Learn
Social Media Marketing
in five steps
Fundamentals
Social Media Marketing involves using Social channels (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube etc) to connect with and provide value (i.e. help) to your audience.
Many businesses make the mistake of believing Social channels are an extension of their website (i.e. to directly promote products or their company). Similar to the focus of SEO, content distributed across Social channels needs to be helpful and useful rather than sales-focussed. Understanding and relating content to customers is the most effective approach to building a Social strategy which actually attracts engagement and results.
Organic reach (i.e. the number of people who see your content without paid distribution – ads) has been falling over the last few years. Many believe the organic reach of Facebook is now less than 2%. This means if you have 8,500 page followers, only a maximum of 170 people may see your new posts.
Social channels rely heavily on paid ads as a source of revenue. If a business is able to communicate with thousands of potential customers for free (i.e. organically), they have no need to pay for advertising.
Due to organic reach limitations, many business pages are now simply used to show a brand is active online whilst acting as a means of communication (e.g. customer service via messaging).
Understanding algorithms to maximise organic reach H2
Whilst organic reach may be limited, businesses who understand how algorithms work on each Social platform have a much greater chance of extending their reach without the need to pay for ads.
An algorithm refers to the way a channel determines which content to show to which users and how many people will actually end up seeing the content. This provides insight and guidance into what type of content a brand should produce and promote across Social.
The Facebook algorithm
When a business makes a post on Facebook, the platform will show the post to a small number of followers. Facebook will then take action based on the response of that small initial group.
If the group responds favourably (comments, likes, shares etc), the post is distributed further (and vice-versa) to an additional group of users. If this second group also responds well, Facebook can infer the quality of the content and will distribute further. This is how content is able to go viral online – the stronger the initial response, the greater the subsequent reach will be.
Understanding how the Facebook algorithm works is a point which is missed by the majority of businesses. Many companies simply post about their own products and services.
A good example of the difference in performance between product-based posts and entertainment-based posts is highlighted in the images below. Both of these posts come from the same brand and this pattern is continually repeated (i.e. little engagement for brand/product promotion but strong engagement for meme/entertaining posts).
Caution
People aren’t using Social Media to view product or sales-focused posts from businesses, they are there to engage with their friends and view entertaining and interesting content which benefits them.
If people do visit a business page, it is most likely to contact the business. Product-centred posts made by businesses receive little initial engagement and the algorithm then decides the post is of little value to the community and will not extend its organic reach any further.
Similar to how Google ranks websites when it comes to SEO, Facebook wants to provide content to users which is valuable and entertaining. This results in people continually visiting Facebook and staying on the platform longer.
If Facebook shows irrelevant content (such as constant ads or boring unengaging corporate posts), users will simply leave. This is why it’s important to create content which will be valuable and in-demand from users whilst using a format which Facebook considers ideal for the platform.
Tip
Facebook offers preferential treatment to posts which do not have external links but instead keep people on the platform (e.g. visiting the brand page, watching a video, interacting directly with the post etc). When on mobile, users generally don’t want to visit external websites.
When creating posts, try to avoid sending users off Facebook and focus on maximising engagement within the individual post (such as watching a video). This will also allow you to retarget these page engagers with future advertising campaigns (as website-based retargeting is now more challenging due to the iOS 14 update).
The Facebook algorithm also assigns differing levels of weight to engagement metrics. Comments and shares are much more valuable than simple reactions (such as liking a post). When creating posts, focus on maximising comments (by asking a question, running a poll etc) and ensure you respond to comments to keep the conversation going.
The Instagram algorithm
Instagram is owned by Facebook and both algorithms work in a similar way – the more engaging a post, the more valuable it appears. The ‘Save’ post feature provides the strongest type of signal as to post quality, followed by comments (depending on length, not just an emoji) and likes.
Instagram has a ‘trust score’ (which is not publicly viewable) for each business page and is used to determine how trustworthy a business is (i.e. determining a fake or spammy profile). If an account is considered spammy, it will be shadow banned. This means future organic reach is severely limited. You can avoid this risk by:
- Not following/unfollowing other users too quickly
- Don’t make the same repetitive comments on multiple posts
- Don’t constantly message people who aren’t following you
- Don’t pay for followers and post likes
- Don’t post too frequently (e.g. multiple times a day)
You can improve your trust score by posting consistently (keeps people engaged with your page), commenting and engaging with other accounts/posts (i.e. engaging with the community) and by removing unengaged followers. Followers who aren’t engaging with your brand can influence the algorithm to believe your posts are of low quality.
