friendly for those following the hashtag, not a way to
make all your marketing dreams come true.
12. Social media monitoring takes forever.

One social media monitoring scenario: Glue your eyes to your computer screen, open five tabs
for each of your social networks, chug three espressos, click between tabs, and hit refresh like a
maniac.
Alternate social media monitoring scenario: Use social media monitoring software that alerts
you when important terms are mentioned; check back to your accounts briefly every hour or two to
see if you need to respond to anyone, follow someone back, etc.

 

 
 

 
 
 
 

That second one takes you, in aggregate, maybe 30 minutes a day. No big deal. Everybody breathe.
Everything's gonna be alright.
13. Social media managers should be new graduates or have years of experience.
This isn't just a myth. It's actually an ageist theory that should be completely abandoned — if it
hasn't been already.
Being good at social media marketing, or any job for that matter, has absolutely nothing to do with
how young or old you are. You can learn the tools and strategies at any age, and make mistakes
at any age, too.
Instead of considering a social media manager's age range, look for the candidate who's both
creative and analytically-minded enough to manage your presence. To learn more about how to hire
the best social media manager for your brand, check out this post.
14. Only young people use social media.

Think that the only people on social media are Gen Z and millennials? Think again.
Consider this: 40% of internet users age 46 to 55 are on LinkedIn by the end of 2020;
roughly 55% of Facebook users are over the age of 35 as of 2021; and in 2019, over 80% of 45-64
year old U.S. internet users watched videos on YouTube.
More than likely, your audience (at any age!) is on social media — the key is figuring out which
one they prefer the most.
15. Newer platforms, like Snapchat and TikTok, aren't worth taking seriously.
Snapchat and TikTok are both mobile social media apps that have pulled in millennials and Gen Z
due to their unique platforms. While Snapchat thrives on ephemeral content, AR filters, and Bitmoji
features, TikTok highlights goofy, fun, or musical 10 to 60-second videos similar to Vines.
Despite the fact that these platforms pull in odd content created by users, it doesn't necessarily mean
that brands can't use the apps to gain credibility and awareness.
At this point, a plethora of brands — from publishers to B2C companies — have created profiles or
ads for TikTok. One of the most surprising and oldest brands to build a TikTok strategy is The
Washington Post. Although the publication has a very formal social media presence on other
platforms, they use TikTok to highlight the funny, yet human, side of working in a newsroom.
Similarly, a number of larger businesses have also launched paid promotions or long-form Stories
on Snapchat Discover. To learn more about these companies and the content they've
launched, check out this blog post.
At this point, you can certainly take any popular social media platform seriously. But, as we noted
when debunking previous myths in this post, you should identify which platforms best match your
audience and your goals before spending time and money to build a strategy for them.
16. You don't have enough content to have a social media channel.
The thing with social media is that it moves really fast. What's posted today might very well be
forgotten about tomorrow. It's easy to think of this as a problem by saying, "I don't have enough
content to post." But, alternatively, you could just repurpose content or re-share great content
regularly.
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
If the topic your post discusses is evergreen, it will almost always be useful, even if you repurpose
or repost it later. This doesn't mean you should share the exact same link and update commentary
day after day, but if a few weeks go by and you want to re-promote something, go for it. Just do
your loyal fans a favor and find a new interesting nugget of information to call out in your update.
17. Social media gives people a venue to publicly bash your company.
The truth is, angry customers already have plenty of venues: word of mouth, Google reviews, Yelp
reviews, and many other places on the internet that will allow them to give feedback when they
aren't happy. Not creating a Facebook page simply for fear of negative feedback isn't protecting you
from an angry wrath.
Instead, get ahead of the conversation by being aware when negative reviews are taking place,
reading them, responding to the customer, and coming up with solutions for their problems.
Additionally, when customers are pleased, encourage them to share their positive stories.
18. Social media is too "fluffy" to have solid metrics around.

Again, social media isn't about fluffy things we talked about earlier, like "brand equity" and
"engaging conversation."
Yes, those things happen, but it doesn't mean you can't measure the effectiveness of your social
media activities.
With HubSpot marketing tools, you can identify exactly how much traffic social media drives to
your website, how many leads social media generates, and how many of those leads become
customers.
From there, you can even calculate things like the average cost-per-lead and customer — across
individual social media networks, and in aggregate — just like you do with every other marketing
channel (right?).
19. Social media is completely free marketing.

It's free to join, but it's still a resource investment. Even if you are posting for free, you'll likely need
to pay an employee to manage your channels and build strategies. And, as your social media
strategy grows more successful, you might decide to up time and money investments.
Luckily, social media is still one of the most affordable ways to boost audiences, brand awareness,
and ultimately leads. This makes the investment worth your while.
Navigating Social Media Marketing

Now that you've learned about the falsehoods and myths behind social media, it's time to start
looking at the actual research-back tactics that could make your brand successful on a given
network. For more data that backs why you need a social media marketing strategy in 2021, check
out this list of stats. For tactical advice on various social media tactics and platforms, read
our Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing.
Framework for creating successful SMM Strategy

A social media strategy is a summary of everything you plan to do and hope to achieve on social
media. It guides your actions and lets you know whether you’re succeeding or failing.
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 

The more specific your plan is, the more effective it will be. Keep it concise. Don’t make it so lofty
and broad that it’s unattainable or impossible to measure.
What is a social media strategy?

A social media strategy is a document outlining your social media goals, the tactics you will use to
achieve them and the metrics you will track to measure your progress.
Your social media marketing strategy should also list all of your existing and planned social media
accounts along with goals specific to each platform you’re active on.
Finally, a good social media plan should define the roles and responsibilities within your team and
outline your reporting cadence.
Here is a 7-step plan to develop a winning social media marketing strategy:
Step 1: Set Clear Goals And Metrics

What do you want to gain from your social media presence? Whether you want to increase your
reach with followers or earn more dollars and cents, clearly define your goals and metrics.
Why is your company active on social media in the first place? Without having a clear goal in your
mind, you won’t be able to determine the right direction.
Therefore, set your goals using the S.M.A.R.T goal framework, which means each of your goals
should be:
• Specific: the more specific you are with your goals, the easier it will be to set a clear
strategy and expectations. If you want to increase brand awareness, be specific on how you
want to do that. Let’s say your goal is to increase your Instagram following by 250 new
followers per month.
• Measurable: When you set specific goals, it becomes easier to measure your success. If
you’re not getting 250 new followers per month, you can tweak your strategy to improve
results.
• Attainable: Sometimes companies get too ambitious and end up setting unrealistic,
unattainable goals. Be sure your target is achievable given your resources. Now, it’s quite
attainable to generate 250 new followers on Instagram.
• Relevant: How your social media marketing goals are going to impact your bottom line?
Will increasing your Instagram following help you achieve your business goals? Relevant
goals are aligned closely to a business’s objectives.
• Time-bound: Make sure to set deadlines. Again, be realistic when doing so.
 
