Is Social Media Marketing Dead?

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Is social media marketing dead? We see headlines all the time about how difficult it is to get organic social media traffic now. As a business, you have to ensure that your posts are viewed as “useful” if you want them to appear in the highest number of possible feeds.

So, sure, you do now need to consider spending more on social media marketing. But is it worth the investment? Considering that 87% of customers have said that social media influenced their buying decision, then yes. Need more hard stats? Check out our infographic below.

People are still very active on social media and they check out more than just the latest Amazon discount when it comes to business pages. So, social media marketing is not dead, and it is still one of the best marketing strategies.

How can you ensure the maximum return on your investment for social media marketing? These hacks will help you do exactly that.

You Have to Have Video

This one is non-negotiable. Social media users prefer video content to reading. It is easier, and makes the information easier to digest. So, instead of taking a photo of your latest line and writing a blurb about it, do a video shoot.

Whenever it comes to marketing information, or any information that you want to share on social media, see whether or not you can get the message across in video for maximum engagement. Keep it short, keep it interesting, and keep it on point for the best results.

Hyper personalization

This is the latest buzzword amongst marketers today. It’s a response to the changing needs and demands of the market. Clients now expect solutions that are more customized to their personal needs. They want something that has been made for them, not something that basically matches their needs.

Keep your social media marketing ultra-personal

They expect this in the products that they are buying and also in the marketing of those products. For the social media marketer, this means a deeper analysis of your followers and categorization of them. You would then create targeted advertising for each sub-group and send it to them accordingly.

Outstanding Content

The days of content mills churning out the same sub-par content over and over again are over. Your content needs to be flawless and data driven in order to make a real impact now. It is simple enough for people to check the claims made, and call you on ones they deem false.

So, to really stand out, you will need to publish content that is polished and that avoids claims that are too general in nature. For example, you would say something like, “The catechins in green tea help to lower blood pressure” instead of just saying, “Green tea is healthy.”

You will also need to create your content strategy based on the data that you have collected from your clients. Give them what they actually want, not what you think they do.

Hashtags Please

Previously, hashtags were a nice thing to have. Now they are essential if you want your posts to make it out of the slush pile. Find trending hashtags that actually relate to your brand and start using these as a focus when creating your posts.

Avoid hashtag stuffing, or just using every single hashtag that might be remotely relevant. Choose tags that best describe your content and that mesh well with your brand, so that you receive targeted traffic who might actually be interested.

For example, it might earn you some views to use a celebrity’s name in your hashtag. But how many of the people that you get this way will be primed to buy your product? Most will be looking for info on the celebrity in question, so it won’t be useful traffic.

Engage With Clients Cleverly

Everyone likes giving their opinion. Make sure that your polls are fun and quick, and you will get good user engagement. This can improve the profile of your page, earn you new followers, and give you useful insights.

Asking questions is another way to get your followers to engage, but you need to make these a little more creative. Try looking for a new angle on topical content and ask an open ended question. Get people thinking, and intrigue them.

It is great to get a conversation started about current events. However, you do need to be careful here. If the subject is highly emotive, or very polarizing, it could do more harm than good to bring it up. As a general rule, avoid politics and religion to start off with.

With a clever social media strategy, you will be able to open a lot of doors for your business. Take full advantage by using the hacks we have discussed to see your return on investment for social media marketing increase tremendously. So for the smarter businesses, the answer to the question “Is social media marketing dead?” is a resounding NO!