MKTG 347/Week 14: 3 Things To Consider Before Posting to Social Media

In order to get the most value out of using social media, there are different elements that need to be considered. Posting random content at randoms times will not be effective. So, take the time to decide who your target audience will be, what kind of content you will be posting, and how much time you will spend on creating or curating content for the week. Once you have a plan, your social media campaign will be much more effective.

Target Audience/Industry: One of the first elements to consider is who your target audience is. Depending on your product or service, you might have one target audience, or you might have a few. It all depends on a few characteristics.

Take the time to define the buyer personas in the industry. For instance, if you are trying to get the word out about a new brand name makeup store, one of your obvious target markets would be young women, who have a steady income so that they can splurge on makeup purchases. Once you define your target audience, you can determine the best site to use to reach them and know what content to use to get the best results.

Type of Content:  Having a lot of content with no feedback or interaction will not help you have a successful social media campaign. You want to post content that your target audience will find interesting and interact with. It is essential to have a variety of content to see what your audience interacts with the best. Instead of posting about your blog article every week, share a video or an image, or share an interesting article written by someone else. It takes time to plan the content in order to get the best results.

How Much Time to Spend: The amount of time that you need to spend planning your social media posts varies from company to company, but there are a few models that you can follow. A marketing company called Pardot, outlines a way to complete what you need to through social media in just 30 minutes a day. With this outline, you would spend 10 minutes on Twitter, six on Facebook and LinkedIn, four on Pinterest, and two on Google+ and Instagram. While you are on these sites, use the time to respond to direct tweets or comments and engage with the company page.

In order to get the most out of a social media campaign, it is helpful to take the time to plan. Thinking about your  target audience, the content you post, and the amount of time you should spend each day on these social media sites, will help your brand have a successful social media presence.