 

 
 

 
It might be difficult to find out how much value the increase in your social media following would
bring to the table. Therefore, it’s advisable to focus on metrics like conversion rates, click-through,
and engagement.
You may set different goals for each social media network and track your performance accordingly.
Step 2: Research Target Audience

Learn as much about your audience as possible.
Your social media target audience is a group of people who are most likely to be interested in your
business. They would share common demographics and behaviors.
As you research your target audience, don’t hesitate to be highly specific. It will allow you to get
into finer details and craft relevant content.
You can’t target everyone. Or, your target audience is not everyone active on social media,
especially when you run a small business.
Here are a couple of steps to identify and target the right audience:
Create audience personas

Creating audience personas is about developing a fictional representation of your ideal customers.
In other words, personas draw a clear picture of your perfect customers.
Whether your audience is baby boomers or millennials, high school students, or senior citizens,
create a persona to hone in on a more actionable, focused strategy. Use factors like age, location,
language, average income, interests, spending power, and pain points.
Let’s say your audience is a group of single moms in their late 20s who live in big cities and do a
full-time job. Take these abstract collections of demographics and characteristics to create a
persona.
Use data
Don’t just assume things when researching your target audience. Instead, use data to make well-
informed decisions.Let’s say your target audience is millennials.
Now, use data to select the right social media channels for your strategy. Social media analytics
gives you tons of actionable information about who your followers are, what they do, where they
live, and how they interact with businesses on social media. Use these insights to better identify
your audience.
Step 3: Research Competitors

Your competitors are using social media.
Aren’t they? Dig deep into what your competition is up to.You can gain valuable insight by simply
reviewing your competitors’ social presence. Competitors analysis tools can be of great help in this
regard.
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

Conduct a competitive analysis

There’s a lot you can learn from your competitors; for example, what strategies are and aren’t
working for them.
A competitive analysis not only identifies your competitors but also gives you a good sense of what
you can expect from your social presence.
Follow these steps to have a clear picture of who you’re competing against:
• Identify your competitive keywords: prepare a list of relevant keywords with data on
competition and search volume. These keywords will help you narrow your definition of
competitors.
• Find out who’s ranking for your targeted keywords: Select the top 10 keywords that are
most relevant to your business. Plug them into Google to find your top competition.
• Browse social using your keywords: Now use your top keywords to see who comes up top
in social results. For instance, plug those keywords in the Facebook search bar to see who
shows up.
• Find out brands your audience is following: Twitter Analytics and Facebook Audience
Insights help marketers find what other brands their audience follows.
However, narrow your list down to only five brands that are most closely competing with you on
social media. And then you can perform a SWOT analysis to analyze your business and the
competition in terms of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Analyzing the way your
competitors are using social media to boost business growth will help you spot opportunities. This
doesn’t mean you need to copycat your competitors. If your competitors focus largely on Facebook,
for example, you might try other networks where your audience is underserved.
Pro Tip: Watch the comments and reviews of your competitors’ social media pages to see what
their customers are complaining about or requesting. Social listening is an effective way to keep an
eye on your competition. When you figure that out, go and create content on those specific requests
and close the gap. This gives you a major advantage over your competitors.
Step 4: Determine Which Social Media Platforms You Will Advertise On

As discussed earlier, not all social channels are created the same.
Each platform has its own rhythm and a particular set of users with their own characteristics as to
how they interact with content.
A person using YouTube to watch their favorite show might not use Linkedin for the same reason.
Since there are hundreds of social media platforms out there, you can’t just include every platform
to your strategy.
Also, you can’t publish the exact same content on every platform. So, it’s important to do some
homework when choosing ideal platforms for your marketing strategy.
 
 

 
Consider audience demographics
What do you know about your customers? Are they younger, older, male, or female? We’ve already
covered how a brand can develop a better understanding of its audience. When you study
demographics, you’ll be able to identify the platforms that fit your strategy.
For example, developing a Snapchat presence for your business might not be a good idea if your
largest customer segment is 60 years or older women. Likewise, Building a presence on Pinterest
would be a waste of your efforts if your target audience is only men. In many cases, Facebook and
YouTube will deliver the best return; in others, it might be Google or Linkedin. Again, data is your
best friend when it comes to finding out what social media platforms your target audience loves to
spend time on.
Align on your business goals

It’s also crucial to consider your business goals when adding social networks to your strategy. For
instance, you can prioritize Twitter to improve your customer care efforts. If you want to show your
offerings in a visually compelling way, Instagram would be a great choice.
Pro Tip: Find a happy medium between where your customers are and what you’re comfortable
with using or advertising on.
Step 5: Create Engaging Content

At this point, you should have a good idea of what platforms to cover. It’s time to talk about content
and how to make it more relevant and engaging.Creating shareable and enjoyable content boils
down to understanding the psychology of your audience. You can then understand exactly what
makes them happy and excited. Content is whatever you post: a tweet, a photo of your product on
Instagram, a Facebook status update, a blog post on LinkedIn, and so on. You need to custom-tailor
your content to each platform AND keep it relevant to your audience.
Perform keyword research

While keyword research and analysis is critical to achieving success with search advertising,
conducting keyword research can dramatically improve your visibility on social media. Whether
your target audience is on Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube, determine which keywords your
audience use to find their favorite content on social media. It will enable you to uncover the wants
and needs of your audience. Researching and identifying the right social media keywords will give
you a clear idea of how to structure your message effectively. The process guides you across
activities from optimizing videos to image tagging. Let’s say you want to create a blog post.
Keyword research will help you create exactly what your audience is searching for. There are a
bunch of amazing keyword research tools that can make your life easier. You want to create content
that people need and want. So, spend some time finding the exact phrases your social media
audience is using to find content.
Setup social media pixel

A pixel is a code that you place on your website to track users as they interact with your Facebook
ads and website. This will help you track conversions from Facebook Ads, optimize ads, remarket

 
 
to your page visitors, know which pages they have visited, and to see if someone has completed
your desired action. You can install Facebook pixel even if you're not using Facebook ads. It will
start gathering data right away so that you don’t have to start from scratch when creating your first
Facebook ad.
Pro tip: Context is more important than content.
Step 6: Advertise Social Media Posts
It’s hard to get your content noticed on the web, especially on social media where almost half of the
content gets zero shares. To make the most of your social media, follow the 80/20 rule which says,
“spend 20% of your time creating content and the rest (80%) promoting it”. I am sure you have
heard the phrase, “If content is king, distribution is queen”. Content creation is a time-consuming
process. If you create great content in the first place, it would become a lot easier to drive
engagement. Unfortunately, most people don’t post high-quality content and end up producing
nothing for their business. So, first of all, your content should offer exactly what your audience is
looking for. And then you can boost engagement and visibility using paid social. Most of the
leading social media platforms allow you to run advertisements. You can run paid social campaigns
to meet specific business goals at a relatively low cost.
Pro Tip: When creating ads, create different versions of ads with different messaging to ensure the
most and best engagement. This helps you speak to each person individually.
Step 7: Analyze Results Frequently

Your social media marketing strategy is a major part of your overall marketing plan. It’s hard to get
it right the first time. As you start to implement your strategy and measure performance, you may
find that some of your tactics don’t work as well as anticipated. Therefore, it’s essential to analyze
your results so that you identify and fix issues.
What Should You Be Tracking?

From post engagement percentage to follower counts, social media metrics can be confusing.
However, you must determine and track the right metrics based on your goals.For every goal, you
need a related metric. Let’s say your goal is to increase conversions from social by 25% in a 2-
month span.To achieve this, you launch a campaign that includes ads and influencers. To analyze
your results, you need to look at the social traffic and conversion rate metric in your website
analytics.
Metrics that really matter:
• Volume: How many people are talking about your brand or campaigns? Volume is the
easiest metric to measure. Facebook Insights, for example, measures how many unique users
have posted something to their walls that talk about your brand.

 

 
 

• Reach: It is a measure of potential audience size. It answers how far is your content
disseminating.
• Engagement: What is your audience doing to engage and spread your content? Facebook
shares and Twitter retweets tell you who is spreading your content, while likes, comments,
and reactions are helpful to know who is responding to your content.
• Influence: Is your social media content powerful enough to encourage your followers to
actually do anything? Having millions of followers is one thing, creating an impactful social
media presence is another.
• Share of voice: What percentage of the overall conversation about your industry talks about
your business compared to your leading competitors. Share of voice is a key metric if you
want to know how well your social media marketing strategy is doing.
It’s important to re-evaluate your strategy regularly based on data and insights. You can also use
analytics to test things against one another.
How to create a social media marketing strategy:
Step 1. Choose social media marketing goals that align to business objectives
Set S.M.A.R.T. goals
The first step to creating a winning strategy is to establish your objectives and goals. Without goals,
you have no way to measure success and return on investment (ROI).
Each of your goals should be:
•
Specific
•
Measurable
•
Attainable
•
Relevant
•
Time-bound
This is the S.M.A.R.T. goal framework. It will guide your actions and ensure they lead to real
business results.Here’s an example of a S.M.A.R.T. goal:
“We will use Twitter for customer support and lower our average response rate to under two hours
by the end of the quarter.”
Track meaningful metrics

