Social Media Marketing is a key aspect of Digital Marketing.
Whether you are a B2B SaaS company or a direct-to-consumer
(B2C) store, social media marketing is important.
No questions about that.
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As of October this year, Facebook is still the most popular
social network across the world, with over 2.4 Billion users.
Youtube and WhatsApp take the second and third place
with 2 Billion and 1.6 Billion global users, respectively.
Interestingly, Instagram was in sixth place with 1 Billion users.
Snapchat, LinkedIn and Pinterest took the last three
places with 314, 310 and 300 million users.
As you can see, social media has become a BIG part of our life.
It does, therefore, make sense as to why more and more
businesses spend millions of dollars into marketing
and advertising using social channels.
As you know Google keeps changing algorithms quite frequently.
Social platforms are not that far in this context.
With the growing impact of artificial intelligence on digital marketing, things are bound to change across all channels.
In fact, the recent changes in facebook video algorithm 2019
did affect businesses the world over.
It goes without saying that it is not always easy for most
SEO and social media marketing agencies to keep up.
As a business owner or CEO in your organization,
how can you keep up?
What is the best social media marketing strategy for 2020?
Social Media Marketing Stats
As per a Princeton research study, Facebook should have undergone a rapid decline, losing 80% of its peak user base between 2015 and 2017.
The actual numbers show otherwise.
Take a look below:
What about social media advertising?
This year, ad spend on social media amounted to USD 33,729 million.
This is expected to grow annually at 8.7%,
reaching USD 47,074 million by 2023.
Alright, that’s enough data to leave you confused (just kidding).
Let’s talk about the social media marketing strategy for 2020.
When in Rome, do as the Romans do
When it comes to social platforms, businesses are often biased.
While I do not disagree that Facebook,
Instagram and LinkedIn are the big three…
There is no reason not to use other social platforms as well.
Especially if your audience hangs out on those platforms.
Talking about advertising benchmarks on Facebook across all industries,
Avg. CTR (click-through-rate) = 0.90%.
Avg. CPC (Cost per click)= $1.72.
Avg. Conversion Rate = 9.21%
And with the recent changes in the Facebook video algorithm,
the costs are definitely going up.
Talking about Instagram, the average CPC was $1.41
and the average click-through rate was 0.52% last year (2018).
What I mean by the proverb when in Rome…
is to understand your audiences across different social media platforms,
and talk their language.
Let’s use the example of Coke to drive my point.
Here is a recent post from Coke on their Facebook page.
Now, let’s take a look at a post around the same date on their Instagram.
And finally, here is a recent post from their Pinterest page:
Coca Cola understands that their audiences across different
social platforms speak a different language,
no matter how subtle the difference is.
They have different content across different regions as well.
Here’s a recent post from their UK Facebook Page.
Now, I understand that budget and resources
play a big role in all this.
However, you can always start small and test with
different content ideas.
Include and test different formats and messaging as
as part of your 2020 social media marketing strategy.
You will never know the impact of
different social media platforms until you try them.
Do not just put all your bet on
Facebook just because everyone is doing it.
Be creative in your approach.
And of course, be data-driven.
Understand Your Audiences
Marketing to Gen Z is not the same as
marketing to the millennials (Gen Y).
Different audiences behave differently.
It is extremely important to understand your target audience.
This is far more useful than immediately jumping on
digital marketing tactics and tools.
I have observed hundreds of businesses and dozens of
social media marketing agencies not getting this one right.
User-Generated Content
This is one of my favorite social media marketing strategies to
grow a brand organically in the long run.
I strongly recommend working on this as part of
your social media engagement strategy.
Blogging, digital video, podcasts, reviews, and
social media are different media for UGC.
Take Wikipedia for example.
It is perhaps a classic example of factual user-generated content.
UGC is not some buzzword.
Every time you upload a photo to your social media account,
you are contributing to UGC.
Writing a review on Amazon, Google or Yelp does the same thing.
From a human psychology standpoint, no one likes to
hear someone talk about themselves all the time.
Communication is fun when there is an exchange of ideas.
And that can happen only when you encourage your
audience to “talk”.
Makes sense?
Red Bull is killing it at UGC (user-generated content).
Take a look at this from their facebook page.
You will observe that they do not just talk about themselves,
or how great their products are.
On the contrary, they involve their audience to share content.
This is a win-win situation.
Not only do they get content for free, but they also get more variety.
The latter is difficult to achieve with a static team.
Creative Format: Image vs Video
In our post on Facebook video algorithm 2019, we talked about how you can optimize videos on Facebook for better results.
Does that mean images are dead on social media?
Do not get lost into the image vs video battle.
Both are important.
Let me explain.
Think of images and videos as different vehicles to communicate.
With a video, you can deliver a long message easily.
A 3-minute message via an image might not be a good idea after all!
And you can use short clips to deliver quick bits of information.
However, the Internet abounds in low-quality videos.
In order to create an impact,
you might have to invest in creating quality videos.
The cost factor, that is!
Images have been part of social media since the beginning.
They are easier to produce compared to videos.
Take this post for example.
This is a long-form blog post on the subject of
social media strategy for 2020.
I could do a few things to promote this:
- Image only: Minimal Impact. Besides, it would lack context.
- Image + Blog: Engages people better
- Long (3-5 min) video: Great for YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
According to a study, people care about the
content more than the format.
So don’t get lost in the image vs video confusion.
Focus on quality content and distribution across different platforms.
Social Media Marketing Strategy: Influencer Marketing
Why is this important?
Short answer…
Around 90% of all marketers say that the ROI from influencer marketing is comparable to or better than that from other marketing channels.
We have talked in detail about social media influencer marketing
in another post.
Check it out to understand more about this strategy.
What’s your social media marketing strategy for 2020?
Share your thoughts via the comments section below.
About OmniDigit
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