Social media is the most powerful marketing tool today, but it is much more complicated than you might think. As of January 2023, there are 4.76 billion social media users. Imagine that these people shift from one platform to another. According to a recent report, an average person has seven different social platforms they frequent. For a social media manager used to doing things manually, engagement can be a nightmare.
Social media managers understand that different social media platforms use different algorithms and have varying requirements. The good news is that there’s help available if you’re ready to take your social media strategy to the next level.
Before diving into the different social media strategies, it’s best first to understand what social media management is.
What Is Social Media Management?
Social media management is the process of creating and curating content and posting it on various social media platforms. This continuous process involves engaging with the audience to build a brand’s online presence.
As a social media manager, you are responsible for developing a social media strategy. But your role extends far more than that. You must also do a thorough data analysis to measure the success and continuously adapt an approach to ensure maximum impact.
The ultimate goal is to create a loyal following and increase engagement with the brand, ultimately driving more traffic and sales to the business.
There are many facets to social media management. It takes effort and constant improvements in the strategy that brings results.
Creating A Social Media Management Strategy
Now if you’re ready to amplify your social media strategy, here are the things you should keep in mind.
Audit What You’re Doing Now
One of the first things you should do is run through your current strategy. Identify the strategies that bring good results and determine what doesn’t work. Get the baseline numbers. Some of the important elements you should note are:
- Current number of followers
- Impression rates
- Engagement numbers
Plot these against the existing strategies in place. For example, know the frequency of posts and the engagement done to increase followers and impressions. For a better picture, get the data for the last three months.
You need to have a baseline understanding of where things stand at this point in time. This way, it’s easier to see improvements when you apply new strategies.
You also need to see which platforms perform well for you and which aren’t as effective for driving traffic or engagement rates.
While auditing, take this opportunity to look at what your competitors are doing. Do a SWOT analysis and identify the gaps you can address.
Set Some Goals
An effective social media strategy won’t be complete without goal setting. Determine your overall business objectives and ensure that your social media goals align with it. For example, your current business goal is to increase sales. This means your social media goal should be to drive traffic to the website and increase conversion.
Since the social media landscape continues to evolve, your goals should be specific, time-bound, and measurable. Set SMART goals. One example of such is to increase website traffic from social media channels by 20% in the next three months.
With this in mind, the strategy should include different ways how you can reach that goal.
Choose and Track Your KPIs
After goal setting, the next step would be to choose the key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the effectiveness of your social media strategy. Tracking will ensure that you’re meeting the business objectives.
KPIs are specific metrics that you will use to measure the success of your social media strategy. Some common social media KPIs include engagement rates, reach, followers, website traffic, and conversions. Choose KPIs that align with your overall business objectives.
KPIs are critical to identifying areas for improvement. For example, low engagement rates mean you should create more engaging content that resonates with your audience.
Plus, tracking KPIs allows you to allocate resources effectively.
Research Your Audience
Identify your target audience and understand their interests, preferences, and behaviors. This information will help you create content that resonates with your audience and drives engagement.
Knowing your audience is also a must when drafting your social media strategy. It will dictate the kind of messaging you should convey. For example, your target audience is Gen-Z. Creating memes that only boomers will understand won’t work. This is where social listening comes in. You have to understand the pulse of your audience so you can serve them the content and posts that are effective in capturing their attention.
Pick Your Platform
As mentioned, people bounce off from one platform to another. It also means that they have preferences on where they spend most of their time. While you should leverage all of these platforms, it will be a smart business decision to choose a platform where you will place most of your focus.
For example, if your target audience is business executives, boost strategies on LinkedIn. You can schedule more posts on this platform if you get more engagement on Facebook.
If you are a small business, Facebook and Instagram are good starting points. They’re both easy to use, and they have an engaged audience.
Select an Automation Tool
Once you have a solid understanding of the tools available, it’s time to start making your choice. The first thing to consider is the benefits of automation. Automation can help you save time, increase productivity and enhance your content marketing strategy. This way, you can focus more on creating engaging content and interacting with your audience.
Automation tools are also critical in maintaining posting consistency across multiple social media platforms. It helps maintain a steady flow of content, which is important for keeping the audience engaged.
AI-powered tools are also critical for personalizing the messaging. AI for social media can help marketers generate content that speaks to their audience.
It’s important to note that organizations using automation tools for social media management enjoy significant benefits. They report having increased operational efficiency, improved audience engagement, and better customer service. Automation tools have a better return on investment (ROI) from their social media efforts.
