Community Building through Social Media

building community

Community building is the heart of the matter. In our last “22 in ‘22” post, we talked a lot about how to engage an audience. The truth is, we left the important matter of building a community out of that blog for one reason: it deserves its own place to shine.

Creating a community surrounding your brand is one of the best things you can do to ensure customer loyalty. But it isn’t an easy thing to do. You must play all your cards right if you want to make sure you are being authentic AND taking into account the marketing and demographics of your target audience.

Say goodbye to faceless corporate jargon

One thing is for sure: consumers do not want to be in a community founded by a big, faceless, bland corporation. The younger generation would call this “vanilla” meaning it lacks pizzaz. And then they would make fun of us for using the word “pizzaz.” But alas, we can’t please everyone at the same time.

Whether your brand is big or small, you need to work to build a company culture that will shine through to your consumers. Then, share yourself with them. Let them see the inner workings of what you and your team do. In fact, share team members on social. Have some humor, let them in on special deals, share articles you like, speak to them so they know you have a common ethos. Your company culture is your foundation, and it must be a values-based, non-negotiable entity.

Become a go-to place

Once you have established your company culture (or if you already have one, good for you!), you can draw your target audience to your social platforms and create a community. Be the account they want to see on a daily basis. Allow your values to morph into a brand personality online. Engage them by creating hashtags, asking for comments or opinions, showing videos and publishing NO BORING, SALESY, B.S. CONTENT EVER. <please> If you find yourself struggling to think of options, just know that the professional at P&A are here to answer the call …

The point is that your audience must find your content valuable. They should want to spend time reading and interacting with it, otherwise you will have a hard time getting them to come back for more.

Who runs it?

An important thing to ask yourself is, “Who will manage your social media accounts?” You can’t expect to build a community with an audience if you don’t have the right language or personality behind the scenes … or if you’re not posting regularly. It’s like The Great and Powerful Oz of social media — if you want to attract the target audience, you must put out the right message, or else Dorothy won’t even try to walk through that field of poppies to get to you.

For instance, if your target audience is mostly a younger generation, make sure you have people in that generation running your social media accounts or at least responding to comments IRT. Your voice must sound like your consumers, with the right lingo. And believe us, youth these days have come up with some real doozies that seem to change daily. On the other hand, if you are a construction company, make sure the person running your social media understands how to speak the industry jargon and responds to comments accordingly. (Call us “multi-lingual” at P&A … we “speak” healthcare, construction, senior living, human resources, legalese and fun lifestyle!)

Creating a community doesn’t need to be hard, but it does take work on your part. You need to identify the personality of your target market and make sure you align your company’s values with that. Then, let them see you as more than a faceless corporation. It will not only gain you followers, but you will be a social account they can trust and rely on for information and entertainment.

Speak Up or Keep That to Yourself?

The word “Dumpster Fire” has been awarded a whole new meaning in the last few years. Indeed, it has been a tough time for our country, with divisive (and explosive) politics, big time issues being brought to the surface, and many Americans wondering just how everything got so bad. So, when the s#!t hits the societal fan, what is a brand to do … do you express your support for one side, or do you keep your opinions to yourself?

The trouble with silence

Silence is good for many things: a Sunday morning, a walk in the woods, a moment of reflection. However, when it comes to hot button issues, studies show that silence may not be a brand’s best friend. Many consumers want to see the brands they love representing their values. However, if they think you are doing it just to sell more products, then you won’t be handsomely rewarded with loyal customers. Instead, you might find yourself caught in a whirlwind of scrutiny.

Company culture

The best thing to do is to build your company’s brand on a solid foundation of core values. Then, when issues arise that affect your customer base, your employees or other things you value, you can speak up knowing that your reputation is consistent. In business jargon, it is called your company’s culture, and it matters especially when we are talking about speaking up for what you believe in.

For example, the recent overturn of Roe v. Wade left our country divided and many women, especially those who are economically disadvantaged, struggling to find basic reproductive care. Many companies came out with statements in opposition or support of this ban. Dick’s Sporting Goods took the cake, with a corporate statement of intent to financially help any employee seeking an abortion. For those who were saddened by this tragic backslide for women’s rights, Dick’s came through with support out of the gate.

The best part about this brand’s story is that they have been consistent in their political stance since Day One. For a large corporation to build consistent values and a company culture dedicated to equality, justice and safety is not an easy task, but one that is paying off greatly as more consumers are considering Dick’s for their sporting goods needs.