Tip
Both Facebook and Instagram prefer a smaller highly engaged audience rather than a large audience of people who aren’t interested in your page/brand.
The YouTube algorithm
Similar to Google and SEO, YouTube also uses SEO considerations to rank videos (i.e. why some videos appear before others in the search results).
Keyword research involves finding keywords people are searching for when looking for YouTube videos and ensuring your content fits. Factors considered for SEO keywords also apply to YouTube: high search volume, low competition, relevant to the brand/video, improving upon existing content etc.
When choosing keywords, review Google search results for the particular search term. If the keyword brings up video results (within the organic listings), you may be able to earn more traffic from both Google and YouTube at the same time.
You can also review competitor and similar videos to see which keywords they are using in their titles and descriptions. Chrome extensions Tube Buddy and VidIQ provide analytics and tags for each video which can provide insight into keyword targeting.
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Entertainment-based content and videos centred around learning tend to be at the top of YouTube (and Google) results, such as ‘how to’, ‘tutorial’, ‘step by step process’ etc.
YouTube mainly assesses the quality of a video based on how long people watch (i.e. audience retention). If people exit quickly, this indicates the video may have been boring or irrelevant. You need to find ways to keep people watching such as using time stamps to show upcoming content which may be more relevant to their interests. Alternatively, produce shorter videos which can help avoid the problem of users becoming bored as time goes on.
Similar to how Facebook assesses the quality of organic posts, YouTube also uses interaction-based metrics to assess video quality. These include: how many click on your video in the search results (i.e. CTR), comments on the video, shares, video/channel subscriptions and video length.
If you are setting up a YouTube channel for the first time, Backlinko provides an excellent set of resources for getting the most out of using YouTube as a marketing channel.
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Realistic performance of Social Media
When done correctly, Social Media can provide a steady stream of referral traffic to your website and help grow brand awareness online. It’s important to view Social relative to the strengths of other channels and decide how much time and effort should be allocated to social efforts.
Generally SEO, paid ads (PPC) and eDM’s can provide a greater ROI (both financially and time-wise) than investing in organic Social Media.
This certainly is not to say Social is ineffective but, with limited time and resources, focus needs to be on the most productive digital channels for your business. For many, organic Social Media will be a complementary channel rather than a main focus. Through testing and refining, you may find Social is actually the strongest channel for your brand whilst other mediums aren’t as effective for you as they are for other brands.
Organic Social Media may have a limitation on reach but if you understand the type of content which is encouraged by each platform, Social can be a worthwhile channel.
Due to organic Social being free, it’s a risk free medium when starting out (opposed to paid channels which have a steeper learning curve and greater financial consequences if ads underperform). Organic channels can also help develop skills which transfer over to other/paid mediums such as copywriting, audience research, topic research, content creation etc.
It’s also important to understand the commercial value Social Media can provide to a business. Many paid ads provide a positive ROI (e.g. spend $10 on an ad and receive a $30 sale) however ROI of Social Media efforts can be harder to track.
Caution
Many businesses focus on vanity metrics such as likes, comments, shares etc. These are nice to have but do they contribute to more sales and help your brand grow?
Campaign planning
When developing a Social strategy, it’s important to discover where your customers are online and pick only a few of those channels – don’t try to be on everything at once. Aim to become successful on one platform (understanding how the algorithm works, the audience type, posting methods etc ) then move on to expanding to a second platform.
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Each Social channel has a unique audience who enjoy content in a specific format.
Instagram is visual and is ideal for showcasing high production value images and videos. People visit YouTube to learn through ‘how to’ videos and people use Facebook to share content (photos, memories, entertaining media etc) with friends and family. Users on Instagram tend to be female from a younger demographic whilst Facebook is trending towards older users.
Tip
When planning a content strategy, content needs to be tailored to the specific platform and the audience which makes up the channel. Content which performs well on YouTube may not perform well on Instagram.
If you post the same content across each channel, you may run into issues if you have the same followers on each platform. If users have engaged with your Facebook post, they may ignore the identical Instagram post leading to future consequences from the platform’s algorithm. People may also decide to follow you on only one platform if they see the same content multiple times.
Deciding on content and publishing
When deciding what kind of content to publish across channels, use the momentum of what already performs well and what users are already engaging with. Don’t create completely cold content and hope people will be receptive and engaging.
Buzz Sumo can be used to find content topics which perform the best on Social Media (e.g. engagement, shares etc).
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You can also review posts from competitors/similar pages to find content which has performed the best and received the highest levels of engagement.