Vanity metrics like number of followers and likes are easy to track, but it’s hard to prove their real
value. Instead, focus on things like engagement, click-through, and conversion rates.
For inspiration, take a look at these 19 essential social media metrics.
You may want to track different goals for different networks, or even different uses for each
network.
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 

 
For example, if you use LinkedIn to drive traffic to your website, you would measure click-
throughs. If Instagram is for brand awareness, you might track the number of Instagram Story
views. And if you advertise on Facebook, cost-per-click (CPC) is a common success metric.
Social media goals should align with your overall marketing objectives. This makes it easier to
show the value of your work and secure buy-in from your boss.
Start developing your social media marketing plan by writing down at least three goals for social
media.
Step 2. Learn everything you can about your audience
Create audience personas

Knowing who your audience is and what they want to see on social media is key. That way you can
create content that they will like, comment on, and share. It’s also critical if you want to turn social
media followers into customers for your business.
When it comes to your target customer, you should know things like:
• Age
• Location
• average income
• Typical job title or industry
• Interests
• etc.
Here’s a simple guide and template for creating audience/buyer personas.
Get to know your fans, followers, and customers as real people with real wants and needs, and you
will know how to target and engage them on social media.
Gather data
Don’t make assumptions. Think Facebook is a better network for reaching Baby Boomers than
Millennials? Well, the numbers show that Millennials still outnumber Boomers on the platform.
Social media analytics can also provide a ton of valuable information about who your followers are,
where they live, and how they interact with your brand on social media. These insights allow you to
refine your strategy and better target your audience.
Jugnoo, an Uber-like service for auto-rickshaws in India, used Facebook Analytics to learn that 90%
of their users who referred other customers were between 18- and 34-years-old, and 65% of that
group was using Android. They used that information to target their ads, resulting in a 40% lower
cost per referral.
Step 3. Know your competition

 
 

 
 
 
Odds are your competitors are already using social media, and that means you can learn from what
they’re doing.
Conduct a competitive analysis

A competitive analysis allows you to understand who the competition is and what they’re doing
well (and not so well). You’ll get a good sense of what’s expected in your industry, which will help
you set social media targets of your own.
It will also help you spot opportunities.
Maybe one of your competitors is dominant on Facebook, for example, but has put little effort into
Twitter or Instagram. You might want to focus on the networks where your audience is underserved,
rather than trying to win fans away from a dominant player.
Use social media listening

Social listening is another way to keep an eye on your competitors.
Do searches of the competition’s company name, account handles, and other relevant keywords on
social media. Find out what they’re sharing and what other people are saying about them.
Pro tip: Use a social media management tool like Hootsuite to set up listening streams to monitor
relevant keywords and accounts in real-time.
As you track, you may notice shifts in the way channels are used. Or, you might spot a specific post
or campaign that really hits the mark—or totally bombs.
Use this kind of intel to inform your own social media marketing strategy.
Step 4. Do a social media audit
If you’re already using social media, take stock of your efforts so far. Ask yourself the following
questions:
• What’s working, and what’s not?

• Who is engaging with your?
• Which networks does your target audience use?
• How does your social media presence compare to the competition?
Once you collect that information, you’ll be ready to start thinking about ways to improve.
We’ve created an easy-to-follow social media audit guide and template to walk you through each
step of this process.
Your audit should give you a clear picture of what purpose each of your social accounts serves. If
 

 
 

 
 
 

 
 

 
the purpose of an account isn’t clear, think about whether it’s worth keeping.
To help you decide, ask yourself the following questions:
1. Is my audience here?
2. If so, how are they using this platform?
3. Can I use this account to help achieve my goals?
Asking these tough questions will keep your strategy focused.
Look for impostor accounts

During the audit you may discover fake accounts using your business name or the names of your
products.
These imposters can be harmful to your brand—never mind capturing followers that should be
yours.
Report them.
You may want to get your Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts verified to ensure your fans
know they are dealing with the real you.
Step 5. Set up accounts and improve profiles
Decide which networks to use
As you decide which social networks to use, you will also need to define your strategy for each.
Benefit Cosmetics’ social media manager, Angela Purcaro, told eMarketer: “For our makeup
tutorials … we’re all about Snapchat and Instagram Stories. Twitter, on the other hand, is designated
for customer service.”
For reference, here’s how other small and medium-sized businesses are using social tools
to communicate with customers. Notice that Facebook and Instagram outrank even email for this
purpose.
Pro tip: Write out a mission statement for each network. A one-sentence declaration to keep you
focused on a specific goal.
Example: “We will use Twitter for customer support to keep email and call volumes down.”
One more: “We will use LinkedIn for promoting and sharing our company culture to help with
recruitment and employee advocacy.”
If you can’t create a solid mission statement for a particular social media channel, you may want to
ask yourself if it’s worth it.

 
 
 
 
 

 
 

 
 
 
Set up your profiles
Once you’ve decided which networks to focus on, it’s time to create your profiles. Or improve
existing ones so they align with your strategy.
• Make sure you fill out all profile fields

• Include keywords people would use to search for your business
• Use consistent branding (logos, images, etc.) across networks so your profiles are easily
recognizable
Pro tip: Use high-quality images that follow the recommended dimensions for each network. Check
out our always-up-to-date social media image size cheat sheet for quick reference.
We’ve also got step-by-step guides for each network to walk you through the process:
• Create a Facebook business page

• Create an Instagram business account
• Create a Twitter business account
• Create a Snapchat account
• Create a LinkedIn Company Page
• Create a Pinterest business account
• Create a YouTube channel
Don’t let this list overwhelm you. Remember, it’s better to use fewer channels well than to stretch
yourself thin trying to maintain a presence on every network.
Step 6. Find inspiration

While it’s important that your brand be unique, you can still draw inspiration from other businesses
that are great on social.
Social media success stories
You can usually find these on the business section of the social network’s website. (Here’s
Facebook’s, for example.)
Case studies can offer valuable insights that you can apply to your own social media plan.
Award-winning accounts and campaigns

You could also check out the winners of The Facebook Awards or The Shorty Awards for examples
of brands that are at the top of their social media game.
For learning and a laugh, check out Fridge-Worthy, Hootsuite’s bi-weekly awards
show highlighting brands doing smart and clever things on social media.
Your favorite brands on social media

Who do you enjoy following on social media? What do they do that compels people to engage and
 
 
 

 
 

 
 

share their content?

National Geographic, for example, is one of the best on Instagram, combining stunning visuals with
compelling captions.
Step 7. Create a social media content calendar

Sharing great content is essential, of course, but it’s equally important to have a plan in place for
when you’ll share content to get the maximum impact.
Your social media content calendar also needs to account for the time you spend interacting with the
audience (although you need to allow for some spontaneous engagement as well).
Set your posting schedule

Your social media content calendar lists the dates and times at which you will publish types of
content on each channel. It’s the perfect place to plan all of your social media activities—from
images and link sharing to blog posts and videos. It includes both your day-to-day posting and
content for social media campaigns.
Your calendar also ensures your posts are spaced out appropriately and published at the best times
to post.
Determine the right content mix

Make sure your content strategy and calendar reflect the mission statement you’ve assigned to each
social profile, so that everything you post is working to support your business goals.
You might decide that:
• 50% of content will drive traffic back to your website

• 25% of content will be curated from other sources
• 20% of content will support lead-generation goals (newsletter sign ups, ebook downloads,
etc.)
• 5% of content will be about your company culture
Placing these different post types in your content calendar will ensure you maintain the right mix.
If you’re starting from scratch and you’re not sure what types of content to post, try the 80-20 rule:
• 80% of your posts should inform, educate, or entertain your audience

• 20% can directly promote your brand.
You could also try the social media content marketing rule of thirds:

 
 

 
 
 

 
 

• One-third of your content promotes your business, converts readers, and generates profit.
• One-third of your content shares ideas and stories from thought leaders in your industry or
like-minded businesses.
• One-third of your content is personal interactions with your audience
Pro tip: Once you have your calendar set, use a scheduling tool to prepare messages in advance
rather than updating constantly throughout the day.
We might be biased, but we think Hootsuite is the best social media scheduler. You can schedule
posts to every network and the intuitive calendar view gives you a full picture of all your social
activity each week.
Step 8. Evaluate and adjust your strategy

