Mastering Social Media: Unlocking the Secrets to Effective Brand Growth

For many, the endless possibilities of the social media world can seem daunting at first. In this post, we’ll help you get the most out of your social media pages and take advantage of the benefits they offer.

You can choose from a range of methods to help you set your goals. The three most effective methods are SMART, a modified version of CLEAR, and the OKR goal-setting framework.

SMART method

This would be the “So let’s plan smart!” method.  Its criteria are concrete or specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.

CLEAR method

The new trend that we can better apply in the online world thanks to the great flexibility it offers.

 The principles it lays down are:

• Collaborative: get to know the skills and attitudes of others
• Limited: Tie your goals to a specific timeframe
• Emotional: Link goals to emotions
• Approachable: Break tasks down into subtasks that will create long-term satisfaction from the experience of success
• Refinable: Give room for modifications so that the team can exploit the infinite possibilities

Social Media OKR

Another objective system with a sky’s the limit. Known by many only as Google’s most favored objectives framework, the two components that make up the method (Objectives and Key Results) are used to define the objective and its key results. When using this principle, we break down our objectives to the smallest detail so that they are fully transparent and traceable, and so that there are no grey areas that can overshadow achievement. This will also motivate your team, as progress will be visible.

With the OKR method, achieving 60-70% of your objectives is an excellent result.

Social media in defining OKR is an example:

• Goal: Increase social media reach by 25%.
• Key result 1: 20% increase in Facebook, and Instagram followers.
• Key Result 2: Become regular with 3 posts per day on Facebook and 2 on Twitter.
• Key Result 3: Connect with 8 influencers

Before you get into brainstorming what to do and how to do it, be sure to stop for a moment and take stock of where you are now. Study how effectively you are progressing toward your current goals. To get an overall picture of your current state, even compare your website with other sites.

10 COMMON SOCIAL MEDIA GOALS TO FOLLOW

Remember that these are general categories of goals, not the goals themselves. To turn these concepts into specific brand goals, use one of the methods above. Be sure to target a percentage increase within a given timeframe.

1. Increase brand awareness

Brand awareness shows how many of your social media users know about your market presence and the services you offer.

Key indicators of brand awareness:

• Number of mentions
• Number of shares
• Reach per post
• Impressions
• Virality rate, i.e. the speed at which the brand is spread
• Amplification rate, multiplication

2. Manage brand awareness

Reputation means different things to different brands. For example, for B2C companies (where companies sell directly to consumers), it’s about popularity and customer satisfaction. For B2B businesses (where the product reaches the consumer through multiple companies), reputation depends on industry perception.

Key indicators related to brand reputation:

• Customer satisfaction rate
• Number of reactions
• Share rate
• Attitude, i.e. how people feel about you
• Views: how many minutes per day an average user spends on the site
• Testimonials

3. Build a community around you

By this we mean a group where members are keen to follow your daily activities and progress. This will be a huge advantage when you launch a new product and already have a built-up customer base.

Key indicators of community engagement:

• Audience growth
• Engagement rate
• Share rate
• Number of reactions
• Number of clicks per ad
• Return rate, i.e. whether your page is visited more than once
• Conversion rate, i.e. how many page views turn into actual purchases within a given period.
• Views
• Number of conversations started in a comment section

4. Increase your sales

This is a great social media goal because it goes straight to the point. You can’t find a better metric, as all your efforts are reflected in the number of sales. Remember, not all conversions end in sales. If only newsletter sign-ups happen, that already has a measurable value for the brand, even though no money was exchanged.

Key indicators related to sales:

• Conversion rate
• Number of clicks
• Return rate
• If you are using social media advertising, you should also pay attention to CPC, which is the cost per click, and CPM, which is short for cost per 1,000 impressions.

5. Get a comprehensive picture of the market and customer needs

Social media is a powerful market research tool. Assessing needs will help you produce more relevant content and reach more of your target audience. Creating a buyer persona, or “ideal customer character”, can help you to define this. You can define their qualities, skills, and interests to help you find your target audience later, based on the templates you create.

6. Build trust, and increase interest in your product

A visitor rarely makes a purchase the first time they visit your site. Your social media presence mustn’t convey credibility. This will create value for your brand and make the customer more likely to choose your product. After all, in today’s world, who doesn’t take a closer look at what they’re buying?

