Social Media Marketing for Dummies

Tyler Pigott on September 20, 2017

You’ve seen thousands of pieces of content telling you what social media marketing can do for your business and why social media marketing is so important, but they don’t tell you how it fits into your business. Just jumping on social platforms isn’t enough; you need a strategy that will bring people to your business.

We trust that you’re excited, engaged, and ready to start reaping the benefits of social media marketing! So we’re here to give you the basics. A crash course for beginners, complete with the why and step-by-step how of leveraging social networks for your business.

Why Bother with Social Media?

The connection between success and a strong social media campaign is consistent from industry to industry. And better yet? As some digital marketing channels become more expensive, social media continues to not only be free but also to gain ground on how businesses advertise and increase brand awareness.

As we see it, there are three core benefits to using social media as part of your online marketing strategy.

1.) Customer Interaction

Brands get to interact directly with customers and followers through posts, comments and even through direct messages. This gives you a chance to address customers’ comments, questions. and concerns immediately — a great tactic for “putting out fires” before they start. This is also an easy way to understand your customer’s wants and needs, allowing you to target your marketing efforts where they will be best received.

2.) Brand Recognition

The more active you are on social media platforms, the more your audience will see you. By keeping up with posts and customer interactions, your followers will form a positive relationship with your brand. This directly correlates to brand recognition and for the eCommerce business, product recognition!

3.) Industry Leaders

Another great benefit of being social on social media is it gives you a chance to become a leader in your industry. Focus each social media marketing campaign on educating, entertaining and engaging your audience. It’s the winning combination to make followers look to you as the expert in your field.

Additionally, becoming more involved in your industry will allow you to follow other industry leaders. You can then educate yourself, interact with other companies in your industry, get your brand’s name online and in front of millions of other viewers who may not have found you otherwise.

New call-to-action

How to Build a Social Media Marketing Strategy

When it comes to building your strategy, there’s no shortage of channels to choose from. From podcasts to your LinkedIn or Facebook page, your brand can make a mark in an online community from any platform.

However, it’s important to remember that not all social media channels were created equal. Each boasts its own unique demographics, interests and type of content that people are looking for. To gain attention through your social media efforts, you’ll need to evaluate your target demographic to determine which social sites are right for you.

Let’s take a closer look at some social media sites that you can use to connect with your target audience.

Pinterest

Pinterest is a predominantly female social media platform. It uses a visual layout to display pictures, or “Pins”, associated with search terms or the perceived interest of the user.

The key to Pinterest SEO (being seen by your target audience and appearing in search results) is quantity. The more you post, the more likely you are to pop up in the results. That’s why many people opt to use services that automatically publish their Pins so their content is always up to date and relevant.

A few hot industries on Pinterest include home improvement and decor, event planning, arts and crafts, fashion, food, and even business tips and advice for women. In order to captivate an audience interested in your industry, you’ll need to find an engaging and eye-catching photo to pin, and then link your content to the pin.

“Boards” are our next area of interest because they’re a great way to expand your network on Pinterest. Group boards are generally started by one person or a group of people in a specific niche. Pinterest users follow these boards as a way of getting all of their favorite pins in one place.

pinterest-social-media-marketing-for-dummies.pngImage by Kissmetrics

Twitter

Quick, witty and to the point, Twitter is a great way to keep your audience engaged through every step of your journey! Using short posts, or Tweets, you can post more often, and not worry about blowing up your audience’s feeds. The lifespan of a tweet is about 15 minutes, which makes it a great option for updating people in real-time during events or promotions.

When it comes to bloggers and influencers, Twitter is a social media giant. If you want to leverage any of the two, you'll need an account and fantastic content.

Twitter is great for things that users can view quickly, like infographics, short videos, and even friendly responses to your customers. When you think of Twitter, think rapid fire. Gaining followers is easy — provided your content is relevant. You can pick up thousands of followers a year with relative ease.

starbucks-coffee-social-media-marketing-for-dummies.png Image by Kissmetrics

Facebook and Instagram

Facebook owns Instagram, and because 1 in 5 people worldwide has a Facebook account, these two platforms are powerful marketing tools.

While Facebook and Instagram do provide amazing PPC advertising options, we’re going to focus on the free things you can accomplish with both.

Facebook Live has blown up in just the last few years. (I’m sure you’ve seen your share of Facebook live posts.) There is a sense of intimacy and urgency that can’t be denied in live feeds. It’s a great way to utilize video to market your product or service. Users have to be watching them and there to take advantage, so they'll tune in and hear your pitch, too.

facebook-live-social-media-marketing-for-dummies.jpgImage by Cnet

On the other side of the coin, we have Instagram, which is just as visually focused as Pinterest but works for a bigger and broader audience. To gain followers on Instagram, you’ll need to master the art of the hashtag. A hashtag is essentially a way for users to search for a collection of images pertaining to a certain hashtag, like “NewYearsEve2016” or “waffles.” Think of it like keywords in search engines, except on social media.

Instagram hack: Follow people who have already gained traction in your space. Look at the hashtags they use on their Instagram posts and begin to hashtag your pictures (as long as the tags apply) in the same way. This is a great way to build a following of users who you know are already interested in your area of expertise. You can even hide the hashtags so your posts are more visually appealing.

Hashtag Tips

We’d be remiss if we didn’t share a few tips for creating the perfect hashtag on your social posts. Hashtags are one of the best ways to grow your following on social media. Using the right hashtag (or combination of hashtags) can help you expose your brand to large and targeted audiences in a few different ways:

  • You can click on a hashtag to see all the posts that mention the subject in real time

  • You can "follow" a hashtag the same way you would follow an account which will enable you to find and connect with other accounts and followers

  • Creating branded hashtags and using a mix of personalized hashtags and broad hashtags will allow your post to reach more followers

  • Branded hashtags are great for user-generated content campaigns and contests

Remember, you can use hashtags on any published social content. Different platforms utilize them in different ways, but there are some universal do’s and don’t to keep in mind:

  1. It’s a must on Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. These platforms are designed to scan hashtags when users search for specific content or topics.

  2. Treat hashtags like keywords. Just like you research and optimize your content marketing, you want to search for and use hashtags that apply to your target audience at the appropriate stage of their information journey.

  3. Keep it simple! It’s tempting to tag your item with every descriptor under the sun, but that can take away from your message. Keep your tags to 3-5 per post and use simple words or phrases.

Check Your Metrics, Social Media Works

When it comes to social media marketing for dummies, it's a good idea to crawl before you try to walk.Create accounts on these social sites, then have some fun setting them up, creating content for them and engaging with potential customers.

Remember, social media accounts and marketing tactics are not a one size fits all approach. If you’re finding success with one platform but not another, go with what’s working!

Need help getting started? Check out Louise Hughes'15 Steps to Social Media Success.

At Lone Fir Creative, we have a team of social media managers who live and breathe social media. Contact us to find out how we can help get your new campaign off the ground and firing on all cylinders, better yet, if you want to talk social media, how to grow your business or just say hey! Grab a time on my calendar here.

Tyler Pigott
Tyler Pigott
Marketing Strategist. Growth Hacker. Brand Builder. Visionary Entrepreneur. Tyler likes to develop strategy for people's vision and work hard to get them to where they want to go.

Make More Things Happen

If you are a brand looking to improve your brand awareness, create predictable revenue streams, expand profit, etc. — we’ll do it. Get in touch.