Today, more people use social media not just to connect with friends but also to find news and views on just about any subject in life. This is cool! The problem is, that we are bombarded with thousands of posts every day about hundreds of topics almost at the same time.
The quality of your content
The quality of your social media content is measured in part by how often it’s liked and shared. However, in the modern, more sophisticated era of digital marketing, the more “powerful” measurement of content quality is how much action and direct interaction it generates.
As most professional digital marketers may already know, there are very many reasons why a person would like a post—the most common being courtesy, the second being “bought to like” but the true measure of value is if the reader actually does what you asked them to do. More on “engagement” later.
Quality content has a direction (backed by strategy), it is professionally designed (and written) and it is relevant to the needs of its intended audience. We often discourage lazy posts like “good morning” or “buy this.” It’s more powerful to tell me about how a particular product or service you sell will make my life better and then leave a call to action. That’s powerful!
So, does your content sell you and your brand without actually directly selling?—that’s quality content; that is content marketing! That’s where social media success begins
The level of engagement you get on your pages
Social media is meant to be engaging and social (hence the name “social media”) and for businesses, more engagement on social media can translate into increased brand awareness, higher traffic to your site, and more prospects in your marketing funnel.
At SMAT Marketing, we have had instances where we publish a client’s content with a call to action like “visit this link for details” or “download this here” and there are very few (or no) likes and shares on the particular post but a high back-end response in the form of direct inquiries, website visits, downloads, etc.
This is especially true for B2B brands whose target market isn’t “open.” And, it’s not just B2B, some retailers in fashion, food, and other FMCG segments have noted that “serious buyers” hit your inbox while “casual shoppers” merely comment. Businesses with a social media marketing strategy that focuses on building direct engagement will experience better audience reach, Return on Investment, and greater brand awareness.
How often you publish new social media content
Post too much and you will become a nuisance, post too little and you will be forgotten. The key, therefore, is to find that sweet balance between frequency and quality. A good rule of thumb would be 3 to 5 high-quality posts a week. This is especially true if you are using platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. X, by its nature, requires a lot more frequency.
Your choice of frequency will therefore be dictated by which platform you use & the nature of the campaign you are running for example you can’t follow this rule if you are trying to push a public event with only 5 weeks to go; you would need more posts with higher frequency to stay visible & relevant.
NOTE: All the above will not make sense and cannot be executed consistently without a strategy. When you decide to dive in and reap the full benefits of deliberate social media marketing, you must start by investing in a professional, deliberate social media content strategy. You will save yourself a lot of time and hustle with choosing what to post, when you post it or how.
If you are ready to ensure that your own business is delivering content marketing in the most efficient way, CLICK HERE to start the conversation with SMAT Marketing.