You aren’t for everyone

When you are considering speaking up for something you believe in and using your brand as a mouthpiece, it is important to remember that you can’t please everyone. Whether you speak up or not, there will be criticism. The best thing to do is to consider those who matter most: your employees and your customers (and potential customers). If you built a company with a strong culture, your employees already know your values and what to expect. Your target market probably has a similar understanding. By showing your support of something you believe in, you are just making honesty an important part of your business identity.

How to speak up

According to the Institute for Public Relations, there are some steps to follow before and after speaking out about an issue that matters to you, your employees, your brand and your consumers:

  • Start from a solid foundation (aka your company’s culture and values)
  • Get employee buy-in
  • Demonstrate sustained commitment to the issues that matter most (meaning: don’t be wishy washy … if you speak up in support of something, make sure you continue to support it and do so by donating time or money to the effort)
  • Build on your brand’s promise to your consumers
  • Reassess every few months to see how you can best continue to support the issue at hand

There is nothing that irks today’s consumers more than a brand that falsely advertises support of a hot button issue. If you choose to speak up, which seems like an increasingly good idea given the opinions of consumers, make sure you are coming from a place of solid values and commit to continued support of that issue. Go forth and speak up.

 

 

Social Media Engagement for the Win!

Social media engagement is a buzzword that marketing folks like to throw around. What does it really mean? First off, we have a question for you:

Why do you scroll on social media?

Is it to laugh, connect, get your mind off the million-item long to-do list taped to your fridge? Regardless, something draws you to your favorite accounts. Our guess is that you enjoy engaging with the content and the community. But what does it mean to engage with content? And how can we translate that into a business’s need to grab target market attention?

Successful brands engage with their audience

When was the last time you took pleasure in being told something repeatedly? One mistake that brands make in the world of social media is getting caught in a loop of “broadcasting to” instead of “engaging with” consumers. Yes, it is important to tell your customers about your amazing brand and let them know important info about your industry. However, if you want them coming back for more, you will have to dig a little deeper.

Engaging your audience may look like:

  • Creating hashtags for your business, industry, events, and campaigns
  • Highlighting your employees
  • Publishing stories or reels
  • Showing customer testimonials
  • Sharing articles and other interesting things in real time
  • Sharing more about your company culture
  • Using “User Generated Content” (UGC leverages your brand evangelists)

By engaging your audience, we mean simply making them feel part of the dialogue. Asking their opinions or opening the floor for comments is another great way to engage consumers to be part of the discussion.

Engaging with a focused message

If you want your consumers to feel truly engaged, it is important to keep your messaging focused and purposeful. That is why we recommend only using few social media platforms where your target market
lives, instead of trying to post across all networks. This way, you can help consumers feel more engaged on these platforms, especially since many of them have different posting requirements.

Customer service is engagement

When it comes to engaging your audience, customer care matters, especially in the form of responding on social media. If you have comments on your feed, reply or like them so those who are entering into the discussion can feel engaged with a real person on your end. Conversations still mean something to consumers, and it is a great way to engage more users on your social feed.

If all else fails, make them laugh

Unless your business is something too serious for a good belly laugh, expect your consumers to engage the most with wit, sarcasm, and general silliness. It doesn’t mean you throw yourself, your employees, or your competition under the bus. But finding a fun, new way to relate to your target audience through humor can be a boost for your number of followers.

In fact, a whopping 72% of consumers are more likely to purchase something from a brand that uses humor on social media. Why are we all starved for a laugh? I don’t know … have you read the news lately? We do, however, need to throw in a caveat. As a PR company, we are begging you to make sure you don’t use humor that could offend anyone or invoke the need for a PR statement. OK, off our soapbox now.

Engaging with your consumers is one of the merits of social media and the reasons it has become such a popular way to market a brand. Make sure to post things that you yourself would find interesting if you were scrolling. Mix it up and encourage consumers to comment or talk to you. Ultimately, a community will begin to form surrounding your brand (but we will save that one for the next blog).

 

Promote Your Social Media Channels

social channel promotion

You’ve got the content dance down and feel like the world is your oyster. Now, it’s time to spread the word about your social media platforms. But how? In the good old analogue days, flyers and print ads would do the job. But now that the whole world lies at the fingertips of your target audience … how are they supposed to find you?

We wish we could tell you it is easy. Like everything else involving the interwoven internet, it takes some know how to get your consumers to click that like button. Nevertheless, we will persist (and we have a t-shirt to prove it …). Let’s start with the easiest thing you can do: Engaging your present customer base.

