Is Your Social Media Making the Most of Your Content Strategy?

When you think of using social media, what comes to mind? Ceaseless new celebrity tweets? Endless pictures of your friends’ babies and dogs? 

However you feel about your personal social media usage, the use of social media to grow your business is a whole other animal. 

(Think: the difference between a lazy housecat chewing kibble, and a hungry lion tracking an extra juicy-looking antelope). 

When used strategically, social media can be a consistent and even essential source of leads for your company. 

With 2.8 billion users worldwide, social media is one of the biggest mediums in the world for reaching your target audience, and generating new customers. And over 50% of people tend to follow a brand on social media before making a purchase.

Whether you create an organic social post or a paid ad, everything you post on your brand’s social channels should be driven by your content marketing strategy. 

A solid content marketing strategy ensures that everything you write for your brand — from your site copy to blogs to social posts — is optimized for user intent, speaks to your intended audience personas, and takes into account where users are along the buyer journey.

And social media plays a key role in effective content marketing. 

In fact, for one of our clients, a strategic Facebook lead generation ad (ideated using our content strategy for that client) created a lead increase of 21,447 leads, with a 9.47% conversion rate. 

Imagine the possibilities if you were to use all the marketing perks social media has to offer to further your content marketing strategy.

It can help you define an effective lead funnel, increase brand awareness and create a dialogue with your audience that helps build a sense of trust. 

If you’re not sure where to get started, don’t worry. We’ve rounded up 3 easy ways to use social media to make the most of your content strategy.

1. Post Platform-Specific Content

People tend to use different social media platforms for different purposes. That means it takes slightly different strategies to get engagement on each platform.

In general, below is the most sought after content for each popular social media platform:

Twitter

• Blogs, news, GIFs. Twitter users tend to like real-time updates and quick education, with a little bit of fun visuals tossed in there.
• Also a great place to join in conversations with Twitter chats. 

Facebook

• Original content, videos
• Facebook users like to get a bit more personal
• Show off what makes you unique with branded images, videos, and behind-the-scenes stories. 

Instagram

• Stories, quotes, high-res images. Instagram goes beyond sharing pictures from last week’s BBQ.
• Instagram users are looking to be inspired.
• Stand out with high-res images and inspirational quotes and stories. 

Pinterest

• Infographics, step-by-step photo guides.
• Pinterest users are seeking education and entertainment.
• Find a way to display your services and knowledge in a visually stimulating manner. 

LinkedIn

• Company updates, job openings, and professional education.
• LinkedIn users are looking to increase their career and business potential.
• Provide them with the resources to do so. 

2. Post Shareable Content

Like we said, people love connecting with businesses they’ve been referred to. In fact, 65% of new business comes from referrals. 

Posting content people want to share is an easy and accessible way to get people to spread the word about your company through their own pages. Create shareable content with these 3 easy steps:

• Create offers: People will always love free stuff, and many want their friends to reap the same rewards. Pro tip: create a giveaway specific hashtag. 
• Improve your CTA: If you’re looking to do a contest, referral campaign, or anything else that encourages sharing and participation, make sure you have a clear, one step call-to-action (CTA).
• Utilize influencers: Celebrity endorsements may never die. People trust brands that have familiar faces with them. Utilize your collaborators and other influencers in your industry by getting endorsements, tagging them in relevant posts, or targeting them to share. 

3. Use Timely and Relevant Hashtags

Hashtags allow for people to interact with content in real-time. Users can follow hashtags, use them to search for relevant content, or join in ongoing conversations. 

Twitter, for example, hosts Twitter chats. With Twitter chats, companies and influencers are able to create a hashtag focused on a specific topic relating to their brand and, using said hashtags, others can contribute to the ongoing dialogue. 

There are a few online tools to help you find hashtags that will help your content reach more users. Hashtagify, for example, allows you to type a keyword or hashtag and find trending hashtags related to it. 

You can also use a Google+ search to tell you what’s trending in your industry and any hashtags related to said trends. 

On your search for trending hashtags, pay attention not only to keywords relating to your business, but to local trends, events, and social media holidays. 

Social media is an essential tool for your audience to get to know you. Build trust, gain referrals, and close more deals by paying attention to the specific needs of the users of each platforms — this is just the tip of the iceberg for a great content strategy. 

Thinking about hiring someone to help out? Good idea. Learn why your content strategy needs a professional copywriter »