Data shows that 76% of marketers noted an increase in their ROI after implementing automation for a year.
Using an Automation Tool for Social Media Management
Now that you’re aware of how critical automation is, it’s important to know how you can leverage automation tools for your social media management.
Here are some of them.
Social Media Scheduling
Social media scheduling is a great way to save time and increase engagement. Scheduling posts on social media is simple, but it’s also important that you know when the best times are for posting. Automated tools make this process easier with their advanced features that allow you to set the date, time, and frequency of posts.
Scheduling tools also help businesses save money by helping them schedule content more effectively than they could by manually checking their social accounts frequently. They can do this because they have access to historical data about how often people engage with different types of content via social channels. These tools can provide recommendations based on this information.
Publer, for example, allows its users to prepare two months’ worth of posts and schedule them accordingly based on their chosen content themes. With bulk scheduling, markets can keep a steady flow of posts, maintaining an active social media feed. With that task out of the way, they can focus their efforts on engaging the audience.
Automated Posting
Automated posting feature allows social media managers to schedule posts in advance. This feature saves time and eliminates the need to post content on multiple social media platforms manually.
Automated posting also affords flexibility. They can schedule posts, even outside of business hours. This flexibility allows businesses to post content at optimal times for their audience. No more worrying about forgetting about posting on your social media channels.
Team Collaboration
Social media managers can use automation tools to collaborate with other team members. For example, you can create a shared calendar and share tasks with others in your team. You can also collaborate on social media content by scheduling posts for different times during the day or week.
Team collaboration is especially helpful when you have multiple people managing social media accounts at once. For example, one person can schedule posts while another edits them before publishing them. With this kind of toolset in place, everyone involved will be able to work together seamlessly. It allows for efficiency and better productivity.
Automation tools that have workspaces are great for creating workflows and simplifying the process of creating posts and scheduling them. It helps remove the silos in the process. When everyone is aware of what each team member is doing, it’s easier to achieve success.
Content Curation
Aside from easily creating content, automation tools also make it easier for you to source content from reputable sites. Not only will it fill the gaps in your content, but it will also help improve your reputation.
Sharing content from reputable sources can help enhance the credibility and authority of the brand. Content from industry thought leaders and experts help position your brand as a trusted source of information and build trust with their audience. It can also send the message that your brand remains updated on industry trends. It helps elevate your brand’s name expertise on topics that matter to your audience.
Curating content is a powerful way to build up your brand and attract new followers. Content curation tools allow you to find and share content from around the web, helping you get more eyes on your social media posts.
Remember to apply copywriting best practices when writing captions so it gets more attention.
Analytics and Reporting
Analytics and reporting are the most important tools for measuring your social media strategy’s performance. That’s why it’s worth taking some time to understand how they can best be used to guide their social media strategy.
Analytics is critical for tracking metrics to identify which posts and campaigns bring results and which do not. Through automation tools, you can get the latest updates on the trends in user behavior and content performance. Data makes it easier for you to adjust your strategies better to meet the needs and preferences of your audience.
With automated data analytics, it’s easier to get valuable insights into how social media activities contribute to overall business goals. Social media managers can use this information to optimize their strategy and make data-driven decisions on future campaigns.
Reporting, on the other hand, can demonstrate the impact of social media activities on business goals. It’s also a great way to justify the use of resources for social media management.
Analytics and reporting features can also help you identify opportunities for growth and improvement. Spot gaps in your strategy and develop new tactics to engage the audience and meet business objectives.
When using analytics, try to use several tools and compare their results. For example, you can’t simply rely on Facebook analytics alone. You have to supplement your analysis with another analytics tool.
Key Takeaways
Social media management is the process of curating content and engaging with audiences across different social media platforms.
The first step in creating a social media management strategy is to audit the current strategy and identify its weaknesses.
Setting SMART goals aligned with the company’s objectives is necessary. You should also identify key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the effectiveness of the social media strategy.
Additionally, researching and understanding the target audience’s preferences and interests is crucial for effective social media management.
It’s also important for you to choose a platform to focus your efforts. While doing this, selecting an automation tool affords convenience. It saves time and enhances their content marketing strategy.
Automation tools allow you to leverage the following use cases:
- Timely scheduling of social media posts
- Effective automation of posts
- Workspaces encourage team collaboration
- Sourcing of content from reputable sources
- Access analytics and generate reports
Feel ready to harness the power of automation in your social media management? Seems like you’re ready to try Publer today.
Ervin Kalemi