Add those icons to EVERYTHING

Once you have your social media platforms all set and ready to go, add the icons to your website, business cards and any other print materials, emails and newsletters (and link them to your account … obviously). This will allow you to spread the word to those you already know enjoy your brand.

Icons are easy to add to the header or footer of your webpage and create a one-click path to your social content. Make sure to invite your customers to check out your social media platforms and remind them to start following you for the latest updates, inside information and exclusive offers.

Cross promote

You know how busy bees will sometimes bring the pollen of one flower to another, creating a whole new species? It is known as cross pollination, and it isn’t a far cry from cross promoting. As the queen (or king) bee, you can benefit from posting about your Twitter account on Facebook or sharing videos from TikTok onto Instagram. Make it easy for your consumer base to find you on multiple channels and watch the flowers of followers bloom!

Don’t underestimate word of mouth … even in the digital age

We know, we know, everything is so different now! Back when we were kids all you had to do was post a flyer advertising your dog walking business at the local park. Now, you need a logo, branding and social for Patty’s Pups to be successful. Even though SOME print (i.e. business cards, snail mail coupons, etc.) is worth considering, you can benefit from combining good old word-of-mouth with the digital platforms your consumers know and love. We often remind our clients that something as simple as a little printed sign by the cash register or a door cling that urges customers to “follow along on social” can aid in the process.

Consider this: word of mouth in this age spreads like wildfire. When followers share a post of yours to their own feed, it means big time eyeballs for you. You may reach 10 or 100 new followers this way and maybe even more! Think of it as an authentic referral! Creating shareable content, therefore, is incredibly important in your success. See our last post about how to make sure you are creating something diverse and unique.

Dive into your social media analytics to discover what your target audience responds to, and then use that knowledge to your benefit when promoting your social channels. By following our steps, you already have success in your court, you just need to put in the effort now to get the word out!

Obviously, this blog involves organic promotion of social media — there are paid options like “boosting” that we will dive into at a later date!

 

 

Creating Your Social Media Content

When you are scrolling social media, what draws you in? Humor? Videos? Witty or informative text? Baby goats? (Because, hey, they are SO CUTE!) Remember, your target audience is a whole group of humans and, much like you, they want to see something enjoyable when they land on your content. That is why creating suitable content for your consumer base is so important if you want to make social media work for your business.

Set yourself apart from the crowd.

What differentiates you from the competition? It takes some creativity and a whole lot of understanding just who your target audience is. Good thing you already did your research! Consumers are flooded with endless pictures, videos and sales pitches when they log onto their social media account. People easily spot inauthentic or contrived content. If you want to grab those eyeballs, diversity will serve you well.

Diverse content means a uniqueness that draws followers

Hear us out: jump onto Instagram. Find a favorite account that you follow. Take a look at their profile to see all of those little boxes in a grid format. What do you see? Is it all the same types of pictures over and over? Is it tons of videos? Or is it a little bit of everything? Do they talk about just their company and their sales? Or do they branch out and give you great information about the industry, the world, life hacks, something to laugh at and even a glance into everyday life at their company?

Most business social media accounts that perform well in terms of gaining followers and, therefore, hitting the mark regarding reaching their target audience, provide a diverse array of content. For your particular business, this can mean something different. For example, if you are a restaurant, you will want to show picture of your delicious food, but that doesn’t need to take up your whole feed. You can have videos of chefs giving tutorials, mixology memes or reels and more.

Whatever you do, make sure you follow the rules … kind of

Even though you want to stand apart from the crowd, there are still some golden rules to follow when it comes to social media:

  • Know your word count
  • Know your hashtags
  • Know what the best content type is for each channel

That last one is a biggie. Knowing what to post where can make a huge difference when it comes to being seen by your desired audience. While Facebook has a higher word count, for example, you shouldn’t take up all your space with words. Images are also popular on this social channel. Twitter followers, however, like the use of short but profound comments, mainly because of the word count limits. TikTok is obviously the place where videos shine, especially informative or humorous ones. Instagram has a nice combination of both images and videos, but reels are becoming even more important. All of these social media platforms have one thing in common: consistent posts to maintain relevance.

 

Timing is Everything … Especially in Social Media

timing social media

Once you have established your social media platforms, you are ready for business, right? Yes, but…believe it or not, there are even more considerations to make when posting content.

