The Beginners Guide to Social Media | Studio Illicit

E-BOOK

SOCIAL MEDIA GUIDE THE BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO SOCIAL MEDIA

WHAT TO EXPECT in this beginner's guide, you will discover the fundamentals of running a social media platform for your business.

WITH THERE BEING AN ESTIMATED 4.2 BILLION PEOPLE ACTIVE ON SOCIAL MEDIA, IT HAS NOW BECOME AN ESSENTIAL WAY FOR BUSINESSES TO REACH OUT TO CUSTOMERS AND RAISE BRAND AWARENESS. THE DECISION OF WHETHER TO HAVE A SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE HAS ALMOST BECOME NON-NEGOTIABLE WITH IT BEING THE MOST INEXPENSIVE WAY TO PROMOTE YOUR BUSINESS, SO IT IS IMPORTANT TO TAKE IT SERIOUSLY AND GET IT RIGHT!

SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS WITH OVER 20 SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS NOW OPERATING, CHOOSING THE RIGHT ONE(S) IS ESSENTIAL IN MAKING SURE THAT YOU'RE TARGETING THE RIGHT AUDIENCE FOR YOUR BRAND. KNOWING YOUR MARKET, AND WHAT THEY LIKE WILL BE THE BIGGEST FACTOR IN DETERMINING WHICH CHANNEL(S) YOU SHOULD USE. FOR EXAMPLE, THERE'S NO POINT IN PUTTING YOUR EFFORTS INTO LINKEDIN IF YOUR AIM IS TO TARGET 12-24 YEAR OLDS (GENERATION Z).

LINKEDIN IS WIDELY KNOWN FOR BEING USED BY PROFESSIONAL MILLENNIALS, SO WOULDN'T BE AN APPROPRIATE CHANNEL FOR THIS YOUNGER DEMOGRAPHIC.

EXAMPLES:

Video: youtube, tik tok, instagram reel, facebook watch, VIMEO. Business networking: LinkedIn, twitter.

SHOPPING: pinterest, facebook shop, Instagram shop,tik tok.

PHOTO SHARING: INSTAGRAM, PINTEREST. BLOGGING: TUMBLR, FACEBOOK, TWITTER.

PLANNING A KEY PART OF ANY SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY IS PLANNING. DECIDING ON HOW AND WHEN YOU’RE GOING TO POST CAN STRONGLY INFLUENCE THE WAY IN WHICH YOUR CONTENT IS RECEIVED. WHETHER YOU PLAN ON A WEEKLY OR MONTHLY BASIS, IT IS VITAL THAT YOUR STRATEGY ALLOWS FOR CONSISTENTLY PUBLISHED CONTENT, SO THAT YOUR EFFORTS STAY FRESH, RELEVANT AND ALIGN WITH CURRENT SOCIAL MEDIA TRENDS ... NO ONE LIKES OLD NEWS! TAKING THE TIME TO PLAN YOUR CONTENT PROPERLY INCREASES YOUR CHANCES OF BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS WITH YOUR FOLLOWERS, ACHIEVING YOUR BRAND GOALS AND, ULTIMATELY, INCREASING REVENUE FOR YOUR BUSINESS. IT'S NOT A SECRET THAT BEHIND ANY SUCCESSFUL SOCIAL MARKETER IS A STRONG CONTENT CALENDAR. FINDING A CALENDAR FORMAT THAT WORKS FOR YOUR INDIVIDUAL NEEDS WILL ENHANCE YOUR STRATEGY MASSIVELY, ALLOWING YOU TO PLAN WHAT EACH DAY, WEEK OR MONTH WILL LOOK LIKE IN ADVANCE. WHETHER YOU'RE A VISUAL OR A VERY STRUCTURED WORKER, THERE ARE AN ARRAY OF PLATFORMS OUT THERE TO HELP WITH THIS.