Your social media strategy is a hugely important document for your business, and you can’t assume
you’ll get it exactly right on the first try. As you start to implement your plan and track your results,
you may find that some strategies don’t work as well as you’d anticipated, while others are working
even better than expected.
Look at performance metrics

In addition to the analytics within each social network (see Step 2), you can use UTM parameters to
track social visitors as they move through your website, so you can see exactly which social posts
drive the most traffic to your website.
Re-evaluate, test, and do it all again

Once this data starts coming in, use it to re-evaluate your strategy regularly. You can also use this
information to test different posts, campaigns, and strategies against one another. Constant testing
allows you to understand what works and what doesn’t, so you can refine your strategy in real time.
Surveys can also be a great way to find out how well your strategy is working. Ask your followers,
email list, and website visitors whether you’re meeting their needs and expectations, and what
they’d like to see more of. Then make sure to deliver on what they tell you.
Social media moves fast. New networks emerge, others go through demographic shifts.
Your business will go through periods of change as well.
All of this means that your social media marketing strategy should be a living document that you
review and adjust as needed. Refer to it often to stay on track, but don’t be afraid to make changes
so that it better reflects new goals, tools, or plans.
When you update your social strategy, make sure to let everyone on your team know. That way they
can all work together to help your business make the most of your accounts.
1. Start using chatbots.

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
You may have already heard, but chatbots are in. This comes as no surprise as they are the one
digital tool that can communicate and resolve problems for your customers without the potential
need for any human interruption. In addition to the above, chatbots integrate with the platforms that
consumers now feel most comfortable interacting through: social media. Platforms such
as Chattypeople make integrating an AI-powered chatbot into your social media strategy easy.
These tools allow you to create a chatbot that:
• Doesn't require any coding knowledge.
• Can answer customer questions.
• Is able to take orders directly from Facebook Messenger and comments.
• Integrates with all the major payment systems.
2. Create a personalized experience for your customers.

Chatbots are not only a great way to automate certain everyday tasks, and if implemented properly,
your chatbot will allow you to create more personalized experiences for your customers. To do this,
stop linking your advertisements solely to your landing pages, and create ads that redirect your
audience to a Messenger window with your chatbot. Linking ads to your chatbot will:
• Break the traditional views customers have of you only trying to sell to them.
• Make your customer's experience more personal.
• Boost your sales.
• Create a loyal fan base.
3. Create an efficient content marketing strategy.

Quality is key and content is no exception. Content marketing has been a prominent form of
marketing for a long time and this is not set to change anytime soon. Many brands are not linking
quality content with the right posting schedule and the correct frequency of posts. High-quality SEO
content coupled with all the above will help you bring in the right customers at the right time. Aside
from its ability to attract an organic audience, a good content marketing strategy can be
implemented for free. Be sure to create a relevant hashtag strategy along with your optimized and
thorough content.
4. Create a community for your audience.

Although “followers” and the many other metrics are important, they are not the "be all and end all"
to social media success. You need to show your audience that you are not just a robot. Integrate
personality through humor and emotions into your posts so that your audience can relate to your
brand. Social media is all about being social, and if your customers see the same types of posts time
and time again, they will lose interest. Make your communications interactive by:
• Asking your audience questions.
• Gathering their opinions on certain matters.
• Sharing newsworthy information rather than just information about your products or
services.
• Liking and sharing some of their posts rather than just the other way around.
• Asking them to interact directly with your posts through "likes" and "shares".
5. Jazz up your profiles with a diverse content strategy.

People respond to good imagery, fun videos, and some interesting podcasts once and awhile. Jazz
up your content by using this type of media regularly. Your social media pages will look bland if all
you post and share is text, so be sure to use other types of media to catch your audience's eye. This
is also a great way to add a level of personality to your brand.
6. Use brand advocates.

Your best promotional tool is the people who love your brand. Instead of focusing all your efforts
on finding new customers, why not leverage your current ones? In addition to your current
customers, you could use your own employees. To use your employees as brand advocates, you
should:
• Create social media guidelines specific to your brand.
• Tell your advocates about social media best practices.
• Add a leader to each section of your social media advocacy plan.
• Track the correct data to pinpoint areas for improvement and those that are doing well.
7. Create profiles on the relevant channels.

Today, people create profiles on every social media channel available with the aim of reaching as
many people as possible. Unfortunately, with that mindset, you will not reach your chosen target
audience. As a result, it is key you look at your buyer personas when choosing your social media
channels. For example, you won't necessarily need a LinkedIn profile if you are launching a gothic
clothing brand; the same as you won't need to be on Pinterest to promote your surveillance services.
8. Establish a social media budget.

Social media platforms are one of, if not the most important, forms of marketing. Allocating the
right budget to your social media endeavors is crucial to your success. Not only this, leveraging that
budget with the right strategy will be the most cost-effective way for you to reach your chosen
target audience. Because social media is used on a much more personal level, you will also find that
it is a place where you can make a much deeper connection with your customers.
9. Run cross-channel campaigns.

To further engage your customers, run cross-channel campaigns across all your social media
channels. Keep in mind that these campaigns are run by virtually every company today, so you will
need to give yourself an edge to help you stand out from the crowd. Add an emotional component to
your social media campaigns so that your audience can relate to your cause. An efficient cross-
channel social media campaign will:

 

 
• Tell an engaging story.
• Link back to a specific landing page that will give your audience more information about
your campaign.
• Have a unique and memorable name coupled with relevant hashtags.
10. Tell a story by going live.

Yes, your content will tell the story of your brand as a whole, but why not share with your audience
what's happening with your company in real time? Facebook and Instagram, among other platforms,
have created their own live streaming features, something that is not yet being used to its full
potential by big brands. To compete with them, start using these live features before they really
catch on. Live stories are a great way to:
• Show your audience you are more than just a money-making machine.
• Engage and inspire your customers.
• Create shareable and memorable content.
Businesses worldwide are slowly becoming more preoccupied with gathering customers on their
social media platforms rather than their websites. By following the 10 strategies outlined above,
you'll not only set yourself up to compete with well-established brands but also create a social
media plan that will withstand the test of time.
https://preventionsolutions.edc.org/sites/default/files/attachments/Ten-Steps-for-Developing-a-
Social-Marketing-Campaign_0_0.pdf
https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-content-strategy/
GENERATING IDEAS:
What makes the difference between a good idea and a great idea? Good ideas come along all the
time and help people solve minor problems in work and daily life. Great ideas appear a little less
frequently and require a little more work to execute. Great ideas aren't necessarily the result of
highly-paid think tanks or drug-induced vision quests in the desert. Often they are unexpected
moments of inspiration that help keep the napkin companies in business.
1. Engage in Observation Sessions

Great ideas won't happen in a vacuum. You need some way of getting your brain to think in new
and creative ways. Commit time to specific sessions where you stimulate your brain into thinking
differently. Being a New Yorker, my favorite method is people watching. A simple walk through
Manhattan can introduce me to exciting activity and behavior that makes me think anew. Any
crowded urban area, mall or zoo can do the same.
2. Socialize Outside Your Normal Circles

 
 

 
 
 
 

Hanging around with the same friends and colleagues can get you in a thinking rut. Take advantage
of all those LinkedIn connections and start some exciting conversations. New people don't know all
your thought patterns and old stories, so you'll have to revisit your existing inner monologues. The
refreshing perspectives will help to surface new thinking and possibly a lightning bolt or two.
3. Read More Books

Books are wonderful for creating new thoughts and stimulating great ideas. For a long time, I didn't
read much. When I added business books to my routine, it helped me learn more and expand my
way of thinking. But several years ago, I started again reading fiction and histories. These stories
really got me out of my daily headspace and activated my idea generator. Even if you can't make the
time for a novel, go hunt down a bookstore and spend an hour browsing. You'll find plenty of
thought stimulation.
4. Randomly Surf the Web

