Updated April 2024
It’s good practice to review your business strategy, and social media should be an essential part of your plan as it helps you connect with your customers, increase awareness of your brand and grow sales.
Over 48 million people use social media in the UK today. Most spend almost two hours a day browsing and scrolling social feeds – all consuming socially crafted content.
Social media is here to stay. We have a need for connection – both socially and for work – and developments in work-from-anywhere technology enable us to communicate and share remotely, more effectively than ever before. For businesses this means that there is huge potential to reach a vast and engaged audience on social media.
Lesson #1
Make sure you are visible where your audience hangout.
Lesson #2
Facebook is currently the largest social media site in the world.
You can reach your desired audience by targeting your social post adverts to specific demographics, or to new audiences that have similar interests to those of your best customers.
Lesson #3
Rich media content (also known as stories) that is only accessible for a brief period has become very popular.
By posting temporary images and videos you can take advantage of the feeling of the fear of missing out (FOMO) and generate an immediate response from your audiences.
Lesson #4
Over 90% of internet users watch video every week.
If you’re not currently creating videos, it is time that you include it in your content strategy.
Lesson #5
61% of individuals who are active about their privacy are under the age of 45.
Keep up to date with data privacy and security on social platforms and ensure that your content does not break regulations and restrictions.
Lesson #6
Incorporate social listening into your strategy.
Utilise the data and insights within the social media platforms to get to know your audience better and also to help inform and refine your social media plan.
Lesson #7
It may be worth considering creating a social media community (also known as Facebook or LinkedIn groups.)
You can use these groups to provide members solutions to their challenges and encourage them to share experiences – in turn you will gain valuable customer insights.
Lesson #8
Social media should be considered as one of the most important customer service channels, as your responses are also seen by other customers.
Potential customers will consider your reviews before buying from you too. So, it’s really important for your brand reputation to handle any social media customer queries well.
If you are busy planning marketing campaigns, you may also be interested in our marketing planning guide. It will tell you where to start, how to figure out a strategy, and ways to pick tactics that will support your business objectives.
