Five Ways to Dominate Social Media In 2019

by | Mar 26, 2019 | #BeSocial

Every year I think about the basic elements to dominate social media marketing, and every year I giggle at those that insist that social media is “just a fad”.  For those that are convinced that social media is here to stay, here are five ways you can dominate your social media marketing this year.
Focus on one to two platforms and give them all you’ve got.
The thought of being everywhere at once is extremely overwhelming, isn’t it?  Here’s some good news, you don’t need to be.  Trying to be everywhere means that you’ll probably end up being nowhere.  Social media channels, such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. reward consistency and quality.  Rather than spreading your marketing thin, focus on one to two social media platforms and publish content that appeals to your target audience.

Embrace Video
Every year, video content grows. According to article, 37 Staggering Video Marketing Statistics for 2018, Mary Lister cites that “more video content is uploaded in 30 days than the major U.S. television networks have created in 30 years” and that “over 500 million (half a BILLION) people are watching video on Facebook every day”.  And if that’s not convincing enough, Mark Zuckerberg stated during Facebooks Q3 earnings call that “video is a critical part of the future” if they focus on “meaningful social interactions”. This means that incorporating video into your marketing strategy in a way that allows viewers to connect over shared common interests and builds meaningful communities positions your marketing in a way that benefits from organic growth.

Be Active
Gone are the days of posting content and forgetting about it.  To stand apart from the competition, you’ll need to participate in your social media marketing efforts.  Participating includes activities such as social listening and engaging. Never heard of social listening? It’s a term used to describe the act of finding mentions of your brand across the Internet and responding where appropriate.  Speaking of responding, that’s where engagement comes in.  Engaging in social media includes the act of recognizing when someone is seeking you out or has responded to content you’ve published and then responding to them in return.

Budget for Marketing
If you drive in SCV, then chances are that you’re familiar with the 405 FWY.  There are a lot of people commuting on the 405, and by “commuting”, I mean sitting in traffic. But, what if there was a toll-road on the 405 like there is on the 91?  What if you could pay a little extra and by-pass all that traffic?  Social media is much like the 405, a lot of people use it daily to market their business organically.  By budgeting for your social media marketing, and spending some dollars every month to amplify your message on social media, you’re essentially buying a virtual toll pass.

Personalization Is Key
Don’t focus on yourself, focus on your target audience. I know that seems contrary to “selling”, where we’re determined to sell our products or services by talking about them… but things are different online. It’s no secret that when we personalize a prospect’s, or customer’s, experience, they’re more likely to listen to what we must say, yet as business owners, we are so focused on pushing our own agenda that we often fail to take the customer’s needs into consideration.  A study by Marketo showed that “personalized, triggered e-mails based on behavior are 3x better than batch-and-blast e-mails.” Yet, business owners insist on creating boilerplate messages and broadcasting them out on social media and through email to see who bites. My question to you is, when was the last time you responded to a generic email from a business? What about those other messages, or social media posts, that seem to speak to you directly?  Maybe it calls you by name or by profession.  Or perhaps it’s a story that reminded you of a personal experience. It’s like they knew you, without ever having met you before, right?  That’s the power of personalizing your social media marketing efforts.  Personalization allows you to create a relationship with your target audience and meet them where they’re at. And, we know that relationships are a lot more powerful when it comes time to close a deal, don’t we?
There you have it, five ways you can dominate your social media marketing efforts in 2019. Which ones are you incorporating?