Are you looking to boost your social media strategy? Perhaps all you need is a bit of inspiration. Check out these words of wisdom to get you started.
1. “What gets measured gets managed.” – Peter Drucker
The American management consultant, educator, and author once spoke these words, and it’s something we can easily apply to social media strategies today. If you’re having trouble managing your profiles, perhaps you need to start measuring their success. Start with programs like SproutSocial or Spredfast to keep up with analytics.
2. “Expressions are more valuable than impressions.” – Laura Ruff
Coca-Cola’s marketing manager said it right when she put these words on the table. If you’re worried about how many views you have on your content or how many followers you have, it’s time to stop. The way you make people feel matters more, and it’s when the conversation is authentic that your social media strategy starts working for the better.
3. “Social media replaces nothing–but complements everything.” – Neil Schaffer
While your social media strategy can’t necessarily replace traditional forms of marketing, you can make them work together. Don’t be afraid to integrate social media into traditional marketing campaigns, but don’t give up on traditional marketing or even new forms of marketing altogether just for a social media strategy. Make them work as parts of a bigger system.
4. “People relate to other people, not sales pitches and marketing jargon.” – Janet Fouts
If there’s one thing businesses need to understand on social media, it’s that traditional sales pitches don’t work. Use social networks to spark conversation with your followers. Eventually, the sales will come, but don’t push customers away with an annoying advertisement from the beginning.
5. “Content marketing is a commitment, not a campaign.” – Jon Buscall
Content marketing and social media strategies go hand-in-hand, but as Jon Buscall points out, content marketing is not a one-time campaign. You must be willing to go into it for the long-haul. That’s how you’re going to build relationships with customers and see the long-term results.
6. “People influence people. Nothing influences people more than a recommendation from a trusted friend. A trusted referral influences people more than the best broadcast message. A trusted referral is the Holy Grail of advertising.” – Mark Zuckerberg
This is why social media matters over traditional forms of advertising. You’re giving customers a two-way form of communication, and as you build up relationships with them, they’ll start giving their feedback. Of course, if they like your company thanks to the relationships you’ve built through social media, they’re going to tell their friends. That is the type of marketing you want, and social media is going to help you with it.
7. “Content doesn’t win. Optimized content wins.” – Li Evans
Posting content on your blog or social media channels is great, but content alone isn’t going to help you. Content that speaks to your target audience at the right time and in the right place is what will make your social media strategy worth-while.
8. “It’s very important for a brand to have an identity through the years. But It’s very important as well to evolve because times change so fast.” – Donatella Versace
Keep this in mind moving forward. With social media ever-changing, you must be able to adapt to recent changes to stay afloat.
9. “Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make, but about the stories you tell.” – Seth Godin
It seems social media gurus really have this one down since they say the same thing again and again. Don’t give your followers a sales pitch. Give them something valuable.
10. “You can buy attention (advertising). You can beg for attention from the media (PR). You can bug people one at a time to get attention (sales). Or you can earn attention by creating something interesting and valuable and then publishing it online for free.” – David Meerman Scott
Clearly, earning attention is what’s going to win out since your audience will actually care. Make sure your social media strategy is built to earn attention through value.
Have your own social marketing words of wisdom? Share your ideas in the comment section.
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