Q2 Social Media Marketing Strategies

Social Media is still considered one of the fastest growing marketing strategies in existence. Chances are what you were implementing a year ago for your Social Media campaign has changed drastically.  A Social Media campaign needs to be analyzed regularly as the industry continues to evolve.  As you are heading into your Q2 Social Media marketing strategies remember to keep the following in mind.

• Use Facebook Insights to Your Advantage – Facebook’s analytics platform (Insights) has gotten a lot more comprehensive over the past few months. If you are looking to maximize the number of interactions and total “Likes” on your page it is imperative that you analyze the data relating to your page in order to properly structure your Facebook campaign moving forward. Through either exporting your page data or checking through the Insights dashboard it is important to analyze the following
  • Assess which posts are producing the most feedback (Likes / comments). Remember, the more people who interact with your page’s post, the more users will see your post on their newsfeed. Analyzing the better performers in this area will allow you to structure the type of posts (i.e. offers, conversational, events, etc.) moving forward.
  • Were there days that caused an influx in users unsubscribing from your page? Take note on which posts triggered this negative activity. It could be from posting too frequently or not enough.
  • Which tabs have the most views? Your landing page (in most cases, the wall) will have the most views overall, but are there any others that stand out? If a custom tab (i.e. e-mail form, printable coupon, etc.) had a lot of views it could be worthwhile replicating this strategy for Q2 and beyond.
  • Assess page view trends over the past few months. If there was there a significant spike / decrease during this time period, assess what could have caused this.

• Make Your Website “Social Media Friendly” – Avoid any barriers for your website visitors to share content by incorporating on-page Social Media elements. This includes retweet buttons, Facebook “Like” integration, and Social Media share buttons (i.e. AddThis.com). By having this functionality in place, it will increase the chances that people will share your content through their Social Networks. While not relevant for every page on a website, it certainly has value for article / blog content, digital assets, and product pages.

• Are You Doing Enough Testing with Your Facebook Advertisements? – Make sure you are testing images, copy (both title and body), and target market with your Facebook advertisements.  Facebook has indicated that by frequently updating an advertisement it will likely improve the campaign’s overall performance.  Assess which ads have the best CTR, lowest CPC, and are driving the most conversions to your website / Facebook page.

• Consider Branching Out to Other Social Media Marketing Initiatives – Social Media isn’t just Facebook and Twitter. There are numerous blogs and forum communities pertaining to various target markets. Consider forming a strategy revolving around promoting through these outlets and anywhere else that could potentially meet campaign objectives. Additionally, GroupOn (and similar “deal of the day” websites) has been a valuable tool in increasing brand awareness and new customer acquisition.

• Which Tweets are Being Retweeted the Most? – Analyze which types of tweets are being retweeted and replied to. Use these findings as a way to structure your Twitter messaging moving forward.

• Create an iFrame for Your Facebook Page – As you probably have heard by now, Facebook has migrated over from Static FBML to iFrames. This option will allow your page admins to create more comprehensive landing pages / tabs on their fan page. Consider creating an iFrame that helps to meet your Social Media campaign objectives.

• Have a Foursquare / Facebook Place Strategy in Place – Foursquare and Facebook Places are continuing to see an increase in overall usage since their launch. Brick and mortar businesses should offer an incentive for users who “check in” to their location.