The rich data provided by Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter make them powerful channels for targeted, data-driven campaigns, for both B2C and B2B marketing. But how do you develop a data-informed advertising plan that drives conversions?
Want to see real results from your social media marketing efforts? Don’t miss out on AMI’s upcoming workshop, Data-driven social campaigns with Ophelie Lechat, Senior Strategist and Head of Academy at ntegrity.
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Can’t make the workshop? In the meantime, read on for a crash course in how to be an effective data-driven social marketer.
1. Monitor and analyse
Ask yourself what have been your most successful campaigns and posts to date as a brand? What does your most successful content have in common? The ideal social strategy includes a combination of content which falls into different categories, but knowing which you find the most success will show you where to focus the majority of your efforts. Different content types include:
- Seasons/events: Time of year, conference, promotion
- The content of your content: For instance, if you are a cookware brand, posts including recipes vs. posts that include influencers? Content labeling is a great tool to use for this.
- Content type: Short-form video vs. long-form video vs. photos vs. carousels vs…
- Specific messaging: Messages have resonated best with your audience in the past, all-up
Where posts/campaigns are focused in the funnel:
- Awareness: They are focused on getting likely buyers to know more about your brand and/or product offering(s)
- Consideration: They are focused on getting people who already know/follow/have interacted with your brand to consider buying your product
- Decision: They are focused on driving web visits, form fills, and/or sales.
- Adoption: They are focused on continuing to engage people who already are customers
- Advocacy: They are focused on getting current customers to let their friends know about your brand and its offerings. Which, of course, cycles back to awareness.
Finally, put together an editorial calendar that incorporates all the content pillars that have been successful for you in the past.
2. Set clear goals and measure progress
It’s important to set clear goals with KPIs using a social metrics map. Be accountable by scheduling a quarterly review meeting for social, where you’ll show your results.
Measure your progress regularly. This will ensure that you don’t lose sight of your goals and the tweaks you need to make to your social strategy to get there. What you prioritise will flourish. Prioritise the data, and you’re prioritising results.
3. Identify Your Target Audience Today
Your target audience is constantly changing. What they want to see from brands and what they care about is constantly changing. This is why it’s essential to have a clear picture of who your target audience on social is.
- Age: Which age ranges are most involved in the conversation around your key topics/themes?
- Location: Where does this audience mostly live? When should you be posting content, and should you have a global-local strategy?
- Life stages: Are they getting married? Having kids? Not getting married? Not having kids? Leveling up in their careers? Just entering the workforce? This is all relevant information, whether you are a B2B or B2C brand. You want the fullest possible picture of your audience.
- Where are they at in the funnel? Where in the funnel does most of the conversation seem to be focused?
- Behaviors: What is your audience doing/talking about doing on social?
- Where are they spending their time? Which social channels should you be most focused on?
4. Testing Is Everything
Don’t be afraid to fail, otherwise you won’t try new things. Keep up to date on new features and test them.
Test the same message on multiple platforms; test varying visual elements; test different product shots; test sound vs. no sound for videos; test different captions; test different CTAs.
5. Build a Campaign Performance Template
By creating an easily modifiable tool that you can use over and over again, you will be able to present your results and explain to key stakeholders what you’ll be doing differently next time around. It should include:
- Goals and KPIs: What were your goals and KPIs at the beginning of the time period?
- Here’s what happened: Here are the campaigns we put out, and how they performed individually. Include examples of social audience reaction.
- Here’s how we performed to goal: Include your highest performing pieces of content.
- Here’s what we will change moving forward: This is where you include key learnings and action items.
* This article was originally published on Sprout Social.
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