SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING FAQ
With two-thirds of the Internet actively engaged on social media, it’s clear that prospects want great content to share with their professional networks. That content can be yours if you utilize the power of content marketing effectively.
Your brand’s voice can be more powerful than ever before, and you have the opportunity to join and direct the conversation about your brand while also interacting with your target audience.
Why is social media important to your overall marketing strategy?
Social Media is important to your overall B2B marketing strategy because it enables you to stay top of mind with clients and prospects. The best way to think of it is a gentle nudge or reminder daily that you are still around.
Should all brands be on social media as part of a smart marketing strategy?
Social media is only one component of an overall marketing strategy. A well-rounded comprehensive strategy should include paid media, earned media, shared media, and owned media (the PESO model coined by Dietrich). That being said, brands need to be where their customers are.
If you are in B2B and the majority of your clients are active on LinkedIn, then TikTok may be a waste of time.
First and foremost, determine who your target audience is. Then determine what platforms they spend the most time on.
READ: Social Media Mistakes to Avoid.
Is social media sufficient to replace my entire Marketing Communications Strategy?
No! Social media marketing cannot replace a marketing plan; it is merely one component of an overall strategy and complements traditional and online PR initiatives. Social media is powerful, but a comprehensive marketing communications plan must also be in place to ensure a cohesive brand identity.
What does a successful social media strategy look like for a company?
A strategic social media strategy reveals this about your business.
A successful social media strategy means putting out educational information and content that your prospects want answers to. Ideally, a prospect should be able to see your social media and have many of their questions answered before ever speaking to your organization. They should always be learning about the craft- in our case PR and Social Media— from our posts.
What that looks like is posts about what PR is, how to measure it, and even showcasing valuable earned media coverage secured for our clients.
We like to think of it as a virtual “look book” of press placements secured.
This cuts down on the sales time of people asking to be emailed earned media links and case studies of other clients. Now we direct them to our Instagram handle for the company and tell them to check there first.
Having a strong social media strategy means that you have a clearly defined target audience and create content solely for that audience and do not veer away from it.
How is social media different from traditional marketing?
Social media is an extension of corporate branding.
As a client, you are paying for the ability to utilize modern electronic techniques to get in front of a targeted audience.
Social media is not an advertisement, and it is not a banner ad.
Social media is inherently about branding to a focused audience. It is about the ability to quickly get in front of prospects and current clients and to establish an online relationship with them and build customer engagement.
What should I expect from a social media investment, and how quickly should I expect it?
Social media does not immediately establish the value of your services or products, and instead establishes you as a thought leader in the industry and creates awareness of your name and brand. It is not a specific advertisement for a given product or service- it is about brand engagement.
The type of results you should expect from hiring a social media consulting agency is similar to what you would expect from a long-term branding campaign.
Social media marketing is essentially a global awareness and branding campaign that takes time to develop.
READ: How to Maximize Social Media ROI with a Proven 5-Step Process
What comes first: planning or publishing content?
Planning. Do not post any live content until a thorough strategic content marketing plan has been created. Companies that have taken a different approach have found that their overall brand reputation has been tarnished due to a lack of strategic planning, goal setting, and maintenance.
What should my business post on social media?
Not sure what to post on social media for your business? Use social media to share:
Social Media Marketing Business Ideas
- Media mentions
- New blog posts
- Real-time Instagram story updates
- Live speaking engagements
- Encourage people to vote for you for an upcoming regional business award
How do we tweak our social media plan to grow our follower base and increase engagement?
When creating a strategic social media plan for your business, start out by answering the following questions:
- Who is my ideal target audience? Who are the business and industry leaders I want access to?
- What is the message – in one sentence – that I want people to take away from my company? What do I want people to remember about my company? Does my company’s reputation ring bells with potential clients or does it flatline?
- What are the keywords needed to find my company online? What are the key search engine terms (known as keywords) that people are using to find my company? It is imperative to begin to think like your customers to unlock the terms needed to build exposure.
- What topics or articles would my customers be interested in reading about? What are they already knowledgeable about? What are they curious about? How does my product or service help support this?
SOCIAL MEDIA SERVICES | NEW YORK | RUBY MEDIA GROUP
Are you looking to hire a marketing consultant to help you build a stronger following and increase your social media profile and presence? Ruby Media Group helps companies increase their exposure through leveraging social media and digital PR. RMG conducts a thorough deep dive into a companies brand identity, and then creates a digital footprint and comprehensive strategy to execute against. Specialties include content creation, strategic planning, social media management, and digital public relations.
RMG helps clients shine in the digital space by extracting their strengths, developing story ideas, and crafting compelling news angles to ensure journalists go to their clients first as story sources and thought leaders. Ruby Media Group creates strategic, creative, measurable targeted campaigns to achieve your organizations strategic business growth objectives. Contact us today to grow your social media presence.
READ: Avoid the top 10 B2B social media marketing mistakes.
KRIS RUBY is the CEO of Ruby Media Group, an award-winning public relations and media relations agency in Westchester County, New York. Kris Ruby has more than 15 years of experience in the Media industry. She is a sought-after media relations strategist, content creator and public relations consultant. Kris Ruby is also a national television commentator and political pundit and she has appeared on national TV programs over 200 times covering big tech bias, politics and social media. She is a trusted media source and frequent on-air commentator on social media, tech trends and crisis communications and frequently speaks on FOX News and other TV networks. She has been featured as a published author in OBSERVER, ADWEEK, and countless other industry publications. Her research on brand activism and cancel culture is widely distributed and referenced. She graduated from Boston University’s College of Communication with a major in public relations and is a founding member of The Young Entrepreneurs Council. She is also the host of The Kris Ruby Podcast Show, a show focusing on the politics of big tech and the social media industry. Kris is focused on PR for SEO and leveraging content marketing strategies to help clients get the most out of their media coverage.