Google is great when you know what you are looking for, but the best way to generate new ideas is
with unexpected learning. Take an hour each week and go on a web journey. Start with the I'm
Feeling Lucky button and just take it from there. Try to pick the stranger and more obscure
references as you surf and stretch your brain a bit.
5. Keep a Regular Journal

A journal is great for recording thoughts, feelings and the history of your life. It also is a great way
to structure and develop ideation habits. If you don't keep a journal, start today. If you already do,
simply add the practice of finishing every entry with
6. Meditate
It's hard to come up with great ideas when your mind is crowded with everyday thoughts and
concerns. You need quiet space. Meditation will help you clear your mind of daily business and
stress. Then you can quietly focus on your future -- or solving world issues. Commit to two hour-
long sessions every week and soon you'll find new ideas flowing.
7. Use Structured Exercises

Structure breeds creativity. Simple exercises can get your brain working in a focused manner to
yield great ideas. My favorite comes from author and Baylor University professor Dr. Blaine
McCormick. With a partner, take ten minutes (timed) to come up with 42 ideas on a specific topic
or problem. You may only think of 30 or 35 but no matter. You'll find that there are at least two or
three gems in the list.
8. Mind mapping
 
 

 
 
 
 
A traditional mind map is one of many fantastic idea generation techniques. It is a way to lay out all
the critical information surrounding your innovation challenge, and can help you start to combine
ideas in new and useful ways.
As you expand on your central theme, you’ll make connections that build on each other, helping
you to reach unexpected conclusions. Plus, mind maps enable you to follow multiple strings of
thought at the same time, allowing ideas to flow and merge more easily.
To take your mind maps to the next level, make sure you use a large canvas and small text to
maximise space. Colours and images help to stimulate your imagination, so try drawing ideas
instead of writing them. You can use a mind map on your own or with a team, which makes it the
perfect tool for your next brainstorming session.
9. First Principles Design
This creative ideation technique was recently popularised by Elon Musk, but don’t let that put you
off! It requires you to unpack and dismantle “popular assumptions” about your subject, to reach its
core truths: the bare facts that you know to be unassailable.
When you strip your area of investigation back to its first principles, you can bypass traditional
solutions in order to reach exciting new conclusions. It’s all about not simply doing things the same
way because that’s how other people have been doing it.
Start by making a list of all the things you think you know about your subject. Then, for each entry,
ask yourself how and why you know this piece of information. Were you told it? Did you
experience it for yourself? What is the evidence that supports this idea?
Once you’ve established what is real, you’ll know what is possible, and you can work from there.
To quickly learn more about first principles, take a look at this blog.
10. Collaborative Innovation
No two people ever look at the same problem in exactly the same way, thanks to our different
backgrounds, knowledge-bases, skillsets and experiences. That’s why collaboration is so essential
when it comes to generating ideas. By combining different insights, you can reach conclusions that
address a wide variety of different priorities and points of view. This will always lead to a stronger
and more inclusive solution.
However, it’s often not enough to collaborate with the people around you. To uncover innovative
ideas, you need to get out of your comfort zone and work together with people from a broad range
of different backgrounds. Collaborative innovation is a lot like networking, but instead of looking
for a job or new sales leads, you are searching for new perspectives that can help you understand
your subject on a different level.

To truly challenge your mindset, try working with personnel from different departments and
business units both inside and outside your own organisation.
11. Blue-Sky Thinking
If there were absolutely no limits, no judgments and no consequences, where could your
imagination take you? That’s the question behind blue-sky thinking.
In this type of brainstorming, you’re going wherever your imagination takes you, by creating a
space where any and all ideas are welcome, no matter how crazy, silly or unlikely they may initially
seem.
Try not to judge yourself while you’re having ideas, and instead ask yourself “what if…?”. This
small flight of fantasy will help you bypass the self-consciousness that stifles creative impulses and
unlock your creativity. You’ll have plenty of time to evaluate your ideas later, but for now imagine
anything is possible, and work from there.
12. Yes, and…
Borrowed from improvised comedy, this little phrase is a powerful tool in your ideation arsenal.
While you’re brainstorming, instead of jumping to your own idea, or shooting someone else down,
you try to always build on what came before by using the phrase “yes, and…”.
It might take you to some crazy places at first, but stick with it, and you’ll soon see what a group of
minds trying to build something together can achieve if they take one affirmative, logical step at a
time.
13. The 5W’s and the H
Who, what, where, why, when and how: the five questions that any good journalist needs to answer
in their opening paragraph.
It might sound simple, but answering these five questions when faced with any challenge can be
one of the easiest ways to define your parameters, in order to generate a solution that actually deals
with the practical realities of the situation.
14. Social Listening
Your team is your greatest untapped resource, and their ideas – as people who are closest to your
product or service every day – are usually the most valuable. Part of this is because they are in
constant communication with your customers, so are able to “listen in” to their reactions in the
moment.

  

With this in mind, it’s always worth seeking out wider set of opinions: both from the people who
use your products and services, and also those who don’t. Beyond standing on the shop floor, there
are plenty of ways you can access the discussion around your field.
Think about sending out an opinion poll to your customers or clients, or even searching for
keywords relating to your topic on opinion-heavy social media sites (including Twitter or Reddit).
15. Idea Capture
Sometimes, finding inspiration is like catching fish; all you can do is sit quietly and wait.
However, you still need to be ready when inspiration finally strikes. That’s why it’s important to
have a means of recording ideas with you at all times.
Using software like Idea Drop is the perfect way for your entire team to document, collate and
evaluate their ideas, wherever or whenever they are.

How to Create Marketing Content for Different Platforms
The beauty of marketing through social media is that every platform is truly unique. Those with an
advanced strategy on Facebook can’t expect to use the same strategy on Instagram to yield the same
results. Consumers on Instagram are looking for something completely different from consumers on
Facebook, and the same is true of Google, Snapchat, Twitter, Reddit, and all other platforms.
To ensure success across all platforms, you will need a strategy for all your different strategies. If
you try to implement the same method across all websites, you’ll alienate huge sections of the
audience. It is impossible to meet the needs of everyone with one strategy. The key here is you have
multiple ways of marketing on each platform in order to ensure that your marketing budget is well
spent.
Not all content needs to be shared everywhere. And not all content is suitable for every social media
platforms.
It’s all right to post entirely different things on different platforms. In fact, it might even help you to
boost your engagement.
What to post on each social media platform

Every platform has its own audience. And each audience has their own expectations for the things
they want to see on the platform – that can affect how well your social media posts perform.
Since every platform is different, this guide will cover each of the following six major social media
platforms separately.
Step 1: Consider the Business and Set Goals

When it comes to a social media strategy, we assume that you want something vigorous to ensure
long-term success. If so, think about what you want to achieve. What is social media going to
contribute to the business? Do you want the platforms to generate sales and leads? Or are you more
interested in brand awareness while the website and other sources generate sales?
Of course, these aren’t the only goals businesses want to achieve. Growing an audience,
encouraging engagement, and boosting website traffic are all additional goals that can be achieved.
When producing content, you need to know what goals the content is designed to achieve. If you
know the content is to generate sales, you’ll change the language, tone, and delivery accordingly.
If you want to push people towards your website, the content needs to include a CTA to encourage
people in that direction. Once you consider the business and your goals, you can then design a
social media marketing strategy.
Step 2 — Assess Your Current Approach (and Choose the Right Platforms)
Just because Facebook has billions of active users, doesn’t make it automatically the right fit for
your strategy. Even though most target markets are available on Facebook, you still need to think
about YOUR particular audience and where they can be found online.

