10 Social-Media Marketing Strategies for Companies

Whether you own a small business or manage a large corporation, no matter how big or small a company is, it cannot grow without social media and a digital marketing strategy.

Having a social media marketing plan is vital to stand out in a crowd competing for attention. Your strategy should be strong enough to boost your brand awareness above and beyond the competition.

Social media is so much more than memes and Instagram stories; it's about using each platform to post the kind of content that is authentic to your brand, tells the story of your campaigns, and connects to the lives of your consumer.

Using social networks to drive traffic toward your target demographic takes time and requires you to set goals and commit to social strategy. However, the 10 steps below can have you well on your way to increased brand awareness and a whole new social media presence.

Related: Top 10 Social Media Management Tools You Should Try Now

1. Start Using Chatbots.

You may have already heard, but chatbots are in. This is no surprise, as they are the one social media management tool that can communicate and resolve customer problems without the potential need for human interruption.

Related: Social Media Marketing Strategies With Chatbots

In addition to the above, chatbots integrate with the social media platforms consumers now feel most comfortable interacting through. Platforms like Chattypeople make integrating an AI-powered chatbot into your social media strategy easy.

These tools allow you to create a chatbot that:

• Doesn't require any coding knowledge.
• Can answer customer questions.
• Can take orders directly from Facebook Messenger and comments.
• Integrates with all the major payment systems.

Related: How to Create a Facebook Messenger Chatbot For Free Without Coding

2. Create a Personalized Experience for Your Customers.

Chatbots are a great way to automate specific everyday tasks, and if implemented correctly, your chatbot can allow you to create more personalized experiences for your customers.

To do this, stop linking your advertisements solely to your landing pages, and create ads that redirect your audience to a Messenger window with your chatbot.

Linking ads to your chatbot will:

• Break the traditional views customers have of you only trying to sell to them.
• Make your customer's experience more personal.
• Boost your sales.
• Create a loyal fan base.

3. Create an Efficient Content Marketing Strategy.

Quality is crucial, and content is no exception. Content marketing has long been a prominent form of marketing and will likely be around for a while. Many brands are not linking quality content with the proper posting schedule and the correct frequency of posts.

High-qualitySEO content coupled with all the above can help you bring in the right customers at the right time. Good content marketing can help attract an organic audience; moreover, it can be free.

Be sure to create a relevant hashtag strategy along with your optimized and thorough content.

Related: 3 Simple Steps to Automate Your Content Marketing

4. Create a Community for Your Audience.

Although social media followers and many other metrics are influential, they are not the "be-all and end-all" to social media success. Social media engagement rates are much more telling.

You need to show your audience that you are not just a robot. Integrate personality through humor and emotions into your posts so your audience can relate to your brand.

Social media is all about being social; if your customers see the same types of posts repeatedly, they may lose interest.

Make your communications interactive by:

• Asking your audience questions.
• Gathering their opinions on some issues.
• Sharing newsworthy information rather than just information about your products or services.
• Liking and sharing some of their posts rather than just the other way around.
• Asking them to interact directly with your posts through "likes" and "shares."
• Incorporating user-generated content

5. Jazz Up Your Profiles With a Diverse Content Strategy.

People respond to good imagery, fun TikTok videos, and some exciting podcasts once in a while. Jazz up your social media content by using this type of media regularly.

Your social media pages will likely look bland if all you post and share is text or infographics, so be sure to use other types of media to catch your audience's eye. Pumping out different types of content can add a level of personality to your brand.

Related: 4 Reasons Why Your Business Should Invest in Content Marketing

6. Use Brand Advocates.

Your best promotional tool is the people who love your brand. Instead of finding new customers, why not leverage your current ones? Make your customers your influencers. In addition to your existing customers, you could use your own employees.

To use your employees as brand advocates, you should:

• Create social media guidelines specific to your brand.
• Tell your advocates about social media best practices.
• Add a leader to each section of your social media advocacy plan.
• Track the correct data to pinpoint areas for improvement and those doing well.

Related: Here's What 2016 Taught Us About Content Marketing and SEO

7. Create Profiles on the Relevant Channels.

Today, people create social media accounts on every platform available to reach as many people as possible. Unfortunately, you might not reach your chosen target audience with that mindset.

As a result, it is critical that you look at your buyer personas when choosing your social media channels. For example, you won't necessarily need a LinkedIn profile if you are launching a gothic clothing brand; the same as you won't need to be on Pinterest to promote your surveillance services.

Looking to reach Gen Z? TikTok and Snapchat are your best bets.

8. Establish a Social Media Budget.

Social media platforms are one of, if not the most important, forms of marketing. Allocating the proper budget to your social media marketing campaigns is crucial to your success.

Not only this, leveraging that budget with the right strategy can be the most cost-effective way to reach your KPIs and chosen target audience.

Because social content is used on a much more personal level, you may also find that it is where you can make a much deeper connection with your customers.

Related: 6 Content Marketing Tips for First-Timers

9. Run Cross-Channel Campaigns.

Run cross-channel campaigns across all your social media channels to further engage your customers. Remember that these campaigns are run by virtually every company today, so you may need to give yourself an edge to help you stand out from the crowd.

Add an emotional component to your social media campaigns so your audience can relate to your cause.

An efficient cross-channel social media campaign will:

• Tell an engaging story.
• Link back to a specific landing page that can give your audience more information about your campaign.
• Have a unique and memorable name coupled with relevant hashtags.

10. Tell a Story by Going Live.

Yes, your content tells your brand's story, but why not share with your audience what's happening with your company in real time?

Facebook and Instagram, among other platforms, have created live-streaming features that big brands are not yet using to their full potential. To compete with them, start using these live features before they catch on.

Live stories are a great way to:

• Show your audience you are more than just a money-making machine.
• Engage and inspire your customers.
• Create shareable and memorable content.

Businesses worldwide are slowly becoming more preoccupied with gathering customers on their social media platforms rather than their websites.

By following the 10 strategies outlined above, you'll set yourself up to compete with well-established brands and create a social media plan that can withstand the test of time.

Related: 10 Telling Examples of the Power of B2B Influencer Marketing

The Bottom Line

When it comes to your business goals, social media marketing must play a role. Social platforms can optimize your pool of potential customers, increase brand awareness, and create opportunities for new partnerships with new products.

Keep in mind that tools available to you, like chatbots and automation of content calendars, can be a huge help in streamlining operations.

Remember: your customers are real people, not just social media metrics.

You must create and post content that can stand out to them during mindless scrolling — it means using content strategies to create campaigns they'll connect with and care about. This is what can set your company apart from the rest.

For more on marketing tools, including influencer marketing, visit Entrepreneur.com.