What are the best strategies for social media marketing?

First of all, let us establish that everyone is on social media today. Today, everyone is Instagramming and checking Facebook on their way to work in a cab. Once we have established this, we know that if your business wants to make it to the leagues, your social media strategy must be effective and competitive at the same time. Because it is not just Nike that sells shoes. There are Puma, Adidas, and many others too and each one of these brands wants attention or should I say “engagement”.

To begin with, there are some basics that a brand trying to hold its place across social media platforms must keep a note of:

• Trends. Current affairs. Industry news.
• Competition. Analyze your competition, weekly. The numbers change in a matter of days and you don’t want to be left unaware now, do you?
• Target audience. The choice of your consumers is your guide. What kind of content are they consuming, what posts they liked, what questions they are asking?
• Your budget. Your budget defines the quality and the reach you will receive. In terms of social media, when people tell you that “reach” is nothing - don’t believe them. It matters.
• Creatives. Your social media creativity is everything. This is how people know the kind of product or services you’ll offer. Your creatives are the face of you.
• Content. Is. The. King. And there’s no denying. Your content needs to be fresh, out of the box, relevant, engaging, and moving.

Now that we are done with the basics, let me give you a cheat note to social media strategies that always work:

• Competition engagement. Look at Netflix and Amazon, or KFC and McDonald’s. They are always on a Twitter bittersweet war and it gets all the eyes.
• Always be multichannel. Cross-posting is extremely important. Use all the platforms relevant to your audience. This not only creates better engagement but also ensures brand visibility and recognition.
• Emotional appeal. Marketers are cold-hearted, people say. Well, they are. You certainly need to be. Appeal to the sentiments of your consumer and you are off to a great start.
• Know your objective. Never confuse a campaign’s objective. Many a time, engagement comes as a perk with most of the objectives but you need to ensure what your end goal is and what your expected result is.
• Social media is expensive, so ensure that you analyze your campaign and your data and put enough budget for the campaign to deliver the results as per your likes.
• Be the new you. Quite often, brands start relying on a technique that has performed for them in the past. Believe me, when I say this, everyone gets bored. Everyone needs a different flavor from Chings to Durex. Everyone!