Social media has changed the structure and layout of traditional marketing campaigns. With so many options at our disposable, marketers face a constant battle of capturing and holding the attention of potential customers. Proper social marketing can positively increase sales. According to a report by Converto and AOL Platforms, social media is proven to be essential to the lead conversion process, adding a high level of brand awareness that bridges the gap between the initial interaction with a lead and the point of conversion.
It’s essential that marketers know how to use social media platforms to their advantage and properly develop campaigns that maximize the success of their strategy.
Marketing on LinkedIn
With an array of tools at our disposal, LinkedIn no longer provides the same value it used to. Once known as the professional medium of social marketing, its more user-centric applications now present some limitations. This includes a more challenging approval process, which determines what content will be featured on the platform. The new specifications impact the type of content that is created and the approach tactic for lead generation and advertising.
Even though there are new API-restricting limitations on LinkedIn, the user interface has recently become much more aesthetically appealing. Pulse (LinkedIn’s publishing platform) and sponsored content are still viable ways to reach your audience and promote top-of-funnel marketing content. Just remember to consider all social media platforms when developing your marketing strategy, not just LinkedIn.
Social Tools for Marketers
Other social media platforms allow marketers to have more flexibility in terms of content, lead approach and advertising. In contrast with LinkedIn, these other platforms reach a broader audience (not just professional contacts, but other potential consumers as well). The value of social media in establishing a loyal customer base is immense. According to Ambassador, 71% of consumers who have had a good social media service experience with a brand are likely to recommend it to others.
Use social media as an effective customer service tool to increase brand engagement and win new customers. With the right tools, marketers have found ways to find success with more flexibility and control of their campaigns, which can ultimately result in higher conversion rates. It is crucial to analyze the success rate of your campaigns in order to optimize your budget and create more effective content that speaks to your target market. There are services out there that provide top-notch analytics for you. Are you ready to take your social media campaigns to the next level? Here are some favorite tools used by marketers to optimize and manage their social media campaigns:
- Sprout Social is a one-stop social marketing tool to help manage campaigns on any social media platform. It assists with the delegation of tasks and communication amongst team members. In addition to this organizational factor, Sprout Social allows you to schedule posts and analyze the success of your campaign.
- Buffer is known amongst marketers as one of the top social marketing tools. Not only does it allow you to schedule posts on any social media platform, but it also offers an analysis of each post so that you can determine the success rate of your strategy.
- BuzzSumo helps you stay up-to-date on relevant, trending content. Learn about content that can help shape your campaigns as well as discover relevant influencers who can help you gain visibility and following on your social platform.
- Tagboard helps you keep track of trends. Stay up-to-date on current hashtags and topics that are relevant to your industry. This will prove to be valuable information when creating content that speaks to your target audience.
- Everypost simplifies your research process by pulling together multimedia from YouTube, Instagram, Flickr, etc. This information allows you to create relevant and specific content, optimizing your posts.
- Social media is very image-focused. Visage helps you design social media graphics that are in line with the brand style. Consistency across your platforms helps make your brand recognizable to your audience.
- It is very important to remain customer-focused in your social media campaigns. Audisense assists with your audience management, and allows you to discover new leads and understand the needs of your current audience through tracking and analytics.
- Socialbakers provides overall insight and recommendations that help optimize your budget and improve your content.
Social marketing can help you reach an untapped market. So why waste the opportunity? Collaborate with your team to create viable and targeted social marketing campaigns. It is also important to seek help from professionals who are experienced in content strategy and lead management. With the right content and strategy, your company could use social marketing to generate awareness, generate leads and convert customers.