The first step in online advertising is to engage potential consumers through social media platforms. The high potential for outreach and limitless creativity allows companies to leave a great first impression. This blog will teach you about the essentials of social media marketing and how to target the online audience. Social media engagement strategies come in all forms and facets, but there are a few key themes to follow.
In this blog, we will discuss the many factors to consider when developing a social media campaign as follows:
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Brand Identity and Forming Goals
Before jumping into a social media strategy, it is important to consider how you want your organization to be perceived. Additionally, you have to consider what you want to get from your ad campaign. Therefore it is imperative to identify two things: brand identity and end goal.
The Importance of Online Reputation
A brand’s reputation precedes everything. Whether an organization wants to lean into its identity or change it completely, social media is the first step. Whatever is produced under the brand’s social media accounts will automatically be associated with how people perceive them and their values.
All sorts of companies have taken different approaches to utilize social media reputation in order to generate sales. For example, Wendy’s famous Twitter rants netted the company $64 million by creating a personal, comedic persona. Meanwhile, Apple’s ‘Shot On iPhone’ campaign established the iPhone as a high-quality camera backed by a cutting-edge company. How you choose to represent your brand is up to you, but there are some factors to consider before launch.
Some factors to consider include:
- Target Audience
- Social Perception
- Good or Service Being Sold
Establishing the Goals of a Campaign
Once you’ve determined how your company should be perceived, you should establish what goals should be met with the campaign. Different social media strategies are useful in different situations.
For example, posting offers on the company page can advertise specific products directly to the target audience. Meanwhile, re-sharing or interacting with related content threads can expand your brand’s outreach to potential consumers. Determining the end goal is essential in finding what social media marketing actions to take and what content to produce.
From start to finish, establishing a social media engagement strategy can be a tasking yet rewarding process.
Content Creation: Quality Over Quantity
Once you finally want to implement your social media engagement strategy, remember to produce quality over quantity. Social media has greatly developed over the years, and users are looking for content that is consistent, not incessant.
Old methods of online marketing suggest publishing as much content as possible in order to reach as many people as possible. However, the onslaught of ‘spam’ messages today causes users to move away from companies involved in over-saturating content. Loyal customers can turn on company pages as a result, becoming desensitized toward messages and even unfollowing their profiles.
Instead, captivating, quality messages are important in garnering attention. Researchers in India found that social media consumers today are looking to form relationships with companies. Rather than focusing on social media as a platform to advertise, successful brands connect with potential consumers. Their online presence in turn leads consumers toward their product or service.
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Relationship Forming and Social Media Engagement Strategy
Forming a company-consumer relationship is still a two-way street. A company can create as much quality content as its wants, but outreach depends on both parties. In order to successfully develop a presence on social media platforms, and engaged community must support the company profile.
Community Building
Building a loyal community of followers online is the best way to ensure social media success. Going back to the idea of brand reputation, a successful online ad campaign targets customers who identify with the brand.
Researchers from various universities across Asia studied the role of social media in influencing customer intentions. They focussed on social media as a community. Actions such as following, liking, and commenting acted as a form of social identity within the platform. Applying these actions of social identification to social media marketing, the researchers tried to identify what influences consumer purchase decisions.
They found that companies that contribute more social media marketing actions significantly improve their online reputation. Consumers are more satisfied with a brand that offers a strong online relationship and social media community. Ultimately, this results in more social identification with the brand and greater intentions to purchase their product.
Social Media Engagement Strategy
Online consumers want to be part of a community around a brand without annoying, ‘spam’ content. Therefore, forming a social media engagement strategy is crucial. Finding a balance of what to share and when is not an exact science, but it can be optimized.
Today, many companies utilize social media analytics like Facebook Creator Studio and SemRush to discover what is trending. By analyzing data, making a loose schedule, and remembering their audience, brands can reliably produce content that connects with users.
However, social media is still at the mercy of algorithms and human opinion. The best social media engagement strategies allow flexibility and creativity. Trying new things is part of marketing, but there are actions companies take online to form relationships early on.
Some social media engagement strategies to create relationships with online consumers include:
- Assisting with any questions regarding the company and its product
- Tagging, re-sharing, and reacting to any appropriate mentions of the company online
- Collaborating with other influencers or brands to associate with their audience
- Creating posts that offer exclusive offers or look into the company
Social media is taking over modern media, being one of the most commonly used tools for instant communication.
Building on the Essentials of Social Media Marketing
Reviewing the essentials of social media marketing, the main theme becomes clear: connection. Social media today is inherently a communal platform. With that, companies are trying to find new ways to establish connections with their customers.
Knowing that successful brands create relationships within their social media, taking the next step in that relationship can be hard. It involves going beyond the confines of traditional media and introducing them to a deeper look at the company.
Creating Deeper Connections with 3D Visuals
Despite their efforts, online marketers are running into the common problem of information desensitization. With so much content hitting people’s feeds, it can be hard to send a message, no matter how well crafted. New wave digital media points to 3D visuals and virtual reality as the solution to dropping engagement rates.
New social media engagement strategies are utilizing the immersive nature of 3D visuals to display products in a new light. Virtual reality allows for realistic yet fantastic scenery to offer viewers a wholistic look at a brand. Marketing in the virtual space allows users to engage with the message on a new level.
Marketers love 3D visuals because it brings the audience into their world. Consumers love them because it is a new form of media they rarely get to experience.
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