 
 

Sometimes, the data points towards Pinterest, Reddit, and smaller platforms, and this is fine. If your
current approach is creating content for the biggest websites just because they’re the biggest
websites, it’s time to adjust your mindset.
While assessing your current approach, you might learn that specific types of content perform better
than others. For those that have been producing content for several years, don’t think that you need
to start with an empty canvas. Look through the content you have, because you may have some
great content that has resonated with the audience. You can do this by seeing which articles and
videos generated the most engagement, leads, and sales, etc.
How do you assess content? If you have a social media management tool, you should have access to
all the analytics and reports that you will need. On the other hand, it’s easy enough to export
analytics into a spreadsheet. These days, all social media websites have analytics tools where you
can review data and compare the efficacy of content.
Remember, keep your goals in mind while assessing older content. If your goal is brand exposure,
certain metrics lend themselves to this goal including follower count and engagement. With this
metric, you should be looking for which article might have generated hundreds of new followers.
In addition to looking for the good points, now is also the time to look at any potential problems
your current social media marketing strategy may have. Common reasons why people unfollow a
business social media account include too many ads, too much political content, ignoring
engagement, and too much selling. If you’re posting irrelevant content to a social media account,
you’ll drive people away. In many cases, irrelevant content is worse than no content at all.
During this stage, you can also think about your brand voice, personality, and character. You need at
least one buyer persona which should work in harmony with the brand voice. The audience likes the
brand voice, and the brand voice resonates with the audience.
Step 3 — Mold Your Content to Each Platform

With everything listed above in mind, the next step is to create a unique approach for each of the
platforms. For example, you will have one approach for Pinterest and another for Facebook. Below,
we’ve laid out an introduction to some common platforms. While reading through them, think about
your own reasons for using social media websites. If you’re personally active on each website, think
about what you do and don’t like about brands you see on them.
Here are the general guidelines:

Facebook: Videos and curated content
Instagram: High-res photos, quotes, Stories
Twitter: News, blog posts, and GIFs
LinkedIn: Jobs, company news, and professional content
Pinterest: Infographics and step-by-step photo guides
Google+: Blog posts that you want to rank on Google

 

 
 

1. Facebook
Facebook is all about connection. This has been an underlying feature of the platform since its
introduction many years ago. Although Facebook has changed significantly since the early days,
people still head onto the website to see what their friends, family, and colleagues are doing (as well
as completing the odd BuzzFeed quiz!).
Content is normally driven by emotion. Currently, the best content for Facebook comes in the form
of blog posts and short videos. If using video, the early seconds are pivotal because you need to
capture the attention and imagination of the audience quickly. Whether you want to educate or
entertain, keep it short and encourage engagement (especially shares!).
Facebook is the largest social media platform in the world. As per Statista, Facebook has about 2.41
billion AMUs (active monthly users) as of the 2nd quarter of 2019, which is almost one-third of the
world's population. These users spend a significant amount of their social media time on Facebook.
That's why every entrepreneur and marketer pays extra heed to promote their brands on this
platform through well-thought-out and informative pages. There are various reasons why users
engage with Facebook pages — to read the review, see images and find contact info on the about
page. When posting content on a Facebook account, you should share content people can engage
with.
Simply put, content such as videos, pictures, and curated content that your users can interact with,
drive engagement. People share and comment on the post, and tag a friend or colleague if they find
it compelling. It doesn't necessarily mean that you should share original content all the time; you
can also share posts that are relevant to your brand and business.
While posting videos, embed the video directly into the post and not just the link because it's more
likely that people will watch a video that is directly in their feed than they're to click a link.
Use Facebook ads & promoted posts
While the Facebook algorithm continues to significantly change organic visibility on posts, paid
advertising is always a reliable strategy for higher visibility.
If you want to accelerate your Facebook marketing efforts and have a budget for it, it’s worth
exploring paid advertising. The benefits of Facebook’s ads platform go far beyond increasing your
reach among your audience. Facebook Ad Accounts have robust targeting capabilities that let you
target people who share your audience’s interests, exposing your brand to people who are most
likely to be interested in what you offer.
You can also create very focused messaging that target specific demographics from age and location
down to what kind of device they are using when they see the ad.
Go Live
Facebook Live video still generates some of the highest reach among every post type of Facebook.
The average Facebook Live session gets up to 10x more comments than a regular video in your
newsfeed. People tune in to Live videos for up to three times longer than they would stick around
watching a prerecorded video.

 

 
 
 
 
 
You might notice that you get notifications on Facebook when people you follow go live. Facebook
Live streams also show up at the top of your newsfeed when you log in. Facebook is actively
prioritizing promoting live videos and shows no signs of deprioritizing this kind of content.
Using Facebook Live to give product demonstrations, tutorials or holding Q&A sessions is a great
way to generate engagement and stay in front of people in a way that you know they will see.
Build a community with a Facebook Group

It’s never been a better time to start a private community with a Facebook Group. If you have a
Facebook Page, connect with your followers even more and reach them more directly with a
Facebook Group your die-hard fans can join. Your Facebook Page can offer more general
information, while your group can create a stream of communication between you and your
audience and among your audience themselves. Groups give you a great opportunity to facilitate the
conversation around your brand and create a space for people to connect over shared interests.
The group can be very niche, about your brand or product, or it can be about a broader topic that
affects your industry as a whole. Before you start the group, get very clear about the purpose behind
it and what you hope you achieve in creating and moderating it.
Groups aren’t the place for hard sells. Try to avoid being overly salesy in your Facebook Groups,
although it is a great place to offer exclusive discounts and promotions to people within the group.
Utilize Facebook Messenger
Facebook Messenger lets you interact with family and friends, and it’s quickly gaining popularity as
a marketing tool for brands to connect with their users more efficiently.
With the rise of chatbots, brands can automate their Messenger use and create useful flows to
answer frequently asked questions and nurture their fans in a more direct way than targeting them
on their Newsfeed. See how people in your industry use Facebook Messenger to gauge if there’s
an opportunity for you to create a strategy of your own.
Chatbots can replace a lot of community management time by tackling questions and problems that
come up frequently for your brand.
Sprout makes it easy to set up a chatbot with an intuitive workflow. You can even create sales and
nurture conversation flows so your chatbot covers all your customers’ needs.
2. Instagram
Though owned by the same company, there are important differences between Facebook and
Instagram. While people use Facebook to connect, they tend to observe on Instagram. In other
words, they look for trends, lifestyle tips, and inspirational content. As a business, you should aim
for engaging Reels, high-quality pictures, and inspirational quotes. Use Instagram to tell a story,
show people how to use your products, encourage user-generated content, and work with
influencers.
Instagram is a place where over 60% of users are between the age group of 18-29 years, making it
an ideal social platform for promoting youth-oriented products. So, you should focus on this
platform if your services or products are youth-centric.

 

Then what to post on Instagram: high-quality pictures. Posting high-quality photos of your product
(in case of a physical product) and behind the scenes (events, making of a product) to grow your
social media followings. If you don't find any relevant photos, you can opt to post user-generated
content. Also, you can get stunning images created by a graphic design service provider. But make
sure you credit it correctly if you're curating user-generated content. If required, you can request
permission.
Good quotes. Posting motivational and inspirational quotes on Instagram is popular. So keep it in
mind. If you don't any such photos having good quotes, you can create one using free graphic
design tool such as the Designhill logo maker. Stories are also a great way to engage people on
Instagram. Create great Instagram stories and share them while keeping your Instagram marketing
strategy in mind.
Post more Instagram Stories
Since Instagram regularly changes the way posts interact with its algorithm, it can be difficult to
predict if your posts will generate significant engagement. One way to make sure that you stay in
front of your followers on Instagram is to post Stories consistently.
Instagram Stories are chronological. Every time you post a story, your followers see your account
at the top of their feed and know that you have a new story up. You can use Stories to bring
attention to what you’re posting on your newsfeed to make sure people see it. If you have more than
10,000 followers, then you’ll also be able to include links within your stories. You can use these
links to drive traffic to blog posts, your website, or any other web page you want to share.
Utilize IGTV
While you might not have time to create original content on yet another platform, IGTV is a great
way to reuse your existing videos and redistribute them on a new platform. If you find yourself
creating lengthy IG Stories for your brand then you might benefit from creating longer-form
versions of your Stories for IGTV. Content types that work well on IGTV include tutorials, listicles
and behind the scenes videos.
Buzzfeed is a great example of a company who has capitalized on IGTV. They regularly create
engaging content that complements their Instagram posts as well as the content they post on their
website.
3. Google
We’re all Google users (well, most of us!), so you already know that most people use the platform
to learn. If we have a question about who won the Super Bowl in 1984, we look to Google. When
producing content, go for informative guides, facts, lists, instructions, how-to articles, and more
along these lines. On Google, people want to be told how to do something, and this is your
opportunity to position the brand as a leader in the field.
4. Twitter
Most people these days use Twitter to keep up with news, opinions, and live events. While
consumers use Facebook to see how the family is doing, they use Twitter to see how the world is
doing. Therefore, it’s the right place to share your own news and comment on industry-related
topics. Here, you can also share blog posts and get involved in discussions.
Twitter is widely used for quick updates, news and interacting with people and brands. Things move
lightening fast here which necessitates you to get away with posting here than any other platform.
As per the Statista report, Twitter averages 330 million MAUs as of the 1st quarter of 2019. With
your compelling, relevant content on Twitter, you can engage a significant number of users
discussing your brands and products, can ask questions. Similar to Facebook, you can share content
from other sources if they are relatable to your business.
Join the conversation