When it comes to deciding media format for your content, Facebook is favouring video over standard images as this media type helps users spend more time on the platform. Live video also performs better than post-based video content. Instagram is now favouring Reels content over traditional images.
Tip
If using video, remember to have subtitles as 85% of videos are watched with sound off (e.g. when users are on mobile).
Publishing content
When planning out content to publish, you can use a Social calendar to help plan, coordinate and schedule upcoming posts across multiple platforms.
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Facebook groups
Facebook now pushes community groups (such as topic discussion groups) as a driver of engagement. If you create a post within a discussion group, there’s a higher chance users in that group will likely see it in their organic news feed (opposed to if it was created directly from a business page).
You can enter existing groups which contain your audience to promote your brand – by answering questions, offering advice, sharing content etc.
For example, you may join a community group around online copywriting and provide some useful hints and tips. If people find value in your contributions and believe your service could help their business, they will naturally reach out to you via your profile/business page.
Don’t join a group to offer vague/fluffy advice or directly promote your brand. This technique needs to focus on being helpful 95% of time without pushing or promoting your products/services. Let users determine the quality and competence of your brand through the help and advice you provide. The only mention of your brand should be in your profile name (e.g. John Smith – Web Copywriter).
You may also choose to create your own group to provide advice and help to potential customers. This approach is very effective at gaining new page followers and page likes.
Subscriber groups are Facebook groups which users need to pay to join. These types of groups are a way to provide premium advice and business services to a select group of people. Subscriber groups also provide another source of revenue for your business.
You can link to your Facebook group in an email signature, in YouTube descriptions, on your Facebook page etc to help grow membership numbers.
Ben Heath provides excellent YouTube tutorials around managing Facebook Ads. Ben has also created a very successful Facebook group around his agency and brand.
Once people have discovered your brand within a group, they can be directed to your business page where you can use Messenger to start an initial conversation and possibly gain a new client or customer.
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Running a campaign
Having your business active on Facebook involves having a Facebook Business page which is managed through Business Manager. This business page can act as a mini-website for your brand and you can even sell products directly through the page. Facebook Shop is an eCommerce platform built directly into Facebook.
As mentioned earlier, Facebook prefers to keep people on their platform rather than have users visit external websites. Promoting your products via Facebook Shop (rather than linking to your website) can help posts achieve greater organic reach and results.
You can also use your business page to promote other aspects of your business such as job vacancies, upcoming events, customer service options etc.
Tip
Some people choose to occasionally use their personal profile to make posts regarding their business. Personal profiles still have a good amount of organic reach (compared to business profiles) so this can be a good way to achieve additional free reach.
Facebook Business Pages and Business Manager
Within Business Manager, there are multiple options and settings which help set up and manage your brand’s page. The setup guide tab provides guidance around setting up a business page through business manager (e.g. assigning page roles, creating ad accounts, adding people etc).
The Home tab will show recent posts, messages, insights etc. Under Business Settings, you can add people, assign page roles and change the level of permissions (e.g. view insights only or add new page posts etc). Partner accounts and permissions can also be set up here if you’re working with an external agency to help manage pages.
The Data Sources tab is used to connect product catalogues, pixel setup for Facebook ads, conversions and event setup as well as shared audience setup (audiences which can be used across multiple ad accounts).
Payment methods can also be set up in Business Manager when running ads or boosting posts. The security centre can be used to set up two-factor authentication and add new admins. You can also change notification settings and business details (e.g. name, phone number etc) in Business Manager.
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Managing an Instagram account
Instagram business accounts provide access to Instagram Insights and business contact details (e.g. phone number, email etc).
Within your Instagram profile, you can display a bio which provides users with details regarding what your page and business is about.
Have a clear, compelling bio which will entice people to follow your profile. Make sure the website link in the bio is mobile-optimised (i.e. the website is mobile responsive) as most Instagram users are on mobile.
People can follow your Instagram page and your photos/updates will appear in their newsfeed. People can like/comment/share your posts and they also have the option to save the post (by tapping on the ribbon icon) to add to their own collection (e.g. a group of travel related posts/photos).
Video
Instagram features stories, IGTV and Reels. Stories will last for 24 hours but can be extended by using the Highlights feature. IGTV is a longer form video service whilst Reels are for shorter form snappy video clips.
Similar to Facebook, Instagram also has an eCommerce shop feature. Users can create a wish list and save items for later. Instagram also allows you to create share guides (a curated flow of posts, essentially across between images, carousels and blog posts).
