By: Meg Yocum & Mikayla Ickes
The other week, the BPR team attended the annual Social Media Day PHL conference to learn about the latest trends in social media practices for businesses. Social media is an ever-evolving landscape, where algorithms and best practices seem to change almost daily. However, here are some of the day’s key takeaways about what is most critical right now for companies to consider in their social media strategies.
Empathetically, and Unapologetically, Share Your Brand Purpose
The expectation of customers and consumers today is that brands focus less on sharing content on their social channels, and rather share more experiences. Audiences expect brands to feel human, express empathy and “keep it real.” They want to feel that they understand the brand’s values and purposes through what’s shared on their social channels. This can be achieved by putting yourself in the audience’s shoes, and developing content based on what YOU would want to see as the audience. Particularly in times of crisis or national turmoil, the messaging on social can’t be tone deaf or appear to be pushing products. Rather, if the brand’s values allow for it, they should consider taking a clear stance on issues and show how they’re taking action.
The Best Strategy is a Mix of Paid and Organic Content
Organic social media content is becoming more and more noisy, making it increasingly difficult for brands to expand their reach. Today, incorporating social advertising can help brands find new audiences much easier. A paid campaign allows for more personalization to target audiences and offers measurable results that allow for refinement and better targeting for future campaigns. In launching a paid campaign, a brand should deeply understand its audience and the specific personas they’re looking to reach, consider its business objectives and strategically plan their budget to reach the right audience. This can lead to a more personal experience for the audience, better engagement rates and more valuable content.
The Algorithms Are Getting Smarter
Understanding how today’s algorithms generally work can help from getting organic content simply published to getting it seen by likely engagers. Today’s algorithms analyze the content (through computer vision, natural language processing, automated captions and volunteered meta data), assess the context of the post, and evaluate the correlation between who has recently engaged with it before serving it up to users that seemingly consume and engage with related posts. Computer vision today is a lot smarter than it used to be – picking up things, activities, text, logos, faces, emotions and more – but it’s not perfect just yet. Brands are encouraged to share clear and contextually relevant content in order for the algorithm to best serve that content to broader audiences.
Interacting With Audiences Creates Better Customer Experiences
One of the simplest yet most effective ways that brands can leverage social is to constantly interact with audiences and social media users. While this seems like it may be basic, many brands tend to neglect audience engagement outside of scheduled posts. Social media is becoming the new call center; customers are taking their questions, comments, concerns and compliments to the comment sections while boosting companies’ presences with “likes” and “shares.” While companies should always acknowledge positive comments, it’s especially important to engage with those who might have complaints or negative experiences. By taking a few moments to respond to engagers and acknowledge their sentiment, brands can build stronger brand awareness and create better customer experiences.
Pick the Best Platform(s)
Not all social media platforms were created equal. By that, we mean that not every social platform will best serve every brand and every audience. Social media varies in purpose, so not every post is appropriate for every platform. Is your content photo or video heavy? Are you sharing crucial business insights? Do you want to share short and punchy posts? Also, different platforms serve different demographics. Consider which social media platforms will help you best reach your target audiences. By evaluating content and its intended audiences, brands can choose what social platforms to invest in to best promote their content and increase social engagement.
Want to talk about optimizing your social media strategy? Contact us today!