CHECK OUT TOOLS SUCH AS:

SCHEDULING RUNNING A SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN CAN BE A FULL-TIME JOB IN ITSELF. THIS IS WHERE PUBLISHING TOOLS ARE ESSENTIAL, ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE OTHER BUSINESS TO ATTEND TO. PUBLISHING TOOLS ALLOW YOU TO MANAGE YOUR CONTENT AND PLATFORMS IN ONE PLACE SO THAT YOUR STRATEGY IS WELL-ORGANISED, AND YOU CAN CONSISTENTLY HIT YOUR GOALS. POPULAR TOOLS SUCH AS HOOTSUITE ALLOW YOU TO CONNECT YOUR INDIVIDUAL SOCIAL PLATFORMS AND SCHEDULE POSTS FOR SPECIFIC TIMES AND DATES. WITH AUTOMATIC SCHEDULING, YOU CAN PLAN AS FAR IN ADVANCE AS YOU'D LIKE. THEREFORE, IF LIFE GETS IN THE WAY, YOUR POSTS WILL STILL BE PUBLISHED. ADVANCED SCHEDULING TOOLS ARE ALSO A GREAT PLACE TO KEEP TRACK OF ANALYTICS, ALONGSIDE YOUR CONTENT TIMETABLE. THIS ALLOWS YOU TO SEE YOUR CONTENT AND ITS PROGRESS ALL IN ONE PLACE. SOME OTHER GREAT SCHEDULING TOOLS TO TRY ARE PLANOLY AND UNUM.

ORGANIC CONTENT ORGANIC CONTENT IS FREE AND ORIGINAL CONTENT THAT REACHES YOUR AUDIENCE THROUGH COMPLETELY ORGANIC MEANS, FOR EXAMPLE, A FOLLOWER SEEING YOUR POST BY SCROLLING THROUGH THIER FEED. ORGANIC CONTENT IS THE BACKBONE OF ANY BRAND PRESENCE ON SOCIAL MEDIA, BEING THE DAY TO DAY CONTENT THAT IS USED IN ORDER TO ATTRACT, INFORM AND ENGAGE WITH EXISTING FOLLOWERS. THIS IS THE CONTENT THAT WILL KEEP YOU ON THE FRONTLINE WHEN IT COMES TO VISIBILITY ON THE TIMELINE … AS LONG AS IT IS DONE WELL.

YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY SHOULD REVOLVE AROUND CONTENT PILLARS. THESE ARE THE MAIN TOPICS YOU WILL DISCUSS THROUGHOUT YOUR MONTHLY CONTENT SCHEDULE. THE MOST COMMON PILLARS TO CONSIDER FOR ORGANIC POSTS ARE INFORMATIVE AND PERSONAL CONTENT: PERSONAL CONTENT CONSISTS OF POSTS SUCH AS STAFF UPDATES, WORKPLACE ACTIVITIES, AND THE DAY TO DAY LIFE OF A BRAND. THIS IS WHAT MAKES YOU RELATABLE AND HELPS YOUR BRAND TO TAKE A MORE HUMAN FORM IN THE EYES OF YOUR FOLLOWERS. HOWEVER, THERE IS A FINE LINE BETWEEN PROFESSIONAL AND TOO PERSONAL. IT IS IMPORTANT TO COMBINE PERSONAL WITH INFORMATIVE CONTENT, IN WHICH YOU WILL LINK TO YOUR BRAND GOALS. WHEN CREATING INFORMATIVE CONTENT, YOU NEED TO THINK "WHY AM I POSTING THIS?", "WHAT DO I WANT TO GAIN?" AND "WHAT DO I WANT MY FOLLOWERS TO DO WITH THIS INFORMATION?". BEING ABLE TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS WILL HELP YOU DELIVER RICH, INFORMATIVE CONTENT TO YOUR FOLLOWERS.

5 TIPS FOR POSTING ON SOCIAL MEDIA: CONSISTENCY Keep everything from brand identity to posting routine consistent IN ORDER to maintain engagement.

