Social media management has grown into a lucrative career – it now employs a myriad of people whose goal is to further brands in social spaces. Some manage the ideas, others execute them, and others follow up on them. It’s not uncommon for a brand to hire several people to manage its socials. These are the copywriters, the editors, the graphic designers, and more. It takes a lot to be visible on social media. But what if you do not have the resources to pay for such a team? How about if you want to venture into social media management by yourself? Good news – you don’t need a team. All you need is to master the key tactics used by these professionals. These include:

Knowing Your Audience

Who are you marketing to, and what do they want? It’s easy to assume that because you are selling low-cost items, your customers are students and people in low-income groups. But you could be wrong about this. So, instead of assuming, do some market research. Why is this important? It ensures that you understand your audience, and you can market what they need to them. It does not make much sense to start an entire campaign with a clear goal but the wrong audience.

The next is to find the right social platform for you. Many options are available to businesses, and not all will work for you. Instagram, for example, is great for visual products. All you need is to set up a good bio, buy Instagram followers to get your numbers going, and start posting high-quality images. Understand what works for every platform. Most importantly, ask yourself if your target audience even uses the platform. If they are not on it, then your campaigns will be futile.

Understanding Your Goals

Why are you on social media? Businesses use these platforms for many reasons. Some are on it to connect with their audience for market research. Others want to provide alternative means of customer service. Some want to expand their audience and generate more leads. Maybe you want to get feedback from your clients or drive more web traffic. Why are you launching any campaign? Start there.

With that information, you can then gain value from your insights. For example, if your goal is to grow your audience, you can focus on your followers. Say you have 10,000 in month 1, then you can aim at 12,000 for month 2. That’s a goal. Now, think about what you want and use that as a goal.

Implementing a Strategy

What’s the best way to describe a business strategy? Well, it’s how you get from point A to point B. Your point A is where you are right now. For example, if you have 5,000 followers, that’s your point A. Let’s assume that you want to gain 15,000 followers by the end of month 2. That’s your point B – where you want to be. Now, your strategy is how you get to those 15,000 followers. 

  • Will you invest in paid ads? 
  • Will you engage an influencer? 
  • How about being consistent with your posts? 
  • Are you going to use surveys?

These are some of the strategies you could use to gain a bigger following. Keep in mind that strategies will differ based on the goals. That’s why you must have a starting point and a clear outcome.

Coming Up with a Content Creation Plan

You’ve figured out what you want and how you will get there. Now, it’s time to develop a plan for executing all of this. First, lean on the interests and needs of your target audience. What are they hoping to find? Say, for example, that they want a brand that’s educative on health matters. Then, the plan is to fill your page with interesting yet educational posts. You can use pictures, videos, interactive stories, and more. As long as you meet a need, you are doing your work.

That’s just an example. So, you can come up with a calendar on how often you will post and what. Also, do you have a theme for your page? Think about what speaks to the interests of the audience and implement this.

Automating Your Posts

A few years back, manual posting was the in-thing. So, you would have all your content laid out and log on to social media each time you wanted to post. Of course, this was time-consuming. It also meant that any lag in the system would result in delays on your side. Businesses missed out on being in the moment and often came off as inconsistent to their audience – not a good thing.

Now, it makes more sense to schedule your content ahead of time. Maybe you can plan out a week’s worth of content or even a month’s. Then add this to an automation tool, and you can sit back and let the tool do its work. Does that mean you won’t ever manually post anything? Not quite – when unplanned events occur, then you will step in and be in the moment. The goal is to automate repetitive tasks and focus on what needs immediate attention. It becomes more manageable to reply to comments.

Being Active

With automation helping you churn out content every day, you can focus on getting to know your audience. How do you do this? Allow people to tag you on posts so you can reshare this content. Comment on user posts and participate in conversations relevant to your brand. Don’t hold back on asking and answering questions, as this helps you get to know your audience even more.

What happens when you come across complaints? Take them in their stride and address them. Also, let your customers know that you appreciate them by offering them discounts. Just keep the conversation going so that you can build a community rather than just a brand. It makes a lot of difference because it prompts people to trust you.

Here’s another tip – keep the promotional content at a minimum. While it might seem odd to focus on getting to know your audience, stats show that this works. When people feel you are meeting their needs, they are more likely to buy into your products. So, use this principle to drive your marketing efforts. All the best!