The Complexity of Social Media Marketing Made Simple
Social media marketing has come a long way and has become a critically important (and effective) component of a digital marketing mix. More than almost any other channel, social media has changed the shape of the consumer journey by altering the way consumers learn about and interact with their favorite brands.
In light of Social Media Day at the end of June, we sat down with two of our social media gurus to get their take on the social media landscape today and their predictions for the future. Here are their expert opinions:
Q: What advice would you give brands seeking to build stronger relationships with customers on social media?
A: “Recognizing the sheer volume of content, news, and opinions social media users are exposed to every time they unlock their phones, brands that want to foster stronger relationships with customers should focus on developing meaningful content that provides real value to those engaging with it. Of course, the words “meaningful” and “value” can mean different things for different brands, but customers should choose to engage with content because it is important to them.” — Christopher Spong, Supervisor of Social Media + Communications
Q: What is one new aspect of social media marketing that you believe will be a gamechanger for brands moving forward?
A: “In-app shopping that creates a seamless consumer experience from product discovery to checkout. This will be increasingly important as social media platforms continue to create fully immersive experiences that are aimed to keep you engaged and keep you on the platform. Additionally, data loss from data privacy policies like Apple’s app tracking transparency is limiting the ability to effectively measure shopping behavior on an advertiser’s websites. These two things combined are going to make in-app shopping the most ideal scenario. What’s even better? Platforms like Instagram have started to collect reviews in-feed from purchases made in-app, making it a full end-to-end experience.” — Annie Herges, Director of Performance Media, Paid Social
Q: What is one surefire way of garnering engagement on social media?
A: “The best way to garner engagement is to fully commit your social strategy and execution to a specific and single engagement objective. For example, a brand seeking to foster customer loyalty might set goals around in-platform engagement, focusing on engagement rate as the key performance indicator. All content developed, published, and promoted by this brand should then be optimized for in-platform engagement. Losing sight of this objective and trying to do too much with content shared will dilute the strategy and fail to meet goals.” — Christopher Spong
Q: Social media moves quickly. How do you help brands decipher short-term fads from bona fide trends and when to join the conversation?
A: “While it might make sense for some brands to take a risk on a fad, most brands will want to take a broader lens on micro trends to understand the bigger picture at hand. This will help to be strategic about when it makes sense to participate in the trend and when it doesn’t. Additionally, focus on those trends that can drive performance for the brand and where the brand can provide a positive experience for the consumer.” — Annie Herges
