Get Started with Social Media Marketing

You can run a business without a social media presence but why wouldn’t you include it in your marketing plan when, according to Hootsuite, over 15 people sign up to one platform or another every single second?!

It doesn’t matter whether you’re a small independent running from your home office in Liverpool or a large multi-national brand, social media matters.

It gives you the ability to connect directly with your target customers, gain valuable insights into their interests and habits, increase brand awareness, help generate more leads and, with that, an increase in revenue.

Still not sure? There are now 5.4 billion social media users around the world, which is 62.3% of the world’s population. Can you really afford to stay away?

Once you’ve decided to embrace social media and all it has to offer, you now need to decide which platforms you want to use. Your decision shouldn’t be made on which one you enjoy the most but the one where you will find your target audience and that reflects the messaging you want to put out to the world.

Research has shown that the five most valuable social media platforms are:

Facebook – officially the world’s most popular and profitable social media channel, Facebook is now responsible for nearly half of the internet traffic so it’s important to ensure your Facebook presence is both effective and appropriate.

Instagram – number one for image sharing, businesses now market themselves as being ‘instagrammable’. It’s gained a lot of credibility in recent years for its powerful digital marketing capabilities. Hashtags, saves, location tags and other functions make this platform a necessity for any business wanting to stay ahead.

X (formerly known as twitter)– keeping things short, snappy and to the point, X is perfect for short bursts of information and for searching out and connecting with celebrities and influencers alike. Hashtags and reposts are key marketing points for this platform.

Linkedin – it used to be the stomping ground for recruiters but over the years, Linkedin has become an essential tool for every business and business owner. A well curated, active presence can improve sales, generate leads and connect you to prospective clients, possible employees and industry leaders.

If you’ve set up a social media account but don’t make a plan and carry it out then you may as well not bother.

While the potential that lies within social media is huge, so too are the challenges. It’s an ever-changing beast and each platform comes with its own algorithms, rules and restrictions which are regularly changed which means you need to keep on top of them.

It’s a crowded and noisy space with more and more businesses vying for our attention with 97% of small businesses using social media to grow and raise awareness.

You should be using your channels to share your brand’s voice – delivering engaging and fresh content and interacting with your followers.

A new customer may stumble upon your Instagram feed if they’re an avid Instagram user or a customer might be more likely to become a repeat purchaser if your online brand presence becomes more consistent and recognisable.

It’s also proven that brands who regularly post and engage on social media channels receive higher loyalty from their customers, as well as being exposed to new clients.

Do you need help setting up, developing and delivering a successful social media plan? Contact our Liverpool social media marketing team now.

If you’ve got your channels set up, worked out a plan and started posting and engaging with users then the next step is to monitor and manage your accounts – paying particular attention to what you want your audience to do with your content. Are you trying to get them to read, share, reply, click, purchase, engage?

What you monitor depends mainly on what your goal is for the platforms you have chosen – if you’re trying to measure engagement then its the number of comments you get? Saves? Retweets?

If you’re looking at awareness then it’s all about reach and volume while if you’re looking at driving traffic to your website then you need to be looking at button clicks…are people following a path through to your site and what are they doing when they land there?

By choosing Blaze Media to manage and run your social media marketing campaigns, you will get a monthly report from your account manager who will talk you through all the key metrics.

Curating a successful and profitable social media presence isn’t as simple as shoving out loads of content and hoping for the best.

Your profile needs to be optimised for each platform, making sure your logo and branding is front and centre. Contact details, buttons and bios are written well with relevant hashtags where necessary… and that’s before you start generating original, valuable and engaging content.

Graphics, video and the written content are equally as important to the success of your social media plan so you’ll need to become a graphic designer, content writer and filmmaker in order to deliver content that cuts through the crowd.

Add to that the constant monitoring of your key metrics, generating new ideas and keeping on top of the changes that can appear in rules and algorithms overnight. It’s more than a full-time job and a lot more than most business owners can manage.

You might look to farm certain tasks out among your team but then you have the worry of consistency. Having a consistent message and appearance across all of your platforms can boost revenue by over 20%.

Engaging a social media agency like our Liverpool based marketing team can prove invaluable both in terms of saving you time and stress.

As a full-service social media agency, collaboration between our in-house team ensures a seamless, consistent and engaging strategy that will deliver the results you want.