Example: Which brand will succeed on social media?

One brand, let’s call them “Toothbrush, Inc.” sells… wait for it… toothbrushes. They post articles on their Facebook page about dental hygiene, songs to brush your teeth to so you’re brushing long enough, and sometimes offer giveaways. They are also posting customer reviews to mimic word-of-mouth referrals for added clout.

Their competitor, BizzyTeeth, posts about how their brushes’ bristles are cutting-edge tech, how their handles are ergonomic, and keep their audience updated about promotions.

Whose posts will get more engagement?

The hard truth is that it doesn’t matter whose toothbrush is better. BizzyTeeth is only posting self-promotional content. It might get them some followers, especially if their photos are good but their content isn’t engaging. No one really buys a toothbrush because of how great the handle is. They’re certainly not interested in their Facebook feed being filled with pictures of toothbrush handles. But Toothbrush, Inc. has taken it to the next level. Fun song suggestions? Check. I like good recommendations so I’d give them a follow.

Now that you have a taste for what the end result could look like, let’s head back to the planning stages, starting with a customer analysis.

What is a customer analysis and how do I do one?

Because the goal of organic marketing is to establish a relationship with your audience and boost engagement, we recommend conducting a customer analysis in which you look at data surrounding your ideal client to make decisions for your business. Follow these steps to learn more about your customer:

1. First, the demographics.

• Age – Do you sell to youths? Are grandparents your go-to buyers? Age is important because it shows us how to talk to our customers and indicates the type of content they’re most interested in seeing.
• Gender – Who uses your product or service? Knowing the gender of your audience can inform the images and verbiage you use. But be careful not to make assumptions. When in doubt, assume people of all genders, including non-binary and trans people, use your products. Always be inclusive.
• Location – Where is your audience? Going local has become more important as it demonstrates to your customers that you understand their day-to-day lives. Share content that feels personal. It’s also helpful to know their time zones to determine what time of day to share content for best engagement. 
• Occupation – What does your audience do? Knowing your audience’s occupations will give you ideas for content to share based on their needs and skill levels. For example, if your audience is mainly self-employed they could benefit from content with marketing advice.
• Education – What does your audience already know? For example, if you’re selling microscopes to microbiologists, you don’t need to explain what a cell is. But if it’s for third-graders, maybe you do. Consider the context you need to share with your content.

2. Next, get feedback from your customers by asking them questions like:

• What questions do you have about my service?

This addresses concerns customers may have about your business and inspire content ideas. For instance, this blog post was born from Blue Spec Marketing’s clients asking if they should focus on organic or paid social media.

• How do you feel about my services?

Gather all of their feelings about your business, services, their lives, their work, etc. Get the good, the bad, and the ugly. It is great to hear about the good, but it is also important to learn if there’s anything that frustrates them about your business. Feedback is important for growth and is another way to demonstrate you understand where they’re coming from. 

• What problems are your customers facing?

Ask your customers about their pain points. Are they seeking solutions for their finances? Productivity? Do they need better customer support? Ask them about specific challenges to learn how you can position your offering to be a complete solution for their problem.

• What do you like to see from brands you follow on social media?

Don’t be afraid to ask obvious questions. Their answers may confirm what you already know and be good validation, or they may surprise you and you’ll learn something new.

Consider conducting surveys and customer interviews with your followers and clients to obtain answers to these questions. Don’t forget to check out your competitors as well. 

Choosing the right channels. (Hint: it’s not all of them.)

There’s an overwhelming number of social media channels available, but you don’t need to be on every one of them. We recommend choosing 2-3 channels to actively engage with. Here are our tips to help you decide.

• Look into your industry.

What channels are your competitors using?

• Check out your analytics.

Determine which channels get the most engagement. Are you already on multiple social media platforms? Focus your time and effort into your most popular channels.

• Review the content you will be posting.

For example, if you post a lot of links consider Facebook and Twitter. If you’re sharing company news consider LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter. For videos consider Instagram and YouTube. For pictures consider Instagram and Pinterest. For example, in Blue Spec’s area of business (marketing), 91% of B2B and 71% of B2C content marketers use LinkedIn to share content. 

Focus on platforms that are utilized by your audience and that will work for your business. Don’t exhaust yourself trying to stay up to date on all the new and many social platforms. If your goal is to share content with senior citizens about dentures, you likely don’t need to share content on TikTok but might consider Facebook. 

How do I connect with my audience?

