How Do We Balance Content Marketing and Social Media?

Although content marketing and the social media marketing are two completely different disciplines, they have become almost synonymous today. This is in part because content currently plays a leading role in brand promotion on social media. And also because social networks help content marketers: firstly, to listen to their target audience in order to understand what content attracts them the most, and secondly, to distribute marketing material, both directly from the brand and through reposts.

Due to the openness of social networks, they come under the influence of the halo effect, which contributes to more trusting and relaxed communication. What's more, they allow for a personal touch, which is a massive boost for brands that spend time and money building relationships with their target audience. By combining all of these elements, you are sure to enrich any of your marketing campaigns.

Content Marketing Challenges

And yet, while the combination of social media marketing and content marketing can be a potent tool in the hands of a professional, there are a number of challenges and dangers that come with using the two together.

"The biggest problem most brands face is a lack of control. Once the content is published, you get lost and don't know how to use and distribute it further. The difficulty is that here you will never get a second chance, and you will not be able to redo something, "warns Grimes-Viort. "Social networks work as an amplifier. If the material is right, you will be on top of the wave. But if he is terrible, the rule will work too.

Another challenge is to accurately measure your conversion rate in order to validate social media performance, especially if you need to compare them directly with other information channels.

With all of the above in mind, let's see how you can get the most out of the mix of content marketing and social media, without creating unnecessary problems for yourself in either area.

TIPS FROM THE PROS

Do your research.

"The company should first of all test social networks on a limited budget. Since, depending on the target audience and the industry, social platforms may not be the most profitable information channel for them, “advises Greenberg. “The limited budget will allow us to accurately determine the potential opportunities for such resources to attract new customers. Also, companies should examine all social platforms and identify those that are most suitable for them. Then conduct research and determine what content will work best with their target audience and only then invest time and money in promoting and distributing it. "

Decide On Your Goals And Objectives.

"Determine for yourself exactly what you want to get out of your content project," says Grimes-Viort. "You can create the best, smartest and funniest videos that will get millions of shares, but if they don't drive sales, why are they even needed?"

Dan Bosomworth, Managing Director of First 10 Digital and co-founder of Smart Insight, encourages brands to be clear about their goals and objectives to make sure they do it right. He says: "The plan can be complicated and involve many tasks, or it can be straightforward, such as getting consumers to visit the page of the company's website where the request form is located. In any case, you must understand what goal you are pursuing and what performance indicators and other parameters you should focus on in order to assess the success of your work. "

Once you've figured out the goals, the next step is to understand what criteria to measure the effectiveness of your content: users can leave comments, repost, subscribe to newsletters, or shop. As Bosomworth says, "The content of the story should make readers feel strongly about what they want — for example, to view additional information or visit a web page. You can subtly post further directions (calls to action) in your posts that will grab the attention of different categories of consumers at various stages of the buying process. The main thing is that these instructions always remain relevant and specific and do not confuse buyers."

Make Sure Your Posts Are Up To Date.

"Planning is vital to maximizing the effectiveness of social media content marketing," says Greenberg. "Take the time to map your content to target shoppers, and the purchase cycle will show you where to put more effort. Even the little thing like sending a tweet to a customer after they purchase a product to see if everything meets their expectations is of great importance. It is essential not to forget to analyze and build relationships with the target audience and consider interaction with consumers through social media as a long-term strategy, and not as a sprint race within a single project. Social networks are primarily about communication and building relationships, which cannot be done overnight (Tinder is the exception to the rule). "

Along with using buying personas to create content, Bosomworth also recommends doing some basic keyword research on search engines and social media. This will allow you to understand what professional terms your target audience is using.

"With a list of keywords in hand and understanding your audience's needs, you can create messages that your consumers can't pass by. Think of Ogilvie's advertising mantra about the meaning of the “big idea,” which, in fact, catches the consumer. Why should I read, watch, or listen to this material? How can it be useful or interesting to me? "

Focus On Graphic Design.

The content should be professionally packaged or, in other words, it should look great. If the content of the e-book is beyond praise, but it is framed in Word, then you should not expect high results.

As Bosomworth explains, “Never before has the design been as crucial as it is today. People take professional design for granted, and the current standards are very high. User experience development is equally important. Consumers (as well as search engines) should easily understand the main idea of ​​the content; it should be easy to perceive and read. You want your content to be easy to share, easy to save, publish to your feed, or bookmark. "

Distribute Content Wisely.

