6 Tips to Strengthen Your Social Media Strategy for 2019

2019 is here and if you haven’t already, it’s time to re-evaluate your social media marketing strategy. Just as the years change, so do platforms, algorithms, and best practices. If you’re still concentrating on text posts and Google +, this applies to you especially. In life, repeating the same action yet expecting a different result is insanity, but in social media marketing if you do the same thing over and over and expect even the same results you might also qualify. Things change quickly and often in the social media world, and the new year is the perfect time to reevaluate and recalibrate. After all, you’re not really going to hit the gym this year anyway, right?

So, where do you start? With the big picture. Take a look at all of the platforms you are currently using and run an analysis of your performance on each. Evaluate the ROI overall to determine if you need to lose or add platforms, and evaluate each individually as well to prepare and plan how to increase your ROI on that platform next year. Which ones take too much time relative to its results? Are all of your current platforms still relevant to your brand goals (or were they ever)? Where does the most traffic and conversions come from? (Hint: don’t spend time determining how you’ll dominate Google + next year, just saying.)

Once you’ve decided on the most effective platforms going forward, be sure to optimize your profiles and bio. This is a simple task but can and will make all the difference. Identify your goals so you know where to invest your time and efforts. Do you need to increase your postings on one platform, or just build more engagement per post? Or both? Here are a few suggestions for stronger content in the next year:

Get Personal – Social media is a vast ocean of information, communication, and marketing. You may be a boat just beyond the horizon of someone who would love to see you heading their way. The more personal you can get, the better the odds are they will notice you.

Get Faster – When people ask a question on Twitter, they expect an answer now – especially if they’re asking a brand directly. 2 hours from now they’ve found their answer elsewhere (whether or not it’s correct). You need to be as close to real-time in response and helpfulness as you can.

Listen Better – Social listening is nothing new, but it’s more important than ever because, well, see the previous point.

Be Seen, Not Just Heard – Visual content; Images, videos, streaming video, as often and as many places as possible. Visuals work. See our recent post to understand why.

Go Micro – Influencers are still a good way to go with promotion, but these days the top influencers,  like major celebrities, are bogged down with too much to keep up with. Micro-influencers are the new thing, people with 10,000 followers or less who are still very influential with their crowds. Find a batch that relates to your brand and builds those relationships.

The next step is also nothing new, or at least shouldn’t be, but it has to be done or you’ll end up as inefficient as possible. Set up your content calendar. Not just for a few days or a week. Schedule out (at least) a month in advance, then revisit it regularly to make adjustments as needed. This is key to building and maintaining your success!

And as always, be ever alert for new changes that will affect your social media management. They’re always coming, we promise. For more advice or help, reach out to us!