As I look forward into 2017 with hope and purpose, I believe it is important to address the changing demands of our workforce, economy, and society. As a millennial who has great knowledge of Instagram and Snapchat, I aim to outline why and how you should use these social media platforms to promote your brand.
‘For marketers trying to stay relevant in 2017,
Instagram and Snapchat may be your answer!’
Creating and exploiting content marketing online has never been easier. As I’m sure everyone reading this is aware, social media has become an integral part of modern society. Most major companies now have digital marketing ambassadors and social media departments, and so it should not come as a surprise that these companies are transitioning their marketing strategies into the social media landscape.
As a result of the digital era that we live in, the ways that people acquire information have significantly changed. Although obtaining information through newspapers, the TV, and the radio still exists (just), a real smartphone obsession is leading audiences, like myself, away from traditional sources of information. Although this is alarming for the print industry, it paves the way for exciting marketing and branding opportunities elsewhere.
Face to face meetings and boardroom pitches are still important - but by making use of social media platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat, your customer base is expected to grow much faster.
The popularity of Instagram and Snapchat has considerably augmented since they were first released. Since visual information is processed much quicker in comparison to plain text – a variety of social media platforms such as Pinterest, Vine, Snapchat, and Instagram, all of which are image and video based, have flourished. Although Facebook and Twitter also have the ability to share videos and photos, they acquire so many other features that they do not have the central visual appeal that Instagram and Snapchat possess. This central visual appeal is what has led many PR and marketing strategists to rethink their stance on marketing techniques.
What is social media marketing?
Social media marketing is a way of marketing on the Internet to achieve branding goals or to increase a customer base. It can be referred to as ‘content marketing’ which involves the creation of content with the intention of distributing it to the public to engage with target audiences, and attract new customers or clients in the process. Most marketers aim to increase visibility of their businesses, encourage backlinks and social shares for SEO (search engine optimisation), and of course to generate new customers, clients etc. For platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat, it primarily involves activities such as social sharing of content, videos, and images for marketing purposes.
Social media marketing tips for Instagram and Snapchat
Although leveraging the power of content and social media platforms can help the performance of your brand and boost your customer base, it is vital that you understand the fundamentals of these two channels. Success with social media marketing can be challenging and requires more skill than you think. With that said, I do believe that producing a successful social media marketing campaign is more than possible, with a few considerations.
If executed well, these fundamental social media marketing tips will enable you to create a successful marketing strategy.
Plan – As always, planning is essential! Make sure you have a clear purpose. Think about the basics of your marketing campaign. Who is your target audience? What content is going to interest your audience and generate engagement? Brainstorming content ideas should be the first step in your marketing strategy.
Content is ‘King’ – Two decades on, Bill Gates’ mantra still remains relevant and reigns over marketers. After all, content is what drives the internet as we know it – and the same applies to Instagram and Snapchat. The key to producing a successful campaign is to create a variety of exciting content such as images, videos or stories, alongside text based content. Tell a story with images. If appropriate, post a mixture of fun images and business pictures. If you are offering insightful and interesting content, it is more than likely that engagement with your brand will flourish.
Differentiate your brand – Posting content that is unique is also fundamental to engaging users. Showing the life and scenes behind the brand such as how the product is made or reaches the market may be vital to your digital branding success. Ask yourself what are you offering your users that they can’t find elsewhere? Furthermore, since these two sites were designed to be visited frequently it is important to post regularly.
Consistency – Being consistent makes your brand easy to follow and remember. If you have other forms of social media marketing – such as Facebook, ensure your content is consistent. These channels allow you to showcase your brand image and story. Even if each platform has its own way of posting content, ensure that the message you are sending is at all times consistent. If you do have other forms of social media connected to your business, such as Facebook, be sure to cross-post selected images or content to your Facebook page with a hashtag that aligns with your campaign to help people who don’t know you’re on Instagram to find you.
Findability – ‘Instead of marketers seeking consumers, the consumers are able to seek out marketers!’ One of the biggest challenges to marketing on social media is findability. Focus on allowing users to easily engage with your content – key to making your marketing strategy a success is building a following and generating engagement from users. It is therefore vital that your posts are easy to find. This is where the famous “hashtags” come in. Use appropriate and industry related hashtags to allow users to find your content and search your posts. Tools such as http://hashtagify.me/ can help.
Measure your success – Tracking the success of your competitors has always been important, keeping an eye on your rivals can provide useful insights and help you improve. However, given the time investment required to make social media work, it’s essential for businesses and marketers to track the efforts of their social media marketing campaign. To support this, third party applications have emerged which allow you to track your success on these platforms through analytics and algorithms. These tools allow you to view your top post, best days and hours for engagement, top photo tags, top filters, and the amount and types of engagement you’ve received on your posts. Finding out what your followers like best is likely to improve engagement. Fortunately, there are a number of free third-party tools (such as ‘simply measured’) on offer to marketers and businesses.