TIMING cONSIDER THE TIMING OF YOUR POSTS AS YOUR AUDIENCE WILL BE MORE AND LESS ACTIVE DURING CERTAIN POINTS OF THE DAY.

AESTHETIC AESTHETIC IS IMPORTANT FOR VISUAL PLATFORMS AS YOUR FEED/TIMELINE DIRECTLY REFLECTS YOUR BRAND. FIRST IMPRESSIONS ARE EVERYTHING.

ENGAGEMENT Don't forget to nurture your followers and engage with them with speedy and quality interactions. i.e comments, shares, likes ... Recognise your followers!

TAGS EVERY TAG YOU MAKE IS AN ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITY TO BE SEEN. HASHTAGS, LOCATION TAGS AND PEOPLE TAGS ALLOWS YOU TO BE SEEN in MORE PLACES THAN JUST YOUR FEED.

QUALITY CONTENT THERE'S MORE TO POSTING ON SOCIAL MEDIA THAN HOW OFTEN YOU POST, THE TIME YOU POST AND WHOM YOU TAG. DON'T GET US WRONG - ALL THESE THINGS HELP, BUT THE QUALITY OF CONTENT YOU PRODUCE IS THE ICING ON THE CAKE WHEN IT COMES TO POSTING. THE FIRST SENTENCE OF YOUR TWEET OR THE FIRST IMAGE OF YOUR INSTAGRAM POST NEEDS TO ATTRACT YOUR VIEWERS WITHIN SECONDS. OTHERWISE, THEY WON'T ENGAGE AND WILL KEEP ON SCROLLING. YOUR AUDIENCE CRAVE SHORT AND SNAPPY, BUT ALSO FULLY INFORMATIVE ... NOT FUSSY AT ALL, RIGHT?

DID YOU KNOW THAT VIDEOS RECIEVE UP TO 70% MORE ENGAGEMENT THAN IMAGES? LIKE A WEBSITE, YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS ACT AS A PORTFOLIO FOR YOUR BUSINESS. IF THE QUALITY OF YOUR CONTENT ISN'T TO A CERTAIN STANDARD E.G PHOTOS ARE BLURRY AND GRAPHICS LOOK CHEAP, THEN THIS IS THE IMAGE YOU ARE PORTRAYING FOR YOUR BRAND. IF YOU'RE UNABLE TO CREATE YOUR OWN QUALITY CONTENT, IT'S WORTH LOOKING INTO A PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER/VIDEOGRAPHER, COPYWRITER, AND EVEN A SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER. LEARNING THE ROPES YOURSELF WILL OF COURSE SAVE ON BUDGET, BUT WE CAN'T STRESS HOW IMPORTANT GREAT IMAGERY AND COPY IS WHEN IT COMES TO SHOWCASING YOUR BRAND

QUALITY OVER QUANTITY! QUALITY WILL ALWAYS BEAT QUANTITY. IT IS A COMMON MISTAKE TO ASSUME THAT YOU NEED TO POST AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE. 3 TIMES A DAY, 7 DAYS A WEEK, WILL UNDOUBTEDLY SEE A DROP IN THE QUALITY OF YOUR POSTS. WHEREAS 3 POSTS PER WEEK, WITH GOOD, RELEVANT CONTENT, SHOULD BE ENOUGH FOR BRAND AWARENESS, WHILST KEEPING YOUR AUDIENCE WANTING MORE!

PAID ADS DUE TO THE EVER-CHANGING ALGORITHMS OF THE MANY DIFFERENT PLATFORMS, THE ENGAGEMENT RATE OF ORGANIC CONTENT IS ALWAYS CHANGING. THIS IS WHY IT IS ESSENTIAL TO HAVE A STRONG PAID STRATEGY, TO GUARANTEE YOUR POSTS ARE SEEN BY YOUR FOLLOWERS. A PERFECT EXAMPLE IS FACEBOOK'S ALGORITHM CHANGE IN 2018, WHERE THE ALGORITHM RANKED NEWSFEEDS TO SHOW PEOPLE CONTENT THAT IS DEEMED MOST RELEVANT TO THEM, AS OPPOSED TO SURFACING ALL THE CONTENT AVAILABLE. THIS SUBSEQUENTLY CAUSED A CONCERNING DECLINE IN ORGANIC POSTING. INTRODUCING A MONTHLY AD BUDGET TO YOUR STRATEGY AND BOOSTING CERTAIN POSTS WILL HELP TO INCREASE ENGAGEMENT. THE MORE ENGAGEMENT YOU RECEIVE, THE MORE CERTAIN PLATFORMS WILL DEEM YOUR CONTENT AS RELEVANT...

DOING YOUR RESEARCH INTO DIFFERENT PLATFORMS, AND HOW THEIR ALGORITHMS WORK, IS A MUST WHEN IT COMES TO UNDERSTANDING HOW YOUR POSTS WILL BE RANKED AND WHERE TO SPEND YOUR BUDGET.

TACKLING ORGANIC DECLINE: PAID ADS - PUSH CONTENT TO REACH TARGETED GOALS. SELECTIVE POSTING - EACH POST SHOULD BE TARGETED TO A SPECIFIC AUDIENCE. CALL TO ACTION (CTA) - EVERY POST SHOULD HAVE A CTA. ENGAGING VIDEO CONTENT - VIDEO IS SAID TO BE 70% MORE ENGAGING THAN SINGLE IMAGE POSTS.

ANALYTICS MANAGING SOCIAL MEDIA TAKES A LOT OF TIME AND EFFORT, SO IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW WHETHER YOUR WORK IS ACTUALLY PAYING OFF OR NOT. ANALYTICS WILL HELP YOU UNDERSTAND THE MEANINGFUL DATA, IN ORDER TO HELP PROCESS AND PLAN YOUR STRATEGY AND NEXT STEPS WITHIN YOUR CAMPAIGNS. OVER THE YEARS, THE DETAIL OF ANALYTICS HAS PROGRESSED CONSIDERABLY, SO IT CAN BE A LITTLE OVERWHELMING AS TO HOW MUCH DATA WE NOW HAVE ACCESS TO WHEN TRACKING A PLATFORM'S PROGRESS.

THE BREAKDOWN: REACH Tracking the number of accounts that have seen your post.

IMPRESSIONS the number of times your post has been seen - but this could be multiple times by the same account!

ENGAGEMENT The number of accounts that have interacted with your post.

USING THESE METRICS, YOU CAN THEN IMPLEMENT AND ADJUST DIFFERENT STRATEGIES ACCORDING TO WHICH CONTENT RECEIVES THE HIGHEST REACH, ENGAGEMENT AND IMPRESSIONS.

WRAPPING UP! IT'S SAFE TO SAY THAT SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT IS A NEVERENDING JOURNEY DUE TO ITS FAST-EVOLVING NATURE. WITH NEW TRENDS OCCURRING, SOMETIMES ON A DAILY BASIS, YOU WOULD HAVE TO DEVOTE YOUR LIFE IN ORDER TO KEEP UP WITH ALL OF THESE! WE SAY - TAKE OUR ADVICE BUT DON'T CONSUME YOURSELF WITH VANITY METRICS, AND PACE YOURSELF. HOWEVER, IF YOU WANT TO TAKE THINGS FURTHER, WE ARE OF COURSE HERE TO HELP WITH ANYTHING FROM 1 TO 1 TRAINING SESSIONS TO FULL PLATFORM MANAGEMENT (ALONGSIDE OUR DIGITAL PARTNERS CLICK HUB).

IF ANY OF THIS IS OF INTEREST TO YOU, HIT US UP AT INFO@STUDIOILLICIT.CO.UK. IN THE MEANTIME ... HAPPY POSTING!

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