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The Role of Social Media in Your Marketing Efforts

Every once in a while, I’ll come across a post suggesting that social media is dead. With all of the recent buzz about Twitter—given Elon Musk’s takeover of the company and predictions of doom—I wondered if marketers’ usage of social media is declining. The short answer is no.

A longer answer is that while social media still makes up a significant part of most marketers’ communication efforts, how they use it and which channels they use have shifted. That is likely to continue. The effectiveness of marketing channels ebbs and flows; newer channels and newer entrants to the space tend to reap the benefits of early adoption, while laggards may never experience the same results. This means that marketers of all kinds—and especially content marketers—need to stay up-to-date on these shifts and continually evaluate their social media strategies to ensure they’re making optimal use of these platforms. In this column, I look at some insights from experts in the field about how their social media use is shifting and how they stay on top of new trends. Continue reading “The Role of Social Media in Your Marketing Efforts”

How to Choose the Right Social Media Channels to Target Your Ideal Audience

These days it’s probably safe to say that most businesses have a presence on at least one social media channel. In fact, according to a 2021 Entrepreneur article, 97% of Fortune 500 companies rely on social media. The number is probably less for smaller companies, but it shouldn’t be. Social media can be a very cost effective way to raise awareness, generate leads, and build business.

There are a lot of channels out there, though, and not every channel is right for every business – or audience. Just because a channel is getting a lot of attention – take TikTok, for example – doesn’t mean that it makes sense for your business.

Continue reading “How to Choose the Right Social Media Channels to Target Your Ideal Audience”

7 Steps to Social Success

In October 2008 I launched my firm Strategic Communications, LLC. Not the best timing for such a move given the bad economy at the time, but it’s all worked out for the best; 12 years later and still going strong! One big benefit of starting a communication firm during a recession is that I had plenty of time to learn about social media which was rapidly emerging as an important channel for marketing communications. I jumped on board early, primarily with LinkedIn and Twitter, and since that time I have managed social media accounts to help my company and my clients’ companies drive awareness, website traffic—and business. I have a good following on my social channels and people often ask me to share my tips for building a solid following. I’m happy to share! Here I share “7 Steps to Social Success.” Continue reading “7 Steps to Social Success”

6 Tips for Using Social Media as a Lead Generation Tool

We launched Strategic Communications in 2008, at a time when the country was plunging into a deep recession. It wasn’t a great time to land new clients. But it was a great time to take a deep dive into something that was relatively new at the time, at least from a business perspective–social media. At the time there was an interesting talent gap that represented an opportunity for us. Most businesspeople didn’t have experience in using social media channels for marketing purposes and colleges weren’t yet educating students about these new marketing tools. So we were early adopters and spent quite a bit of time learning about and experimenting with the tools that were best positioned in the business-to-business (B2B) space: LinkedIn and Twitter.

Since that time we’ve built our social channels organically and have helped a number of clients do the same. There’s no real magic to this. In fact, the basic tenets of effective marketing via social channels are really the same as they are for using any marketing tools. We recently responded to a reporter’s inquiry about our top tips for marketers using social media as a lead generation tool. We pointed to six:

Continue reading “6 Tips for Using Social Media as a Lead Generation Tool”

Best Practices for Business Building on LinkedIn

I’ve had a profile on LinkedIn for a number of years now. LinkedIn and Twitter are two of my favorite social media platforms. Most business people would agree with me that LinkedIn is a great tool for building a strong network and engaging with others. Most would likely not agree with me that Twitter can also be a great business-to-business (B2B) business-building tool. We have, though, definitely found that to be the case for ourselves and for our clients. (More on that another day.) Here we want to focus on LinkedIn. Continue reading “Best Practices for Business Building on LinkedIn”

Don’t Slack With Your Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing should be a key component of the marketing mix for virtually any company. Not only is social media marketing relatively inexpensive, it also provides a greater level of engagement than mass marketing efforts because it’s targeted at those who have some connection with your brand—shared interests, common connections, etc. At the same time, many companies pay lip service to social media marketing. They are technically doing it, but they aren’t putting in as much effort as they could, or should. Continue reading “Don’t Slack With Your Social Media Marketing”

Social Media Shifts Hold Both Challenges and Opportunities for Marketers

Not so long ago, social media was the wave of the future in online activity. Sites like Facebook and LinkedIn revolutionized how we connect with one another; and apps like Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat altered how an entire generation communicates online. These applications aren’t likely to go anywhere soon, but the landscape has changed drastically in recent years, and social media giants like Facebook and Twitter have been slammed over concerns of privacy, data sharing and online trolling.

Let’s take a look at some of the recent developments and the potential for user impact—whether for personal or professional purposes. Continue reading “Social Media Shifts Hold Both Challenges and Opportunities for Marketers”

Some Do’s and Don’ts For Successful Social Media Marketing

It’s no secret that social media is an important part of the modern marketing mix. According to a 2016 Statista survey, 81 percent of survey respondents said they had integrated social media into their traditional marketing mix. But doing social media marketing and doing it well are two very different things. Here we offer some basic do’s and don’ts for beginners and even seasoned social media marketers. Continue reading “Some Do’s and Don’ts For Successful Social Media Marketing”

Where Are You Along the Continuum of the “Five Levels of Social Media Engagement”?

Just as not all restaurants, auto manufacturers or artists are created equal, not all social media marketing efforts are created equal. Some marketers feel like it’s enough to simply have a Facebook page that serves as a relatively static landing point for curious potential customers. Others spend a lot of time, effort and resources to research and develop sophisticated social media engagement strategies that incorporate multiple social channels—and lead to some quantifiable desired results.

Obviously, we strive to encourage everyone to move into the latter camp; however, we recognize this isn’t always feasible and know that there is a wide spectrum of quality and effectiveness. Continue reading “Where Are You Along the Continuum of the “Five Levels of Social Media Engagement”?”

Best Practices for Social Media Marketing

It’s hard to succeed at anything if you’re not focused. Whether you’re golfing, driving, taking an exam or giving a presentation, losing focus on your objective can be disastrous. The same is true of your social media activity. Granted social media marketing is a longer-term activity than golfing or giving a presentation, but the importance of focus is no less important. In particular, we’ve selected three key elements marketers should keep their focus on when engaging in social media. Continue reading “Best Practices for Social Media Marketing”