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5 of the smartest tactics for social media management

by | Mar 25, 2021 | Analysis, Public Relations

One of the biggest challenges brands face is keeping up with the ever-evolving trends in social media management. For them to stay in the race and continue receiving increasingly limited attention in the increasingly competitive environment, coming up with new social media marketing tactics is essential. The goal is to find something that will win audiences. But it is also necessary to understand and exploit new trends as they occur. Moreover, it is imperative to know that not all tactics are relevant for all businesses.

This means that every brand needs to perform market segmentation and consider the type of product they offer. Thus, if a specific brand’s target audience is younger, they should steer clear of media like LinkedIn and Facebook but focus their efforts more on Snapchat, TikTok, or Instagram. Furthermore, brands that are in the service business will not benefit drastically from image-heavy platforms such as Instagram. So, once the target audience is clear, brands must focus their marketing activities on platforms that will help them the most. They should also invest in measuring and monitoring their efforts to determine how well they perform and continue to succeed.

Devise a social media management plan

We have already hinted at the need to create a plan for social media activity. It will help with the organization and implementation of marketing activities. That is, it will define what and where a brand should post content. Developing a plan will take four steps:

A desk with a monitor showing statistics of how well social media management tactics perform

The success of social media management tactics will depend on how well-made the plan is.

As we have mentioned, it’s necessary to perform market segmentation. That is, determine who the target audience is and where they spend their time. Also, it’s crucial to examine their behavior—what kind of content they enjoy and share and who they interact with the most.

The next step is to define the business goals and direct your social media marketing activities accordingly. Perhaps, you want to spread your brand awareness, increase sales, etc. Once you understand what you want to accomplish, you should think about how social media can help.

Not all channels are the same, so the next step is identifying where to place social media management efforts.

Finally, it’s essential to decide which tools to use and consider how the brand will monitor and measure the results of its efforts. Basically, the brand needs to know what success means for it.

Learn how to tell a story

It’s been a while since a consecutive chain of promotions was an effective social media strategy. And it’s the same for every social media platform. So, if the goal is getting more followers, being spammy and impersonal is not a way to get them. What people want and find refreshing now is something positive and meaningful, not more marketing spam.

That is why it’s wise to resort to storytelling tactics that will generate discussion. It will uncover brands’ vulnerabilities and create more connections and closeness between them and their following. An excellent example of such posts is addressing the negative comments that a brand has received on its platforms. Also, several Facebook and Instagram accounts thrive solely on emotional storytelling. Take a look at Humans of New York on Instagram or Humans of Amsterdam on Facebook.

Establish posting frequency

It is beneficial first to determine the best posting time. It is the time when a post has the best chances of performing well, that is, receiving the most engagement and getting the highest reach. Next, it’s essential to stay consistent. If there are no posts and activity for months, your followers won’t get a chance to have a relationship with a brand. A relationship requires nurture, and the goal is to make followers expect to see a brand in their feed. This is not to say that there should be a rain of posts daily. Rather, a consistent frequency should be established—a post at a specific time on a particular day. That way, followers will anticipate your posts and expect and want more.

Social media application icons on a mobile phone screen

Whichever platform you use, make sure you remain present.

Create groups

Another way to build a relationship with the followers and allow them to interact with each other is to create private groups. Facebook and LinkedIn groups provide brands with a window to their fans’ and customers’ needs and wants. It also gives them a chance to interact with the people that matter the most for their business. In order to prompt conversations and discussions, brands can set up daily posts to encourage activity and keep themselves in the minds of their followers.

Customize content to fit the strengths of each network

As we have already mentioned, no social media platform is the same. Therefore, instead of copy-pasting content across platforms, it’s more productive to tailor content to exploit each network’s strengths to the maximum. Regardless of what you post, the same post will not work the same for Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. For instance, the most evident difference is seen between Facebook and LinkedIn. While Facebook tends to be more casual, LinkedIn fosters a more professional climate.

A person creating a Facebook post

Remember to customize content so it’s suitable for various social media channels.

Similarly, it’s worth keeping in mind that the demographic on various channels is also different. This means that social media platforms attract different users. The most evident example is that Instagram, TokTok, and Snapchat attract younger audiences, while older generations tend to navigate towards Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

So, once again, we will underline the importance of determining who your target audience is. And if a brand uses more platforms, they should tailor their content, so it is suitable for each particular social media channel’s dominant users.

Let’s take a look at these statistics:

  • Facebook has more female users, 79% of whom are between 18-29
  • Instagram also has more female users, 72% of whom are between 13-17
  • Twitter is popular with both male and female users equally, 38% of whom are between 18-29
  • LinkedIn, too, has an equal “population” of males and females, 37% of whom are between 30-49

Other notable social media management tactics

Going live and interactive is the most direct way with audiences will generate a lot of activity and increase reach. Also, the use of tags and hashtags is highly advisable. As for the captions, it’s smart to mix things up a bit and incorporate both lengthier descriptions and witty and catchy captions. Moreover, cooperating with other influencers is always a good idea. However, don’t make the mistake of underestimating micro-influencers, as people often trust them more than those with a huge following.

Social media platforms are a goldmine if you learn how to use them effectively. These social media management tactics will help brands find what will work best for their particular niche. And don’t forget to combine them with other traditional marketing tactics that are still effective today.

Elizabeth Wilkens

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