Content publishing is critical. And to be successful, you need to do it right. Bosomworth recommends posting material on main site pages that have good traffic. As he says, the content should be where the target audience can easily find it. “If your customers spend a lot of time on Facebook, then it might make sense for you to post blog posts on your Facebook page that you also post on Twitter. And then post to Twitter on Linkedln. "

Bosomworth also advises SEO of your content to make sure it can be found easily through search engines. “Track social media and make the most of it to identify where conversations are going on about topics that interest your target audience. Then post your content on these social platforms and online portals, making sure to link to your site with relevant links. "

Keep your finger on the pulse.

If you don't track your performance, you cannot measure it. If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it. Make sure you have the right performance analysis tools on hand, be it dedicated to social media monitoring apps, Google Analytics, or more advanced tools. The main thing for you is to determine where you have achieved success and where you have not.

"Pay more attention to real performance metrics, rather than numbers like the total number of followers and subscribers you managed to collect,” Pelanova recommends. "Followers represent only a small part of the bigger picture. Therefore, do not judge your work only by the number of likes on the page. Instead, look at metrics like brand awareness, lead generation, and other KPIs. Use tools that allow you to measure and analyze your data. Thus, you can get a better idea of ​​how accurately you managed to solve the tasks. These tools will help you to competently evaluate your work on social networks, as well as to measure the financial result. "

Don't forget about the feedback.

It's essential to respond to any comments that users leave on social media, even if it's a simple thank you. This practice fosters consumer engagement, so never forget about feedback.

As Grimes-Viort rightly said, "Prepare to respond to all reviews and messages. Do you have enough resources to cope with this task? How you do it plays a significant role. It doesn't matter if we are talking about negative or positive comments. Large organizations can be advised to use applications such as Polpeo for this purpose. "

Test and refine.

"You should always be able to evaluate, measure, and improve your content. It's an ongoing process, "says Pelanova. “Not all the material that users share in their news is viral. Instead, the opposite is true. But through trial and error, you will soon understand which content works and which does not. Consider testing your posts, idea, posting time, social platform, and any other factors that you think might influence your target audience's reach and engagement."

Pelanova also advises: “You should always think about your customers and content, its structure and the manner in which the material is presented. For example, illustrations can be published along with the text. A / B testing will help you determine which option will be more successful. All factors must be kept in mind if you want to achieve really high results."

How To Boost Content Marketing With Social Networks

Generate relevant content for your target audience, publish it, and promote it through social networks. That is the formula that can give a new dimension to your digital marketing strategy and increase its impact on the most important indicator of any business: sales. Because it's okay to look for new ideas for posts and work hard on the quality of the texts and images, but if nobody consumes them, the contents are not worth much and can even end up becoming a waste of resources. That is why the role played by digital platforms is so important, as they continue to grow in a number of users and amplify their arrival.

To connect your content with your social networks, you only need to take a few strategic steps.

Step 1. Focus On The Right Platforms For Your Business

As the experts explain, there is no perfect social network or better than another. The one that will work best to communicate what your brand offers is the one where your potential customers are, where they communicate the most, where they interact the most, and wherein the end, they will pay you more attention.

For example, the platform that still offers the most scope for organic growth is Instagram. But if you offer corporate services, surely your best option will be LinkedIn. In any case, it is good to create a mix of channels, define in which one you are going to invest in advertising (at some point you will have to do it), and measure the results in order to make intelligent decisions.

Step 2. Work with a plan

What is relevant is the strategy, not the number of publications. And this is true for both content marketing and social media. Define what you want to achieve and how long. Establish what resources you have and how far you are willing to invest in a campaign.

It is also essential that you analyze the capacity of your digital marketing team and if it is convenient to outsource this process. Generating quality content not only demands a deep knowledge of the company and its target audience but also knowing how to write, edits, and uses basic design platforms. And to manage social networks, you have to have creativity, a good capacity for reaction, and a vocation for customer service.

Step 3. Monitor conversations around your brand

The number of clicks on an article or the "likes" a post received is not the only important indicator. You also have to know what the reactions and feelings of your followers are about what you post, because only then will you understand what can lead them to make a purchase decision. To get that vital information and better measure the performance of your campaigns, there are very useful free social listening platforms. One of them is Hootsuite, best known for its social media management features. Other good options are How Sociable, whose free version allows you to track up to 12 platforms, and Mention, which can monitor mentions of a brand in 42 languages.

Step 4. Measure and adjust

Knowing what best is essential to improve the impact of your campaigns and deepen the relationship with your audience. Otherwise, you will be publishing blindly and without a certain idea about the profitability of each initiative.

So he works with an Excel spreadsheet that shows the published content, the day and time, and the results they had (such as clicks, shared posts, and comments). It also measures the evolution of each social network in terms of the number of followers, and which is the platform that is bringing the most visits to your site. Because as we have said several times in this blog, it is about building on your own land. And that land is your website.

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