What are your digital marketing goals for the coming weeks? If you answered increasing your content’s reach, you’re in luck. While all marketing professionals should utilize social media as a medium for dispersing quality content, the golden rule of marketing still applies: no matter how great your content is, if nobody knows about it, it’s useless.
Fortunately, we have some expert insights to help you amplify your social media outreach in, wait for it…just 15 minutes a day!
Here are four tips to help optimize your social media outreach strategy.
Create valuable content. Keep in mind that not only has visual content exploded in recent years, but it has also been proven exceptionally persuasive in terms of engagement and outreach. The reason being is that it’s incredibly easy to curate visuals (imagery and video) with a smartphone. You hardly need 15 minutes a day to sprinkle in different content types (i.e. images, infographics, microblog content or podcasts) throughout your weekly publishing schedule.
You might be thinking about the qualities that go into truly invaluable social media content. Most importantly, your discussion topics should address your target audience’s needs and questions. In addition, your tone should be consistent and clear. The simpler the content, the easier it will be to consume! Lastly, always remember that a little fun never hurt anybody. Feel free to get creative and utilize humor to keep your audience on their toes and interested in your content.
Monitor what’s fresh. If you’re posting daily, you want to ensure your content is relevant and timely. Make sure you’re monitoring news and industry publications on a consistent basis. Whether you’re curating content or repurposing old collateral, ensure that your posts are pertinent to your audience and what’s going on in your industry. Twitter lists are effective options when it comes to quickly scanning news because you’re able to segment your community and easily stay up-to-date with what’s trending. They can also be helpful in guiding conversations and interactions when it comes time for community engagement.
Timing is crucial because not all content is shared equally. It’s important to understand that social sharing habits may differ from one industry to another. Your best bet is to observe and analyze trends and monitor when your audience is most active in viewing and sharing your content. Did you know social media posts that aren’t seen in nearly real-time likely aren’t going to be seen at all? That’s because there is a constant flow of content in users’ feeds. This presents both a challenge and an opportunity. With this in mind, it’s critical that you increase your outreach and content to ensure that you’re getting in front of your audience when they’re active.
Listen and respond. Are you listening to what others are saying about you? Are you responding to those comments? One major element of social media outreach is not only listening but also engaging in conversations with your audience. In fact, studies have shown that people who pose a question to a brand on Twitter anticipate a response within 60 minutes! While it may sound time-consuming, a goal of responding to at least five mentions or comments a day on social media can help solidify that you care about your community. And it shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes!
Some parting thoughts: social media is driven by the here-and-now, so when creating content for social media marketing, the most important thing to remember is that it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Preparing for a marathon doesn’t occur overnight, it can take months for you to get in shape. Similarly, showing up day-after-day to be present and active in your social media platforms requires a like-minded and disciplined attitude. The key to remember is to work your way up to the capacity that will allow you to run that marathon.
