We’ve all been there. You post a great picture on the various social media outlets, such as Facebook or Instagram, in hopes of getting a minimum of 100 likes. You wait 3 hours and not a single notification on your IPhone. You begin to doubt the quality of your picture, your personal worth, and overall achievement in life. What could you possibly have done wrong? How could you have failed so miserably when everything looked perfect? Well, great thing is you aren’t alone in the complicated business of so-called social media marketing, whether it be your personal picture or a startup business advertisement. Let’s take a further look into what you could have done to keep this complicated relationship from going sour.
In order to achieve the goal of exposure, timing is a vital part in planning social media marketing. Many consider options such as paying for a post boost on Facebook or seeking out small sponsors for Instagram. Sadly, the timing of the post has much influence on who will view the post and amount of positive feedback received. When considering what and when to post, take into consideration the audience’s broad-band schedule and preferences. For instance, someone who aims to target 9-5 office workers would probably fair best when posting advertisements between the hours of 11 am and 2 pm because the workers generally surf social media during their allotted lunch break. Additionally, the subject of the post must be relevant to the season and time of year. Logically, a post about holiday decorating would not receive as much feedback in summer because the overall societal interest in the subject is low.
Although timing is vital, targeted audience tops the list of importance. This is often where a specialized social media marketer comes in to organize the prospective audience and align the product to the targeted viewers. The organizer will evaluate the posts and often analyze the relative posts of the followers to see how the company can better align their product. Often the producer, whether it be an individual person or an industrial company, will have the correct product but the style and wording of the advertisement is incorrect for the audience. For instance, a travel agent would not post a flight deal on a background of crayons and school supplies. It just doesn’t appeal to the audience. The marketing advisor would suggest adding a short sentence or fragment giving a glimpse inside the great deals offered by the producer, accompanied by a background of the undisclosed flight destination. This advertisement would receive more feedback due to the cohesive nature of the subject design as it relates to the product.
While social media marketing strategy is still being deciphered as a new marketing source, the common practice marketing skills of old-fashioned print advertising is still relevant. One would not post a newspaper advertisement for an Easter deal in the middle of November. Thus, one would not make the same advertisement via social media venues. A smart marketer will carefully analyze the audience’s desires, varying seasonal desires of the consumer, and daily timing for which the product would reach the most viewers. Although social media is still a “confusing mess” to try and understand, social media marketers strategize to at least make it a “hot mess”.