7. Provide a helpful customer service

Social channels are an increasingly more extra vital platform for purchaser service. Customer satisfaction depends not only on whether they received the product they expected but also on how willing customer service staff are to find the best solution when a problem arises. If your customers leave satisfied, they will of course benefit you by recommending your brand and will be happy to return.

8. A lot can depend on recruitment

The recruitment procedure may be crucial. It makes a difference who you choose for a particular position. You need to determine beforehand what type of person can best fill the position. For example, you can’t choose an ever-moving personality for an office job, even if he or she meets all the other criteria. He or she will not be comfortable, and will not be able to perform the tasks assigned to him or her with the greatest dedication.

Work with your HR team to develop a clear picture of who you need on your social media team. Finding the right person will help you move forward toward your goals.

9. Develop communication principles for crisis management

It makes a difference in how you handle critical situations. Responding to them on social media can boost, and sometimes destroy your brand’s reputation. That’s why you should lay down a clear procedure for such situations.

10. Strive to improve internal communication

Good community relations are an essential element for the efficient flow of information within the company. Once internal communication is sufficiently robust and unhindered, you will be able to deal with problems more easily. It is in everyone’s interest to work together more effectively.

Here are the top 5 tips for social networking sites

FACEBOOK

To achieve the desired results on Facebook it is important to be aware of your target audience. Here you should also create a potential customer avatar.

• Become a thought leader! Facebook is the social portal with the most users today. Share ideas and opinions that will engage your followers and trigger interaction. Encourage comments.
• Watch your posting time, test what works for you and what doesn’t!
• Create regular video content!
• Be aware of Facebook’s algorithm! Remember that not all posts will appear in your follower’s feeds.

INSTAGRAM

Use carousel posts! They are growing in popularity day by day! Another interesting thing is that Instagram’s algorithm will bump them up to 2-3 times in your feed.

• Share posts that users like to collect in their “saved” folder. This could be “how to be successful, happy…” as well as posts starting with “10 tips to…”.
• Add some extras to your stories! These could be stickers or design solutions.
• Insert blank lines in the description to make the text easier to read.
• Use relevant hashtags! On Instagram, the maximum limit is 30.

LINKEDIN

• Share quality content! The site will immediately block content it considers spam.
• Build a conscious link! This way you can increase your visibility to many.
• Make your profile look dynamic! LinkedIn is one of the first places people look up your company. Pay interest to be authentic. It’s worth highlighting your key achievements, as well as showcasing your brand, management team, and offices.
• Grow your email marketing list! Sending an elaborate thank you letter to your existing or new contacts can help increase the number of newsletter subscribers. LinkedIn allows you to message 50 people at once.
• Likes don’t count! Priority is given to posts with a high number of comments. Strive to trigger that kind of interaction!

TIKTOK

The latest light-speed craze among young people.  If you’re targeting the under-30s, a TikTok presence is almost essential, as ⅔ of users are under 30.

• Don’t edit! The natural is more engaging here.
• Let your followers get close to you! Give them a glimpse into the brand’s daily life.
• Show your failures. They’re often more fun than success.
• Pick up the pace with challenges! With #challenge, you’ll find countless trends. Believe me, Gen Z will jump on this one.
• Use upbeat sounds and music that best fits your brand.
• You can read more about the TikTok opportunities in our previous blogs:

TikTok – From the basics to its marketing potential

TikTok for Business has been launched.

TWITTER

• Find the best-performing post each week and use it as a base. With more content and hashtags of a similar nature, you can gain more reach in general.
• Focus on periods where your follower base has suddenly increased and see what kind of activity you’ve achieved.
• Try to get as much interaction from your followers as possible.
• Video content is increasingly popular these days, so it can generate more interest from users.
• It’s worth paying attention to CPR. Every week, check which ads are giving you the highest and lowest results.
• You can use the Twitter analytics page to get the information you need easily.

YOUTUBE

The YouTube channel T-Series is currently at the top of the list with nearly 150 billion views. What’s the secret to success on the video-sharing platform?

• Be aware of your statistics and then repeat the success model.
• Follow what’s trending, then react immediately to what’s new.
• Don’t be shy to learn from the pros! Every successful YouTuber knows how their video-sharing algorithm works. You can access this knowledge for free, anytime.
• Look for the keywords that the site prefers, and then incorporate them into the title of your videos if possible!
• Monitor changing user behavior!

Closing thought

There is no perfect recipe for successful social media use. One thing’s for sure, if you follow the latest trends and take our tips, you’ll be one step closer to a well-functioning profile.