Instagram messenger integrates with Facebook messenger so you can talk to your Facebook customers through Instagram.
People can use the search function on Instagram to view new content from pages (which they do or don’t follow). Hashtags will help content show up for users interested in those topics. You can achieve greater reach through popular trending hashtags.
Social Media management platforms
Whilst posts can be made manually across Facebook and Instagram, many businesses choose to use Social management platforms. Hootsuite, Falcon, Sprout Social, SEMRush and many others are available to plan and schedule Social posts.
These platforms also offer the ability to view multiple Social accounts on one screen (i.e. a dashboard), respond to customer messages, view insights and analytics etc.
These tools also offer a social listening ability which can help measure user sentiment around your brand (i.e. positive or negative customer comments and feelings).
Some businesses find posting manually, rather than through a scheduling tool, helps them achieve greater organic engagement.
The algorithms of each platform favour brands which post consistently and engage with their audiences. A content calendar can help enforce posting consistency and can help distribute tasks amongst team members.
You can also use Facebook’s Creator Studio to create and manage posts, store content, use creative tools, view insights etc.
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Maximising organic reach and engagement
When you begin writing posts for your business page, keep in mind the focus needs to be on providing value to followers, not to directly promote your brand.
When writing, mirror the language of your target audience and the specific platform. If your customer base is younger, use language which they will relate to.
The most important consideration when creating posts and Social content is to ask yourself:
“If I saw this post in my news feed, would I comment or share it?”
If you’re posting for the sake of it or sharing content which someone may briefly look at then move on, you’ll likely receive little engagement or results. As mentioned, if the algorithms of these platforms see little initial engagement, they have no reason to show your content to anyone else.
Measuring results
Each Social platform will have their own built-in analytics and insights which you can view to see how well posts are performing and how engaged your audience is.
This data can provide insights into the best time to post content, whether it’s men or women who are engaging the most, age of users, most and least popular content etc.
You can also use Google Analytics to view referral traffic which is arriving to your website through Social Media (via the Acquisition report).
You can create dashboards within Google Analytics (or use existing templates from community members) to provide a snapshot of Social traffic insights. You can also create an Analytics segment (Social traffic) to see how these users interact with your brand once on the website.
Google Data Studio also has templates available which can help present Social insights in a more presentable manner. The below templates are available from Super Metrics.
Improving performance
How Social Media can be improved by other channels
A smart approach to Social Media won’t focus on one platform in isolation but will use each channel within the wider digital strategy to improve overall Social performance
Facebook Ads
When testing different creatives within ad sets (such as videos, images, carousels etc) you can use these performance insights to understand which creative your audience most prefers. These creative-type insights can then be used to create organic posts which perform strongly without the need for repeat testing (as the paid ads have provided data).
Facebook ads can also help grow your brand across Facebook as users will have the option to click to your business profile page from an ad. Engagement-focussed ads can help encourage comments and shares on your paid post thereby increasing your brand awareness and reach beyond the specified ad audience targeting.
Strong performing Facebook ads can also be repurposed as organic posts for additional free reach.
Google Ads
You can review your best performing Google ads and use similar headlines and descriptions as the basis for creating organic Social posts. Once on your website, you can also encourage Google ads traffic to follow your Social profiles to keep up to date with upcoming sales/promotions etc.
SEO
SEO can provide insights and guidance into what content will perform well on Social if it has already performed well on your website.
If you have Social icons on your website, large amounts of website traffic can also help boost page followers and engagement on posts.
eDM’s
You can submit an email list to Facebook and the platform will identify if those users are present on Facebook. You can then invite these users to follow your page which can help boost engagement and page followers.
eDM’s can also feature Social icons which can help drive people back to your Social profiles. eDM’s can also be used to promote your discussion groups on Facebook as this is a non-sales focussed method of providing value to email subscribers.
eDM’s can also be used to promote upcoming live Facebook and Instagram events as well as Social giveaways and competitions.
Analytics
Analytics can show website visitor demographics such as age, gender, location as well as interest categories. Comparing this to platform-specific analytics (such as Facebook insights), you can determine if you have a different audience on Social platforms compared to on your website. This can help tailor your Social posts to be more relevant to a platform-specific audience.
You can use platform-specific analytics to see what days of the week (and what times of the day) users are most engaging with your posts. This can help with post scheduling and frequency to maximise engagement.
This concludes how to use Social Media Marketing to help grow your brand online. In the next section, Email Marketing, we’ll cover how to use eDM’s to nurture potential future customers and to encourage repeat business from past website users.
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