Seven out of every ten Americans use social media as much for product inspiration as they do for communication. That means your marketing strategies should be fairly universal, right?
Think again. While virtually every brand will have developed some form of social media outreach, strategies for marketing your product can change as frequently as social media itself. And with research indicating that nearly 90 percent of consumers ultimately purchase from brands they actually follow on social media, it’s no longer enough to simply have a presence. You have to actively inspire your audience.
You can’t inspire an audience without understanding your audience first. And in 2021, that means understanding their social media habits first.
Your Voice is Your Product
And if you want your voice to break through the constant noise of social media, it has to be as clear and distinct as possible. It has to be as much a reflection of your own values as it is of your brand. But ironically? It also needs to be sympathetic to your audience. Social media marketing differs from other forms of digital marketing in tone and timbre. While the tone is definitively more casual, it’s also infinitely more honest. Transparency is fundamental; and any attempt to overplay your product or insult the intelligence of your audience won’t just backfire. It will ultimately destroy your brand.
Demographics are Only Half the Picture
Your target audience may be narrow enough to be defined by standard demographic traits including age, gender and lifestyle habits. But are you listening to what they’re actually saying? Unfortunately, demographics can only be taken at face value. They don’t necessarily reflect the diverse values and needs of your target audience. Social media marketing has the unique advantage of gauging an audience’s lifestyles and habits from a personal perspective, granting you an insight into their daily lives. But that insight requires listening to an audience before launching your campaign. Observe their posts and look for any common traits they might share. What truly appeals to them? What are their day to day frustrations? How do they apply to your product? How do they discover new products? These factors can help determine both the form of your content and how to optimize it for the right platform.
Social Media Platforms are Not Created Equal
Each platform has their own core demographic of users and they will vary substantially. Less can frequently be more when it comes to choosing the right platform for content. That doesn’t necessarily mean you shouldn’t maintain a presence on multiple networks. It simply means being aware of the relevancy and limitations to each one. It’s largely an intuitive process; but here are a few statistics to keep in mind:
Instagram tends to skew heavily towards both men and women between 18 - 29, with women being slightly higher at 44 percent of users.
77 percent of Facebook users are between the ages of 30 - 49, with 73 percent of users being between the ages of 50 - 64.
The highest percentage (95 percent) of YouTube users are between the ages of 18 - 29, followed by 30 - 49 year olds at 91 percent and 83 percent of users between 50 - 64 years old.
TikTok is primarily dominated by Gen Z users; however, research shows that 48 percent of men and women between the ages of 18 - 29 also use the platform.
Education, location and household incomes vary wildly among each platform.
While the above numbers will change based on adoption and the development of even newer platforms, a brief glance at any given network at any given time should be enough to give you a basic understanding of just how appropriate they’ll be for your campaign.
Schedule Your Posts in Advance
There’s nothing more time consuming than posting on the fly. And to make matters worse, it leads to inconsistency. There’s a number of online planning tools that allow you to schedule postings as well as provide you with detailed analytics, with Buffer and Creator Studio being two of the more popular ones. Take careful note of the times of day in which you’ll be posting, but also the volume you’re posting. Infrequent posts can lose your followers altogether, but so will posting multiple times a day. Don’t underwhelm and don’t bombard. At a bare minimum, post at least once a week (preferably more if you’re a new to launch brand) and no more than twice a day.
Engage, Engage, Engage
There’s nothing more frustrating to your audience than being ignored, particularly if they have a valid question or concern. In fact, you might find new ways of refining your brand by listening to and engaging with their feedback. Negative feedback is inevitable. And while you shouldn’t answer every comment (particularly the less constructive ones), take the time to engage with your audience. It gives a human voice to your brand. It gives you an insight into your audience. It gives clarity. And it builds followers.
Followers who are as much a reflection of your brand as your brand is of you.
Color More Lines provides white glove, global account management of your eCommerce platforms so mission-driven companies can focus on new product development, branding and growth strategies. Find out more at Color More Lines.
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