Maximizing Social Media. November 8, 2017

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1 Maximizing Social Media November 8, 2017

2 What we ll cover today: State of Social in 2017: Challenges, Trends to Keep in Mind Tips for Refining Your Daily Social Process A Few Predictions for 2018

3 State of Social in 2017 If we re being honest, we: Are busy (ok, very busy) Wear many hats throughout the day Have budgets and ROI to adhere to Can be overwhelmed by marketing and the social space

4 State of Social in 2017 Social media is only becoming a more important part of the marketing mix and has to be a priority. 7/10 Americans now use social to connect, engage, share and entertain themselves. 75% of consumers say they use social as part of the buying process. As such, 56% of marketers will increase social media budgets for 2018.

5 *Social Media Examiner, 2015 State of Social in 2017 #FastFact: By spending as little as six hours per week, 66% of marketers see benefits such as lead generation from social media.*

6 State of Social in 2017 So, understanding how important social has become, how do you make sure it s used as effectively and efficiently as possible? Let s start by taking a look at several challenges and trends that should be on your radar.

7 State of Social in 2017: Challenges, Trends to Keep in Mind

8 State of Social in It s very crowded pick your presence wisely.

9 State of Social in Keep up with where your audiences are participating. Users bounce around. We have to adjust accordingly to engage them. The types of content users expect on certain channels can change also.

10 2017 Demographics at a Glance Facebook: Perfect platform to reach a wide array of users: heavy in Millennials and Generation X (18-to-34 year olds) Instagram: 90% are under 35 fastest growing (53% follow brands) Twitter: Mostly 18- to-29 year olds (53% never post, just stalk)

11 2017 Demographics at a Glance YouTube: Reaches more 18-to-34 year olds and 35-to-49 year olds than any cable network (!) Pinterest: Even mix of 18-to-64 year olds Snapchat: 85% of Snap s daily users are between 18-to-34 features are getting cannibalized by other channels

12 State of Social in You ll need to pay to play. Organic reach continues to decline rapidly. In 2007, nearly all fans saw organic posts in their Facebook feeds today it s almost nonexistent.

13 State of Social in 2017 So what does this mean for marketers? If you want reach, you have to spend $.

14 State of Social in Be aware of algorithms and what it takes to garner reach on certain channels. Social channels exist upon keeping users engaged and showing them content they think they d like. An algorithm is a formula used by social channels to help rank content in the feed. Channels like Facebook and Instagram rank content for users based on history and the likelihood that they will engage with it.

15 State of Social in 2017 The bottom line on algorithms for marketers? Brands must produce their best content in order to garner reach. The better the content, the more engagement it gets. The more engagement it gets, the more reach it ll get.

16 State of Social in Think outside the Likes and Follows box. Metrics such as Page Likes can be superficial and hollow. With organic reach challenges, pay closer attention to user action such as Shares and Retweets to further reach. Instead of community building as your KPI, think action. (Metrics that can circle back to ROI or business goals like a click to a website.)

17 State of Social in Social advertising is becoming much smarter use it to your advantage. Place by objective across multiple channels and utilize a wealth of targeting that s constantly evolving: Interests, behavior, age, accounts followed, conversation, location, etc. Custom Audiences: target your database, visitors who have been to your site/watched a social video, etc. Use this data to target audiences with additional messages Create lookalikes based on these audiences

18 State of Social in 2017 Ways marketers can make their ad campaigns smarter: Segment audiences and speak to them with appropriate messaging e.g., males vs. females. Social is nimble: Test, learn and, optimize. Use UTM codes and pixels to track the user s path. Spread dollars to different channels adjust accordingly per performance.

19 State of Social in 2017 Be clear with calls to action. Users get distracted. Best practice: get creative with each channel s native features.

20 State of Social in 2017 Ad trends to watch: Vertical video ads placed in Instagram Stories Snapchat ads are now available to small advertisers :06 YouTube Bumper spots

21 State of Social in 2017 Twitter Conversation Card ad units engages users in a more organic way and helps amplify messaging

22 State of Social in Content and user expectations are shifting. You must shift with them.

23 Where is content headed? VIDEO! Create thumb-stoppers to cut through the noise. Online videos will account for more than 80% of all consumer internet traffic by Visual content is 40x more likely to get shared on social. Over 100 million hours of video are watched on Facebook each day, and 500 million on YouTube.