You know when you scroll YOUR social media account on Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok … first thing in the morning, last thing at night, waiting in “pick-up line” for your kid? Like it or not, your consumers aren’t on all day awaiting your post. In general, different demographics hop online at different times of the day. Not only that, but your content should be well thought out and planned to make the most of your contact with your consumers.

We know … it’s more work than you thought

We hear ya! P&A provides social media strategy and implementation – aka, doing the posting – for more than 50 social media accounts. Many of our clients don’t want to deal with the daily drag of social media minutia. If you are one of the brave ones, however, then read on to see what timing and planning you should take into consideration when posting on your account. Otherwise, give us a call and we can take it from here.

Let’s start with planning

So, you want to get some content out there, but you are unsure where to start? The most successful accounts have something in common: content is thoughtfully conceived and scheduled. In fact, many people create content calendars that cover an entire month of posts, but this depends on your industry. Some social accounts that rely on current events can’t get away with this but may be able to plan for a week’s worth of posts at a time.

The benefit of this is CONSISTENCY. Building a cadence achieves a consistent message delivered to your target audience. You plan so you don’t sound redundant, boring, or scattered. Also, planning means you won’t forget to post important information for your target market. For instance, many companies will create a social media cadence that allows different types of posts for each day of the week, such as #MondayMotivation, #TuesdayTestimonials, #WhyWednesdays, etc. Then, they can just fill in the missing pieces when they want to post on a particular day of the week.

Let a scheduler do the work

There are many ways to go about getting your content scheduled, but what matters most is that you use a scheduling platform that is easy to understand and efficient. Facebook offers a free scheduling tool and is a great place to start. Since Facebook owns Instagram, you can also schedule your Insta content from the same place. Other platforms include MeetEdgar, Loomly, Sendible and Hootsuite, among about a hundred others. Some of these require payment, others offer a free first account. Once you get your content into a scheduler, though, you are home free and won’t need to worry about posting to your platforms daily.

Timing matters!

One more word about scheduling:You will be able to set up your post to go out at any time of day you would like. What you DON’T want to do is miss out on the best times for your target market — the times when they are most likely to be online. Therefore, when you do your research, it is important to note when your targeted demographic is scrolling since they will be more likely to interact with your content.

The best times to post on various platforms shifts and changes depending on algorithms as well as consumer habits. Heck, even a change in the seasons can affect the way people are interacting with their social media. Check here for the best times to post during each day of the week if you use Instagram and here if you are a Facebook user. We would put the times into this blog but, unfortunately, they are always changing and, well, we just want to feel more timeless than that. Call us old fashioned.

 

Setting Up Social Media Accounts

If setting up your social media accounts for business has you flummoxed, P&A has some solid tips for your success.

My mother always had THE correct way of doing things … Her exact quote: “There’s a way to do things … the right way, the wrong way and MY way.” Admittedly, it made us all roll our eyes in exasperation, but much of the time she was ingenious at discovering the best ways to complete everyday tasks efficiently. (Except that time I found her on the roof with the leaf blower, cleaning the gutters.) She knew how to zero in on the need and then find a way to fill it without too much fuss. And that is exactly what you will need to do when you are setting up your social media accounts: Remember the needs of your target audience and then work to fill those.

Setting up your social media accounts properly is the most important thing to do BEFORE publishing or promoting content on a regular basis. Without this important key, you probably won’t reach your target market or make much headway in gaining real followers or attention. So, keeping in mind “the Jeano’s” guidance, let’s dive into the basics …

Looks are everything

When it comes to social media, remember that you are competing with many other accounts for consumer attention. This means your account needs to be visually appealing to grab the attention of your target market. In fact, think in-depth about your target market base you are trying to reach. Use the research that you have done regarding the demographic you are trying to reach and really put it to use here. Once you begin posting content, you will want things to flow well, so establishing a theme throughout your entire platform will make a huge difference.

Additionally, when you are setting up images, Instagram brand highlights, Facebook banners and the like, make sure you are using high resolution photos that will not look grainy. You will also need to scale images to fit the dimensions of the space to be filled. For instance, an Instagram profile pic will need to be squared and then centered, while a Facebook banner will need to be a rectangular picture or graphic. Websites like Canva offer many varying sizes and types of images that you can create so you can appear professional no matter your platform. Grainy, pixelated images are not appealing and may even make your brand seem inauthentic.

Messaging matters

With the aesthetics handled, you need to focus on helping your social platform make SENSE. Your profile says a lot to your consumer about who you are and what you do. However, you don’t have many words in which to get your message across. You can’t just ramble on or overwhelm your consumer with boring facts. You need a focused message tailored to speak directly to your target market.

Remember, you will be doing a lot of talking in your content. Your profile should be a backbone, a core of beliefs so that all your content references it. The more concise and consistent your message, the more your target market can understand you for who you are. And guess what? Consumers don’t like to be kept in the dark or confused about a brand. To get their loyalty, you need to lay your cards on the table.

Link up

When it comes down to it, your social media platforms should act as a lead generation and or customer/client engagement. That means that you want to make it easy for your audience to get there. Make sure to add links, locations, and other important contact information as needed. Most social platforms allow you to only share one link, which is why we recommend using other helpful websites like LinkTr.ee to give your target market some options.

Your social media platforms are prime real estate when it comes to getting in front of your target audience. Don’t waste it! Ensure your own success by taking the time to set up your accounts properly. Your target market will thank you because THEY want to see your business succeed too!

Now, stay off the roof with your leaf blower and put these tips to practice

Plan to Your Heart’s Content

Now that you know your goals, target audience, competition and have budgeted for your social media marketing, it is time to plan content. Come on, this is the fun part! While you may think you know your way around Instagram or Facebook, it is important to keep a few things in mind when you are sitting down to plan out your content for the day, week, month or even year.

Death of a salesman

One mistake we see in the world of social is when clients become too overzealous in sharing promotions. If you are constantly trying to sell to your customers, they may turn away from your account. Afterall, social media is just that: social. How would you like it if you were relaxing at a friend’s party, chatting with everyone while some guy tried to sell you things constantly? Don’t be “a party pooper.” Even though you should share those promos in hopes that your target market will take the bait, you will need to put forth some other fun posts as well.

Everyone just wants to have fun

Balance, as much as you can, your promotional posts with something entertaining. For example, many companies like to jump in on social trends such as #MotivationalMondays in which you can post inspirational quotes that help followers get ready for the week ahead. You can also use this platform to share other people’s content from accounts you follow. Social media is a network of businesses and individuals from all over the world, so you really don’t need to try to reinvent the wheel. If someone in your industry posts something amazing, share it with your followers and give the creator the cred.

Tell your target market what’s up

As much as you post entertaining tidbits, try to come up with some informative content for your target market. These can be pieces that speak to your entire industry or directly to your business. Social media has become a great place for people to learn more about the things they are passionate about. If you are a chiropractor who is selling your service to customer, give them some wisdom about how they can use chiropractic care to their benefit, what they may not know about the practice, and how it integrates itself with both eastern and western medicine. You would try to speak to your customers who are health-minded by providing educational and informational content.

Don’t bite off more than you can chew

In the world of social, you want to make sure you are posting high quality content, even if it is only showing up in customer feeds 3 times a week, versus daily posts that don’t mean anything. Furthermore, you will need to be realistic about what you are capable of. If you are just starting out, it may be too much to try to run a YouTube channel or get Instagram Reels going every day. Instead, aim on increasing followers and feeling your way around the landscape of social media before you take on more projects. Again, this is where hiring a professional social team comes into play, as they already know their way around, how to spread out content, what to post and can be instrumental in helping you to reach your target market effectively with the least effort on your part.

Content is the bread and butter of social media and what you have been working toward sharing throughout this whole series of social media tips. That doesn’t mean we are done yet, though. We still have many more tips coming your way next month so be on the lookout, especially if you want to know even more about content creation and management!

Figure Out the Money, Honey

Budget is a big word in business. As a business owner or manager, you have a budget for everything. Although many companies hope to save money on marketing by using social media, what they don’t understand is that you will need to allocate some money to make this growing host of platforms worthwhile to your company.

Spend the money to hire the pros

We have seen it time and time again: companies are unwilling to hire social media professionals to do the work and, instead, hope to rely on their own internal employees to market their brand via Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikToc, etc. We understand that it may be all in the name of saving some money, but because social media has become such an effective form of marketing, and maybe THE most effective way to reach certain demographics, it goes without saying that you need to be on point with your message and branding.

So, while Rachel in accounting may have a few Instagram followers and know her way around Facebook, or Brittany-your-niece is under 20 and can navigate TikTok, it’s unlikely they understand the intricacies of each social platform as well as the importance of branding and communicating appropriately to reach your desired target audience. Thus, setting aside a special budget solely for the purpose of reaching your business goals revolving around social media, and even hiring professionals to help you along the way, will lead to much more growth and ultimately driving sales in the long run.

