Social Media has changed the way we do marketing. To keep up with the trends and enhance your performance, you need to consider learning how to use social media marketing tools.
A couple of days ago, I found myself reading a report on the influence of social media on marketing. I was about to add the findings to this article — about social media marketing tools — when I realized that the report was from 2016… It was published only two years ago, but the numbers in the report already stopped making any sense. I should have figured that out earlier since it promised Snapchat was going to be ‘the top social media marketing tools of the future.’ We all know it is never going to happen.
The SMM world moves forward jumping over its own head. In that hectic world, the question stands — how can you create something valuable when everything seems to lose its relevance within a week. The unapparent answer is — social media marketing tools.
Almost half of the world’s population is actively using social media, and the number increases with every day. But that is not all. According to the MIT Review, we spend around three and a half hours online every day. Almost 1/7 of every day. No wonder new media has so much value. Marketers need to be where people are, and now people are online.
As a result, marketers use social media to sell, rank in search results, support customers and build corporate cultures. It became an inevitable part of marketing. But without additional tools to help you navigate the surface, the chances that you are going to get lost are very high. If you are not using social media marketing tools, you are missing out on important information that could help you build a more compelling brand. In other words, SMM tools are what makes your social media campaign smart.
For that reason, our team at Digitec compiled a list of things you need to pay attention to if you want to keep up with the trends and social media marketing tools to help you get where you want.
First of all, you need to understand what your company is doing. It means understanding your audience, clients and knowing which platform to use to reach them. Long gone are days, when being present everywhere all the time guaranteed success. Now, it is not about the number of followers, but the quality of the audience. That is why when choosing the platforms you need to be reasonable.
– Buffer
As a social media manager, you probably know about it, but we needed to mention it. It is the go-to platform for social media management. You edit, schedule, and post your message in all the social networks using one click.
Likewise, paid and organic social media marketing do not contradict each other anymore. They go hand in hand and need to be used in combination to get the most out of your work. By adding paid promotions of your business to the list of your priorities, you can reach your targets twice as fast. Organic targeting and engagement are still important, and the paid promotions should not come at their expense. However, by not getting into advertisements you are losing potential clients.
– Facebook Power Editor
We can’t talk about paid promotions and not mention the inbuilt Facebook’s business tool. It is intuitive and in-depth. What else do you need from an advertising platform? Worth mentioning that all the main social media platforms already have something similar. In general, they are made to be easy to use, so try getting into them. It is a good use of your time.
Of course, you should take care of your analytics. It is where the gold and other gems of your social media marketing are hidden. SMM is not about doing things and expecting them to work; it is about being strategic and cautious. The data that you get can be used to analyze competitors, measure the performance of your campaigns, conduct research, and keep track of your brand’s popularity. Now almost everything generates data that can be measured and analyzed.
– Hootsuite
Again, an SMM tool that is used to manage your social media postings. What is great about it is that it gives in-depth data about your social performance. The interface takes some used to, but it is worth the effort.
Even though it is a buzzword that is getting through around a little too much if you want to build a compelling brand you should include them in your marketing plan. It should not be a large YouTuber with a million followers. You only need to reach out to the people that are relevant to your brand. If you do it right, influencers can connect you with many potential clients that you might have never learned about otherwise. Think of them as a medium within the medium.
– BuzzSumo
The place to go to learn about the trends in any industry. By knowing what is on everyone’s mind you will know which influencer you need to approach and why.
This might seem like something that you do not need to care about. But the tonal and visual consistency is very important to social media marketers. It is part of building the company’s brand and image, and you need to always be aware of what your visual content communicates. If you do not have a designer, there are plenty of user-friendly and intuitive tools that can help you do the work.
– Canva
One of the best graphics editing tools out there for people who have no idea how to graphic-design. It is simple, intuitive, and beautiful. Nobody will believe you have done the visuals yourself.
– Pagemodo
This one could have very well gone under the paid promotion headline, but we think its power is in how it allows you to be authentic to your brand. It is specific to Facebook and helps you edit, post, and analyze the data from ads in one place.
Finally, to keep up with the changes in the industry you need to constantly educate yourself. Social media marketing is relatively new. Even though many people have started getting a hold of it, it is still an unexplored island with countless possibilities. Fortunately, there are many ways to keep up, and you can choose a format you like. If you want something more in-depth, enroll in an online course or pick up a book. But if you prefer an on-the-go format, consider listening to podcasts and audiobooks, or reading a blog. If you like conversations, consider joining discussion groups on Reddit, or start following key influencers in the industry.
Podcast – The Social Media Examiner
It is one of the best social media podcasts out there and rightly so. It’s short, insightful, and effective.
Blog – HubSpot’s blog
You have probably heard about this blog — it is one of the most popular social media marketing blogs out there. If you want to stay on top of your game, you should be following it. Insightful news reports, useful collections, and analyses of the latest trends; with HubSpot’s blog you are getting all of it at once.
Book – “The Art of Social Media” by Guy Kawasaki & Peg Fitzpatrick
It is an excellent book that promotes the ideas we have discussed above. The main premise is that to get a quality social media presence, you need to get the basics right. It teaches exactly that.
There is one thing we can surely say about social media — it is changing extremely quickly. You can never predict what is going to happen even in a couple of months from now. It is like a game that gets more and more challenging as we go, but with a challenge comes the fun. One of the best ways to stay on top of your game is to blend creativity, knowledge with a deep understanding of your brand.
Our team cares about winning the social media game. We use top-notch social media marketing tools to make sure that you are meeting your goals, and making the most out of your efforts. You can take a look at what we have already done following this link. If you want to build a social media presence that is in sync with trends and authentic to your brand, contact us.
Ani Barseghyan
Armenuhi Ivanyan
Shaghik Gevorgyan