24 Live video and disappearing content. Don t be afraid to use it followers expect it now. Allows brands to not be perfect, live in the moment and come off as more approachable Don t be scared of video content that doesn t have a high production value users don t mind Give VIP/behind-the-scenes access, allow users to ask questions

25 New feature: Instagram Story polls fun and easy way to engage and create dialogue

26 Filters. They aren t just for dog faces. Custom face filters on Snapchat aren t cheap (starting at 750K) Marketers can use cost-effective custom event geo-filters to garner awareness

27 Influencer marketing. 84% of marketers in 2017 earmarked dollars for influencer campaigns and it s only going to increase. Bloggers and celebrities with larger followings can make anywhere from $250 to $1 million to post about your brand Efficient way for brands to circumvent algorithm challenges and put content in a more lifestyle-focused, organic atmosphere. Tools like TapFluence can be used to pick influencers on the fly, or you can ask them to apply.

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29 Spontaneous and personalized content. It will sometimes take you farther than a scheduled post will. (Hello,#NuggsForCarter!) An easy Twitter reply resulted in millions of Retweets and impressions in media coverage for Wendy s and other brands jumped in also. Moral of the story? Have fun. Be human. Push your brand voice.

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31 User-generated content. It s free, why not? Encourage users to share brand content with specific hashtags and reward them by sharing on social or posting to your website. Helps create brand cheerleaders and yields more engagement.

32 More customer service centric: users now expect even faster responses from brands on social channels. Customer service interactions have increased by 250% on Twitter in last two years. 32% of users expect a response back within 30 minutes, and 42% within the hour but brands are taking an average of 10 hours to reply back (if at all). Study found that retailers are only responding to 19% of questions. Answering a social complaint can increase customer advocacy by as much as 25%.

33 Social media has also become the medium of choice during a crisis or natural disaster it s important for brands to have a plan in place before it happens.

34 New trend: chat bots can help marketers cut down on feedback by engaging users through DM.

35 #ProTips for Refining Your Daily Social Process

36 Strategic Planning Channel Branding Strategic Content Planning Ramey Social Media Process Channel Monitoring Community Messaging & Management Growing the Following/ Promotion

37 Refinement #ProTips I. Content Planning and Messaging Consistency and frequency are key to engagement and community building Plan ahead 1-2 weeks ahead of time if possible: use an editorial calendar for base content Spontaneous timely content can be layered in Check trends/observances daily to join conversations Use Google Docs to share with larger teams Scheduling tools are your friend Sprout Social Avoid over promotion, use a ratio of 3:1 shared vs. promotional

38 Refinement #ProTips Although easy, avoid placing same content on all channels test and learn Remember when creating content, it s about them not you Use UGC to your benefit; explore native channel features Post outside of work hours: use Insights to inform posting strategies

39 Refinement #ProTips II. Community Management Set aside time in AM and PM to review feedback allow for a maximum window of 24 hours for a response Don t just monitor make conversation, share customer feedback to strengthen connective tissue Don t ignore negative comments responding can increase advocacy by 20%

40 Refinement #ProTips Put a response plan in place for negative comments identify scenarios and use a Google Doc to house canned responses Create community guidelines regarding what you will/won t tolerate and be unapologetic Use customer feedback as a focus group it s a good thing! Can help your entire organization improve your product or strategy Use free tools like Google Alerts and Social Mention monitor chatter and sentiment

41 Refinement #ProTips III. Channel Promotion Promote your channels on an ongoing basis to increase awareness, meet business goals and help grow your community. Organic Promotion: connect and interact with targets manually to increase awareness 3x per week

42 Refinement #ProTips Paid Promotion a must in 2017 Secure budgets for ongoing ad units especially on channels with reach issues like Facebook (can spend as little as $20/day and be effective) Make sure budgets will be effective against audience sizes Watch frequency Look at data to inform strategy adjust as you go

43 Refinement #ProTips IV. Channel Monitoring Hit the data high points: Content performance (clicks, Likes, comments, engagement rates) Message reach (users reached, content shares) Audience demographics (age, gender, geography, interests) Account analytics (community growth, traffic sources) Before planning content, check in with your data to see what is/ is not working and adjust Spread the good news: share monthly reports with team to show performance against business goals

44 Where is Social Headed? A Few Predictions for 2018

45 2018 Trends to Watch 1. Short lived content will yield the best engagement rates. 2. Snapchat will take a serious look at itself. 3. Content that engages audiences on a personal level will be liked the most. 4. Chat bots will help brands win the game. 5. Live streaming and interactive broadcasting will become more important and perhaps overtake some cable news outlets. 6. Channels will begin to incorporate functionality like augmented reality.

46 THANK YOU.