Using Twitter is still one of the easiest ways to engage with people in your industry regardless of
whether or not they follow you. It allows you to join in on trending conversations and get your
message in front of people who are interested in your niche but aren’t yet aware of your brand.
Twitter also allows you to establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry by contributing
valuable insight into topics that people are already talking about.
Use hashtags appropriately

We just talked about how critical it is to join the conversation on Twitter, but it’s just as important to
make sure the conversation is relevant to you.
Many brands try to stay top of mind by joining in on every trending topic, despite if it’s relevant to
their brand or not. This is not a great strategy to follow and will lead to a reduced focus on your
core brand message. Maintaining the focus of your message and don’t dilute your brand and
message by jumping on every topic you see. Instead, focus on your own branded hashtags and
participating in trends that matter to your audience and that you can add actual value to discussion
in.
Experiment with Twitter advertising

If you know your audience is active on Twitter, paid advertising can be an effective way to get your
message in front of the right people. Twitter has three ways to advertise your content: Promoted
Tweets, Promoted Accounts and Promoted Trends.
No matter which strategy you choose, Twitter advertising can be especially effective since it’s not
disruptive and looks very similar to the organic content your audience is already scrolling through.
6. Pinterest
As our final example, consumers use Pinterest for inspiration and ideas. For example, they want to
see interior decor designs, recipes, and other things that they can achieve. If applicable to your
niche, post engaging content that will get people talking and sharing. Show how to use your product
in creative ways and it won’t be long before consumers share with their friends and their boards.

 
  
 

 
 
 
 
 
7. LinkedIn
LinkedIn is considered the most business-oriented social media platform. Therefore, it's inevitable
to share content related to your business or industry. Content may include important information
about your product/services or industry, videos, blog posts, and infographics, etc. Such pieces of
content would attract users to come to your page for relevant information, job postings, and most
importantly, about your company and business. When creating content for LinkedIn posting, make
sure that the summary is captivating so that users can look over first.
Prioritize video content
Content creators have a huge opportunity to find an audience on LinkedIn and capitalizing on the
fact that Linkedin, like Facebook, is rewarding users who post videos directly to the platform. There
are a few things to keep in mind before publishing videos to LinkedIn. About 85% of social media
users play video without sound. So it’s important to account for that in your video by including
descriptive images and closed captions on your video. Closed captioning makes your video more
accessible to all viewers. LinkedIn even has its own closed captioning feature built into its platform.
LinkedIn also has some recommendations on optimizing the length of your videos for maximum
reach. They recommend keeping brand awareness and promotional videos under 30 seconds.
Videos intended to sell services or products perform best at the 30-90 second range. Finally, one
LinkedIn study concluded that long-form video videos could drive just as many clicks as short-
form video if the video emphasizes a more complex story.
Build directly on the platform
Building your content on the platform means that rather than posting links to YouTube videos or
blog posts, you host your content directly on LinkedIn using their native tools. Uploading a video
file directly onto LinkedIn guarantees much higher reach than posting a link to a video on another
platform. The same rings true for blog posts. LinkedIn prioritizes distributing content that’s
hosted directly on its site over content that links out to another website. For blog posts, you can
state in the post that it was originally posted on your website with a link or include a short snippet
of the article that links to the full version on your site.
Step 4 — Maintain a Content Calendar, Share, and Review

Often, people think that a social media strategy is too much hassle. In reality, it saves time because
you recognize the content that works for each platform. Rather than creating long articles for every
website, you learn that sometimes an image or an info-graphic is enough to whet the appetite of the
audience.
With this in mind, the final step is to maintain a content calendar, share all content, and review
performance through analytics and reports. Know what content you plan to post to each platform
ahead of time, share all content multiple times for those who miss it, and compare performance
against your initial goals. If exposure is your goal, check that your content is conducive to reaching
the target. If not, have a flexible approach that allows quick changes whenever necessary.
Although every social platform needs different types of content, it's essential to understand that they
all require being on-brand and have the same tone.
Social Media Marketing Career Opportunities:
1. Social Media Marketing Manager

Being a Social Media Marketing Manager means you will be responsible for communicating the
clients and customers of the organization via Social Media websites. This is your type of job if you
have a passion of working with Social Media and finding innovative ways to connect with people.
Great communication skills are a must since you will have to do a lot interaction every day. Along
with that you must have creative writing ability to stir engagement with people online as well as in
person. For getting your message across to the target audience, the need for good organizational
skills and a deep knowledge of Social Media tools to have best possible results can make you stand
out of others. Experience in related fields like marketing, public relations or advertising can help
you enter this job. Don’t worry if you have no experience, you can still become a Social Media
marketing manager by demonstrating your good understanding of Social Media and your persuasion
power that make people join online communities. The working areas of a Social Media Marketing
Manager are:
• Being an Social Media Marketing Manager may come with working for one company or
more. Promoting and managing the company’s online presence via Social Media websites is
the main task.
• Reviewing, analyzing and contributing to activities on websites like Facebook, Twitter,
YouTube, Flickr, Google plus, Pinterest and Instagram is a daily task for the manager.
• Updating the Social Media sites regularly.

 
  
 

 
 

• Checking the internet and Social Media sites for company mentions and feedbacks from
customers’ side.
• Overseeing competitions and campaigns that promote the company.
• Enlightening the staff on the use of Social Media and encouraging its use within the
company also.
• Developing strategies for increasing follow or likes on sites like Facebook and Twitter.
Social Media Marketing Manager is one of the most comprehensive Social Media Marketing
career opportunities where you need to have a varied skill set ranging from strategizing, marketing
and even writing blogs for the company. Social media managers are typically going to be involved
in being hands-on in social accounts doing everything from scheduling posts to handling
engagement and monitoring reports. This title is sometimes given to a lead in an internal
department, but it can also be given to someone working for an agency where they’ll be handling
plenty of client accounts.
2. Social Media Marketing Executive

From structuring a Social Media foot print, monitoring and creating an air about the company to
developing online media campaigns, a Social Media Marketing Executive has an active
involvement on Social Media like Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus to create and maintain
company’s profile online. The following tasks are to be done by a person who has chosen Social
Media Marketing Executive position as the Social Media Marketing career opportunities, in a
company:
• Strategy planning for the company’s visibility on a wide number of Social Media platforms.
• Making reports according to the analysis of competitors’ offers, marketing strategies and
trends.
• The Social Media Marketing Executive needs to create, edit, publish and share the content
daily that helps in building meaningful connections and encourages the managers to take
action.
• Structuring and executing Social Media strategy on the basis of competitive research,
platform determination, messaging, benchmarking and identifying the right audience.
• Creating and optimizing the company’s pages on all platforms to increase the possibility of
their visibility on Social Media.
• Collaborating with other departments of the company in order to maintain the reputation of
the company created so far.
• Creating editorial calendars and syndicating schedules.
The task of an Social Media Marketing Executive requires a lot of patience and hard work for
continuously improving the strategies and implementing the best practices for company’s turnover.
3. Social Media Marketing Analyst

