Social Media Strategy

Your Social Media Strategy Won't Work without These

Over the past few years, our capacity to create and share data has been growing exponentially. So much so that, according to IBM, “90% of the data in the world today has been created in the last two years alone.”

And when it comes to this staggering growth in technological capability, social media is no exception. This is what occurs in the social media world every single second:

  • 7,500 tweets are posted
  • 800 photos are uploaded to Instagram
  • 2,500 Skype calls are started
  • 1,200 Tumblr posts are written
  • 59,700 Google searches occur
  • 68,800 YouTube videos are started
  • 2,579,800 emails are sent (with two thirds being spam)

SOURCE: http://www.internetlivestats.com/one-second/

Needless to say, there are challenges to overcome if your goal is to reach an audience through social media. The most obvious challenge of all is breaking through the noise to form a genuine connection with a consumer.

Many social media experts vehemently disagree on what’s best for success. But disagreements stem from the simple fact that different things work for different people, and sometimes those ideas conflict.

Despite the variety between successful social media strategies, there are particular fundamentals that all social media experts agree upon. If you’re hoping to succeed with social media now and in the future, these are the things that matter most:

Identity

As technology and data capability continues to skyrocket, there will be a focused emphasis on digital presence for companies of all sizes. Transparency and uniqueness will become even more important than they already are.

And regardless of how sophisticated technology gets, a well-defined and unique identity will keep your audience’s attention through it all.

Identity is flexible – it can work through any technology and be expressed in an infinite number of ways. Establish a strong identity for customers to latch onto, and your audience will grow and remain with you through the noise.

Connection

Marketing is no longer a one-way street (at least, not as much as it used to be). Consumers can engage with brands and influencers through social media very easily through comments, messages, tweets and more. The most successful users of social media are those that regularly interact with fans.

One great example of this is Gary Vaynerchuk, who routinely messages, interacts with and even “prank calls” his followers. Fans of Gary that get to interact with him have memories of personal experiences, and those memories transcend anything technology can do in the foreseeable future.

The experts agree: The companies that harness the power of connection best will reap the most success in the future.

An understanding of your audience

The most fundamental lesson in all of marketing has always been: Know your audience. We may not be able to tell where technology will be in 1,000 years, but for now, nothing has changed on that front.

In today’s world, your audience has all the power. Your job is to know what they want, know who they are, and then meet their needs effectively in the way they want them met.

Nobody can predict the future, but the social media experts unanimously predict that the most successful brands in the future will be the ones who understand their audience best.

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