How much money is too much?

So, the next question you may be asking yourself is how much exactly you should be expecting to spend on your social media marketing. The first rule of thumb is that you shouldn’t spend more on your social media budget than necessary. You don’t want to drown your earnings by throwing money at campaigns across all platforms. Instead, you will need to focus on what will be beneficial to you in reaching the SMART goals you have set.

According to WebStrategies, companies tend to spend about 5-15% of their annual revenue on marketing, with about 35-45% of the marketing budget dedicated to digital activities. And, just to bring you through the maze of money further, approximately 15-25% of the digital marketing budget will need to be allocated to social media. These numbers are of course changeable and may be tailored to the target market you are trying to reach. For instance, if you are going for Millennials, who spend a good portion of time on social media, your budget will be at the higher end.

You may think that this budget is just how much you spend on boosting ads and creating campaigns. However, your social media budget will need to include other important behind the scenes work, such as strategy development, project management, design, graphics, photography and video, copywriting and tracking the results. Yes, you could use someone internal to your company, but you may not be getting as much bang for your buck as if you are hiring a professional team who knows their way around the ever-changing landscape of social media (insert shameless plug for Pickett & Associates here). Alternatively (another shameless plug), P&A offers a “DIY Digital Marketing Kit” for a one-time charge of $3500 that includes:

  • A template for a strategic marketing plan with suggested tactics
  • 12-month (industry specific) content calendar, including suggested posts and relevant “celebration” days
  • Four branded social media “meme” templates
  • Social media checklist
  • Branded email template
  • An SEO Cheat Sheet
  • 12 hours of support/training

Regardless of the size, age or client served by your business, social media has emerged as one of the best ways to access customers. By forming a budget specific to this highly profitable and growing part of the marketing scene, you will be able to create a marketing strategy that will help you to reach your goals.

Social Media Strategy: Check Out the Competition

Social media strategy includes researching the competition. Frequently we ask clients, “who is your competition?” Sometimes they say, “No one offers what we do.” That may or may not be the case.

You need to put on your “open-minded consumer” hat and take a dive into what organizations in your space are doing to market themselves.

Back in the “old days,” we might hire “secret shoppers” to get a feel for the customer experience. However, in today’s access to the digital footprint of virtually every business makes this unnecessary. It’s fairly simple to check out various social organic strategies that are working for other companies and really begin to understand your target market in an authentic way.

What is your competitor’s focus?

You may need to do some detective work to figure out what your competitors are focusing on when it comes to social media. The great thing about an Instagram account is that, by viewing a profile, you can see an overall layout of every post in a grid format. This makes it easy to see various trends, posts and even colors and images your competitors are putting to use. TikTok offers a similar layout, but Twitter and Facebook take a little more scrolling time.

What are they saying?

Use this easy Instagram grid layout or other social media outlets to understand more deeply what messaging is used in your shared target market. Check out their posts, comments, hashtags, followers and also what accounts they are following.

Who is their target audience? No, really.

It would seem that your competitor is labeled as such because you are going after the same target audience. However, there can be variations. What if you own a company that assists seniors in their own homes and target those elder residents directly? A competitor offers the same services, but is targeting their message to those seniors who are being discharged from rehabilitation settings. At that point your messaging and platforms begin to distinguish themselves; while there is crossover with similar audiences (seniors and their adult children), there is also messaging for a discharge planner. The nuances are crucial in your social post messaging and where they are posted.

Find the loopholes

Taking the example above, if you notice that your competitor is really gearing their message to helping those who are already at home and are looking for senior companion services, you may want to realign your social strategy to catch another piece of the target market who is left out by your competitor. Make their oversights your gains by really being in touch with the market as well as what others in your industry are putting out there on social media.

Furthermore, if you notice that an entire outlet, such as Facebook or Instagram, is being ignored by your competitor, use that to you advantage, especially if your target market has a presence on that platform. Make your message align with users on that platform and drive traffic to your website so consumers can get a look at what you have to offer. This requires some nuance and just the right amount of social media genius, something we are always trying to develop here at P&A.

There is a lot more to overseeing a successful social media marketing strategy than most people think. It takes understanding your target market while having a grasp on what your competition is currently putting forth. Don’t be intimidated, though, the professionals at P&A have your back to help set a strategy or take the whole thing off your plate!