We’ve all been there. We’ve joined the latest social media platform because one of our friends joined and told us about some fun features that you can only use there. Sooner or later this snowball effect culminates with another hit platform that’s added to your already growing portfolio of profiles online.
In fact, around 3.5 billion people use social media globally. Facebook which has the world’s largest platform, has 2.70 billion monthly active users. That’s an enormous amount of potential reach.
But what about using social media for your business? How can you drive traffic to your site through content on social media in addition to using paid ads?
Well, that certainly depends on which platform you’re using. One of the most popular is Facebook/Instagram which provides a shared platform that enables you to connect with potential customers in a number of ways depending on what type of business you are. It also enables you to analyse your data so you can optimise the type of social content you’re creating based on how your audience is responding to it. It’s not just about publishing a post, it’s about creating the right type of content on social media to get your viewers engaged.
Let’s say that you’re a media business and you’re creating video content which is going out to your millions of followers, yet for some reason it’s not generating the results you had hoped for. Social media platforms such as Facebook can actually help you with this, so that you can then go back and optimise the content.
One such example is a TV broadcaster in Thailand that creates highlight clips of its TV shows that it then posts on Facebook to generate traffic for people to tune in to full-length programs. Now using social media allows them to create all sorts of content that can generate a buzz, yet even with all of their followers, the type of content they were posting wasn’t performing as well as competitors.
One area they were having particular difficulty in was the length of time viewers were watching the clips. If they wouldn’t stay watching for at least one minute, then they wouldn’t see any of the advertisements. By analysing and understanding the data, the TV broadcaster was able to adjust their strategy. Their solution was to move more quickly into an exciting part of the video clip, move logos to the end, run clips simultaneously with live broadcasts, and create more videos. This ability to review and alter a strategy saw a substantial improvement in the quality of their Facebook videos viewership.
By using social media, the broadcaster was able to substantially increase engagement from fans, add another channel for advertisers, and grow their business by having more viewers watch their program.
Other types of businesses can benefit from content on social media as well. If you’re a retailer for example, social media now provides you with the opportunity to sell your products through different platforms. Initially, retailers would just post images and videos. Now platforms such as Instagram allow you to directly link products for sale on your site to a particular post or Instagram Story. Many retailers have found it optimal to create a content strategy around a social media campaign of live videos, pre-recorded videos, and image posts leading up to the product being launched for sale through their Instagram profile. This helps with getting people excited and generating buzz about the product before it’s available for sale. Watch brands tend to be particularly good at this with IWC and Panerai creating some incredible social content to promote their watches.
Creating articles that load within your social media can also generate more readers. Instant Articles within the Facebook platform allows you to design articles that load up to four times faster than mobile web in many regions and according to Facebook, users open 44% more articles when they’re published as Instant Articles than when a mobile web link is used. This strategy can supplement the blogs you should already be creating on your website.
By using a mixed approach on social media of engaging content and advertisements along with direct sales channels, you can maximise your reach and grow your brand. Understanding the analytics behind your audience will also help to increase engagement. It’s not just about ensuring that your business has a profile and that you post regularly, it’s about producing the right type of content that generates the highest return on investment.
This is also why social media’s role in your business should be to compliment your other forms of content. They need to work in partnership. You shouldn’t have one without the other. Use it wisely as another outlet to create great content on and engage with your customers.
Speak to us today about how we can help you create and amplify the perfect social media content and strategy for your business.