Social media that stands out requires blending market strategy, storytelling, and customer analysis to create a digital presence that connects with your audience. It’s more than sales. It’s about respecting what your audience wants to know about your product, service, and industry and giving them fun, educational, and useful content that stops them in their scrolling. Sharing this type of content on social media often leads to increased levels of engagement, signaling a high level of trust between that business and their customers. 

Next, let’s learn about creating valuable content to share with your audience on your top social media channels. 

Step 2: Offer Valuable Content

Example: What valuable content could look like.

Remember the toothbrush companies we talked about earlier? The posts from Toothbrush, Inc. stood out because instead of offering self-promotional content and regular pictures of toothbrushes, they shared songs and tips for brushing teeth, which ultimately boosted their social media following. Most people understand what a toothbrush is so they don’t have to educate their base about their product. By focusing on content that could enhance the tooth-brushing experience, they’re differentiating themselves from the competition while offering valuable and unique content.

CAUTION: Beware of self-promotional content.

The main reason companies fail in organic marketing is that they’re too self-promotional. Content with a sales pitch automatically loses credibility by 29%. Ads are a prime example of this. We’re all sick of our news feeds being filled with brands promoting why their features are better than others or how this person helped this other person make $1,000,000 in one day.

Stand out from the crowd by focusing on  organic content with some “oomph” such as blog posts, videos, or customer testimonials. 

Make content planning easier by keeping track of content you find.

Do you ever find an article you think your audience would like but it’s not the right timing? Did a blog post you read spark an idea for a social media post? Did your favorite subscription email share a great tip? 

Create a content library for your business. Having a go-to place with your helpful articles eases the process of content creation. If you are new to content creation or starting your business, we recommend subscribing to a few credible newsletters or educational resources to share with your audience and keep up to date on current trends by following industry leaders on social media.  

Grab your free social media calendar template from Blue Spec Marketing here.

Don’t forget to engage WITH your audience.

Your followers can engage with your content by liking, following, commenting, or sharing posts. You should engage with them too. We all want to talk with real people and business relationships are still relationships, we get what we put into them. Welcome people to your page and encourage conversation by utilizing the comments, direct messages (dms), and sharing others’ posts when appropriate. This type of engagement leads to greater brand awareness, increased leads, and greater customer feedback because your customers get to know you on a deeper level and customer trust is increased. 

Here are a few tips for engaging with your audience:

• Ask questions in your posts. Asking people to share your content if they liked it, or share polls. 
• Respond to comments. Be sure your audience knows there is a real person behind your brand by putting a face with the logo. 
• Send (and respond to) direct messages. When people take the time to message you, be sure to respond. Also, don’t hesitate to reach out to a follower through direct message. This is a simple way to build connections and gain potential clients. 
• Like and comment on posts. It’s not all about you. Be sure to engage with other pages as well. This is a great way to expose your page. Engaging with other posts also helps with the algorithm on many social media platforms so more people will see your posts.

Step 3: Stay on Brand

Audit your social media channels.

If you’re not sure if your content is on-brand, use this audit to check.

• Review the basics.

Are you using a consistent logo, color palette, biography, and handle across all of your social media channels?

• Stay consistent with your visual branding.

Create a branding guide with colors, fonts, images, graphics, and videos to build templates that you can use over and over to establish a consistent visual identity.  

• Keep your brand’s voice and tone the same.

Decide on a personality for your brand. For example, will you use the term client or customer in your content? Is your brand serious or witty? Are you writing for academics or athletes? To use contractions or not to use contractions? Choose an informal or formal tone and stick with it. Infuse personality or “voice” when you can.

Step 4: Post Consistently

Why do I need a strategy? Can’t I just post articles every day?

Strategies don’t have to be complicated to be effective. But without a guiding vision, you risk wasting time and effort. Having a social media marketing strategy helps your business stay on-brand and organized, leading to greater audience engagement and sales. Unfortunately, only 46% of enterprise-level organizations report they actually have a documented content marketing strategy. 

If it’s your first time creating a social media strategy, start small. Maybe your first step is making a plan to get a feel for it.

Here’s a simple plan to get you started.

1. Use a social media calendar. 
2. Decide how often you want to post, the type of content you want to share, and set goals.
3. Write the copy and save any links you plan to share with your audience.
4. Add an appealing image, chart, or infographic that relates to your copy. 
5. Post it.

If this feels overwhelming, start slow. One post per week is better than none. Trying to post every day can lead to burn out or low-quality posts that will hurt your brand more than a few days’ break between them.

Most importantly, post high quality content consistently. Know your audience and share content that appeals to them. Stay on-brand and tell your story. Remember, organic social media growth takes time. Continue putting in the work and the results will come.