Access to market for those trying to launch their own brand online (whether it be themselves or their products) has never been easier but the lower barrier to entry also brings its own challenges. Merely having the right content isn’t enough; you have to compete for the target user’s attention so your content has to be at the right place at the right time and in the right format. For instance, if you want to go for younger demographics with high income, you may want to use Twitter as a main channel. On Twitter, videos are 6 times more likely to be retweeted than images (and 3x than GIFs) so you ensure your content is in a more engaging format.
There are analytics on best time to post, most optimal posting frequency, etc. that you can and should leverage. Nowadays, you can easily attain useful training and education to learn the fundamentals. There are even social media courses specifically for makeup artists or in virtual reality, so getting more educated in this essential business skill is highly recommended.
However, before we get into the nitty gritty, let’s first get some basics down to help you get started.
#1. What is your strategy and who are your customers?
You have to first identify one major strategy. Is it to increase bookings for your recently launched hair salon? Or do you want to sell your artwork on an eCommerce platform?
Based on that, think about who might be your target customers. Now, there’s always a chance that you might attract a surprising subset of population you didn’t expect but it’s important that you hypothesize about who your ideal customers would be to customise the strategy accordingly.
If you already have existing customers, ask them about where they spend the most time digitally (facebook vs. blogs vs. etc.). Think about how to make them ambassadors so they you can start with a much bigger base to expand your presence quickly.
#2. Plan around your content
Content first, channel second.
Once you have the ‘For whom’ question answered above, you should start with the ‘what’. What are you trying to communicate to your customers to draw them in? What format should content be in? Then choose your channels. This is the best way to ensure cohesiveness of your social media presence.
#3. Run tests
The great advantage of social media marketing is that the cost of running different campaigns to test your hypotheses is relatively lower. So, if you’re not sure which of the 2 messages may resonate with your customers more, run them both in parallel and see which one gets higher engagement.
You will fail in the long run without running tests on a regular basis. Customers’ preferences evolve and you need to know how. Best way to see what works and what doesn’t is by running these social media experiments efficiently.
This could be very daunting. Posting content on a regular basis takes manpower and managing multiple channels could lead to errors and inconsistencies. Hence, be sure to check out social media tools that could help you stay organised.
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