Tying Social Media to Marketing Goals

Postado em - Última vez Modificado em

You’re way behind the marketing game when your brand isn’t on Facebook and Twitter. Read on to find out how  social media can support your marketing strategy.

6tzbnjn3l4.jpg

Making the partnership work

Putting your brand on platforms like Facebook and Twitter raises questions on driving traffic and conversion. Some brands forget that the main function of social media is building a community and not pushing people to “buy now”, or whatever the objective is. The marketing objective takes the backseat on Facebook and Twitter (or at least cleverly implied), because what you want to achieve first is genuine interest and engagement that will guide the path toward conversion.

Build a community, not an ad space.

Facebook doesn’t consider itself an ad space (note their 20% text rule on ads and how this encourages more engagement). Yes, we know you want instantaneous signups and purchases, but social media content tailored to your community will always reign supreme. It’s so easy to hide ads, and we’re sure you don’t want your budget circling the drain with no results.

Put your brand out there and get noticed.

This is the Marketing Funnel, a.k.a. the Buyer’s Journey, which illustrates the stages in which the buyer gets to know your brand, product, or service, to the point of advocacy--the stage that’s most sought after, since it basically means “brand love”.

x41yf2m86t.jpg

Awareness, Consideration, Decision, Adoption, and Advocacy comprise the Buyer’s Journey.

Source: SimplyMeasured

Each stage in the Marketing Funnel has its own objective, which is crucial in creating and implementing a robust social media strategy for your business. Most startups identify Awareness as the stage their market is in, which corresponds to exposing their target audience to their brand content (see graph above).

See your brand grow by succeeding in different stages.

Now how do you know your strategy is working given that you’ve identified what stage of the Buyer’s Journey your market is in?

In terms of Awareness, success can be measured through impressions and reach, as in how many times a post has appeared on your audience's feeds. That seems pretty easy --  get your brand out there and make sure your target market knows you.

cjypaj38mb.jpg

The Buyer’s Journey with the corresponding marketing objectives, social media strategy and implementation, key performance indicators,  and expected results. Source: SimplyMeasured

The Decision stage’s KPIs are link clicks. When your content is engaging enough, the potential consumer finally decides to purchase, sign up, or download. This stage is the point of conversion. This is where your marketing objective materializes.

Some brands may assume that this is the end of the Buyer’s Journey, but it isn’t yet. What’s truly rewarding are the stages that follow: Adoption and Advocacy. However, just like Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs’ self-actualization stage, it takes a real effort to achieve.

Think big.

Look at a big brand like Coca-Cola, a powerhouse of astounding digital content delivered to consumers around the world. On Facebook, they create inspiring videos and images targeted to over 96 million of their followers from all over the world.

Their posts are culturally inherent, and vary from poignant to jubilant. From there you can see how engaging content sustains Coca-Cola’s marketing initiatives. They don’t necessarily say “Buy a coke in a store near you”, but their content makes you want to do so.

What stage of the Buyer’s Journey is your business in and what are your ideas on driving engagement?

Postado 25 abril, 2016

Maita Piedra

Social Media at Freelancer.com

Obsessed with compelling digital content. Most likely lurking around Facebook Insights and Twitter Analytics rather than my neighbor's backyard BBQ. Probably smarter than the average 90's kid/millennial. Hypercritical-perfectionist, caffeine-infused beach bum.

Próximo Artigo

Freelancer.com Wins Four Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards