There are so many times when I hear companies say that social media does not work. They always say what a waste of time it was and how they did not get any conversions from their time spent scheduling to social media. They could not be more mistaken. Social media marketing works and it can lead to sales. However, this is only true if you understand how social media works and that behind every account, there is a person with their own goals, targets, and needs. If you focus your social media strategy around these three basics, you will begin to see an ROI from your social media scheduling.
Why Social Media Scheduling Works
The biggest mistake that brands and businesses make on social media is to think of it as a set it and forget it system. They sit down when they first join and publish a ton of their own content. They are forgetting one of the major truths of marketing. Nobody cares about you. People care about themselves and their needs. If you show that you care about them and their needs, they will pay a little more attention to you. Once you get their attention, you can engage in conversation, and then you can go in for the jugular.
Just kidding, that sounds bit harsh, but you get the idea. Let’s break down how you should formulate your social media content strategy so you actually see an ROI from your the content you push out.
First, begin by creating a list of 100 targets. These are the people you wish to convert into an action. This will differ by brand and business. All social media accounts will have some similar conversion metrics. We all want likes, comments and shares. However, there are deeper and more important conversion metrics for all. For example, a blogger’s conversion will be a click thru, a blog share, a comment. An online shoe stores’ conversion will be a purchase; you get the idea.
Once you have these 100 targets, you need to check their social media accounts. Where are they most active. If they are active, are they just standing on their own soapbox, or are they engaging their community. Those who are already engaging their community will be much easier to convert. Start with those.
This is where things get fun.
Instead of inundating Twitter with tons of your blog posts, start to look for quality content from your targets. What content are they creating that will be of interest to your audience AND that will help that account to achieve their larger goal (you’ll have to put yourself in their shoes to figure this one out). Once you find this content, schedule it to your social media accounts AND make sure you tag them on the posts.
PRO TIP: If you use a social media scheduling tool that lets you create recurring posts, look for evergreen content from these targets. Schedule recurring posts, just make sure to space them out & you’ll make these people incredibly happy. You’re raising their influence score while filling up your content calendar. It’s a win-win.
Don’t stop there. Go a step further. Message them on the social media account that they are most active and let them know you plan to share their post. This is an incredible way to get your foot in the door and start a conversation.
Don’t be too eager and pitch them immediately. The key here is relationships. You want to build a relationship and you want to get to know these people. This way, you will really get to understand their needs, and once you do – you’ll be able to offer them a solution with the action that also solves your needs.
The key here? It’s totally fine to automate and schedule posts. It is not ok to automate and schedule posts and expect them to do all the work for you. The whole idea behind automation is to free up time so that you can engage and convert. If you follow this tenet of social media, you will soon begin to see those conversions and that ROI.
Contributed By:Blanca Valbuena
Socialdraft – Socialdraft is an all-in-one social media tool that lets you schedule to the major social media networks, identify influencers, pull reports, and much more.