Amalgamation of the skills of a marketing analytics and subject matter expert is essential for being
a Social Media Marketing Analyst. The understanding of current and future trends of Social Media

 
 

 
and Marketing Analytics areas can make you stand out of the crowd and can be a game changer for
your company. This is one of the key skills to make a mark in Social Media Marketing career
opportunities available.
A Social Media Marketing Analyst is majorly responsible for heading the qualitative and
quantitative measurement of the company’s clients’ performance in Social Media. This can range
from ongoing measurement, reporting and providing strategic support to the clients. Supporting
analysis and reporting for other digital campaigns which include email, search engine marketing,
video, display, performance and site is also the task of an Social Media Marketing analyst.
Alongside, you will have to work with the content, digital marketing strategies and analysis teams
to combine social analytics. Mentioned below are some of the duties and responsibilities of a Social
Media Marketing Analyst:
• Critical thinking and analysis of company’s brand measurement on Social Media portals.
• Analysis of content performance on specified basis and making insightful recommendations
on the improvement of marketing strategies on Social Media.
• Evaluation of the impact of Social Media on digital marketing channels.
• Setting up benchmarks required for social campaigns and responsible for its execution.
• Discussing the tools that should be used to enhance the research capabilities.
• Framing the strategic frameworks for social content across the customers/users.
• Working along with the digital analytics team in order to develop best possible practices for
reporting and analysis.
USB of a successful Social Media Marketing Analyst’s is to think out of the box and critically
examine the forthcoming of the decisions made. Social media analysts (sometimes called “brand
analysts” if the job goes beyond social) are all about the data. Typically, these jobs are going to be
focused on looking at current and past campaigns and assessing how effective they may be. They’ll
look at everything from on- and off-platform engagement to get a feeling of what’s working and
what isn’t. Analysts typically offer suggestions in addition to just creating reports about how to
improve campaigns moving forward, and they’re particularly important once expensive PPC
campaigns and a lot of ad dollars come into play.
4. Social Media Marketing Specialist

A person who has experience and specialization in the field of Social Media Marketing can opt for
Social Media Marketing Specialist as one of the many options available under Social Media
Marketing career opportunities. On one hand, specialization can help you grab high salary packages
while on the other hand, the company’s limited resources are used in the best possible way. For
acquiring the position of Social Media Marketing Specialist, you need to have experience in the
Social Media Marketing field. Following are the roles and responsibilities of a specialist:
• Creating, managing and optimizing Social Media campaigns like Facebook, Twitter,
Pinterest and Instagram.
• Possession of both analytical and creative skills along with intellectual curiosity and proven
leadership experience.

 
 

• Excellent communication skills for the communicating with the clients to keep them updated
about timelines, budgets, analysis and reports.
• Continuous monitoring, revising and optimizing ad text for eye catching advertisements and
gaining traffic.
The job of a Social Media Marketing specialist is comprehensive which requires implementing
experience for company’s growth. Some jobs are just looking for a “social media worker,” but if
you see “social media strategist” in the description, that’s a sign that they’re looking for someone
who can help develop and execute cutting-edge strategies to liven up or maintain their social media.
Strategists may be responsible for proposing ideas like pitches for contests or suggesting to launch a
Story campaign or branded hashtag to generate awareness. Strategists may have the head honcho in
their department, though they’ll often report to someone else for approval depending on the
location.
5. Social Media Marketing Coordinator

The person has to oversee and manage the marketing and Social Media needs on a regular basis.
The responsibilities include structuring Social Media strategies, promotion and creating awareness
about the company’s brand, starting marketing campaigns to enhance the number of clients. The
task of an Social Media Marketing Coordinator is managing multiple projects while meeting the
deadlines. Few of the roles and responsibilities of a coordinator are:
• Development and execution of strategies of Social Media.
• Daily posts/tweets/updates on Social Media portals.
• Working in coordination with the branch support for recruiting opportunities and monitoring
the marketing projects.
• Working in coordination with branch sales in order to monitor and execute the sales plan.
Keeping updated with the status of clients is also a part of the job for a coordinator.
• Working with the branch administration includes special event handling along with works of
administration in order to enhance the Social Media presence of the company.
6. Paid Marketing Specialist

It is an entry level position where one needs to develop and execute companies’ marketing
strategies. Following are the duties and responsibilities of a Social Media Marketing specialist:
• Ensuring traffic is initiated on time across all Social Media platforms.
• Fix deviations, if any and improving the quality of the performance.
• Maximizing profits by making amendments in plans.
• Generating reports on daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis across all Social Media
portals like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest etc.
• Setting up analysis reports
• Creating attractive advertisements for building Social Media’s performance of the company.
• Being proficient with PPC tools like Google AdWords, Bing ads editor etc.

 
 

Paid Marketing Specialist is one who is responsible for improving the company’s Social Media
presence.
7. Social Media Marketing Copywriter

The person is responsible for writing content for the purpose of Social Media Marketing. Writing
informative, creative and persuasive content for the company helps in creating a buzz about the
company. Following are the duties and responsibilities of an Social Media Marketing Copywriter:
• Writing content for the company.
• Proofreading the content to be published.
• Creating eye catchy ads and phrases for creating awareness about the company.
8. Social Media Marketing Associate

For being Social Media Marketing Associate, you should be able to tap new opportunity that might
help the company to open avenues for revenues. The duties and responsibilities of an Social Media
Marketing Associate are as follows:
• Scheduling workshops, meeting and webinars for marketing the company on Social Media
platforms.
• Executing marketing campaigns on Social Media and reporting the management.
• Supporting Social Media strategy, creating and managing company pages and profiles on all
huge social platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, etc.
The industry is blazing with numerous Social Media Marketing career opportunities. Kick-start
your journey in the dynamic field by attending a live orientation session and make a wise choice to
boost your career.

TYBAMMC - Module 2 - Notes

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TYBAMMC - Module 2 - Notes

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MODULE 2:

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING:

What is Social Media?

Understanding Social Media:

Benefits of Social Media:

- Notes by Siddhant Shah

What is Social Media Marketing:

IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING:

- Notes by Siddhant Shah

• Facebook alone has over 2.7 billion monthly active users.

Benefits of Social Media Marketing:

1. SMM Consistently Warms Up A New Audience For Your Business

2. SMM Builds Stronger Relationships With Customers

3. SMM Generates More Leads & Conversions

4. SMM Gives You A Leg Up On Competitors

- Notes by Siddhant Shah

2. Planning and Publishing

3. Listening and Engagement

- Notes by Siddhant Shah

19 Social Media Myths to Leave Behind in 2021

1. My customers aren't on social media.

- Notes by Siddhant Shah

2. You should join every single social media network immediately.

3. Pinterest is only for B2C organizations.

• If they're an influencer, their clout transfers to you by association.

• When they share your content, your SEO improves.

• They may still refer business your way.

5. You should only schedule posts during the work week.

- Notes by Siddhant Shah

7. You have to respond to social activity immediately.

9. Social media marketing tactics don't drive bottom-line results.

• 54% of social browsers use social media to research products.

- Notes by Siddhant Shah

• Answering a complaint on social media can increase customer advocacy by 25%.

10. It looks tacky to seem relatable as a brand on social media.

11. Hashtags are essential for every post.

12. Social media monitoring takes forever.

14. Only young people use social media.

18. Social media is too "fluffy" to have solid metrics around.

19. Social media is completely free marketing.

Navigating Social Media Marketing

Framework for creating successful SMM Strategy

What is a social media strategy?

Here is a 7-step plan to develop a winning social media marketing strategy:

Step 1: Set Clear Goals And Metrics

- Notes by Siddhant Shah

Step 2: Research Target Audience

Create audience personas

Step 3: Research Competitors

- Notes by Siddhant Shah

Conduct a competitive analysis

Step 4: Determine Which Social Media Platforms You Will Advertise On

- Notes by Siddhant Shah

Align on your business goals

Step 5: Create Engaging Content

Perform keyword research

Setup social media pixel

Pro tip: Context is more important than content.

Step 6: Advertise Social Media Posts