For a variety of reasons, social media is a distinctive marketing tool. What other means of communication allow for lighthearted banter with clients, prompt resolution of customer service issues, or jokes about a marketing campaign where your mascot was killed and then resurrected as a baby peanut?
Digital marketing opportunities on socialmedia are like the wild west.
The speed at which socialMedia changes makes it special as well.
People were immediately enamoured with the ability to quickly communicate with others when Twitter was founded in 2006. Within a decade, quick responses were no longer novel; they were expected. 13% of American consumers expect brands to respond within an hour of social media contact, according to the 2022 Sprout Social IndexTM.
SocialMedia is still evolving quickly today. While some platforms are consolidated, others are replaced. New features are constantly added to keep users interested and entertained, and once-loved platforms can lose their appeal (RIP Vine).
The quick-paced nature of these platforms is both exciting and difficult for social media marketers. It’s imperative to keep up with changes as they occur if you want to stay relevant on socialMedia.
One way to stay on top of change is to read industry blogs. The following are some of our favorites:
1.Social Media Examiner.
Although Michael Stelzner was unfamiliar with social media in 2009 and how it operated, he was aware of its potential as a tool for raising brand awareness and fostering business expansion. That year, he founded SocialMedia Examiner in an effort to teach businesses how to harness this power.
According to the website, SocialMedia Examiner has informed more than 93 million readers and has 430,000 email subscribers today. It also hosts the biggest socialMedia marketing conference in the world and has a number of popular shows, including podcasts and talk shows.
A valuable feature of SocialMedia Examiner is the annual SocialMedia Marketing Industry Report, which provides insight into how companies and individuals use socialMedia and how these platforms are evolving.
Did you know that 1 in 4 digital marketers prefer looping short-form video? Or that 47% of social media marketers want to learn more about using TikTok for business (even though corporate adoption is slow)? Even with declining numbers, Facebook still dominates socialMedia platforms?
All these industry facts and more can be found in their free report.
2, Sprout Social
It should come as no surprise that Sprout Social, one of the top social media management tools on the market, has experience with social media marketing. Through their own blog and socialMedia platforms, they impart their knowledge.
By consistently using Twitter hashtags to interact with followers, Sprout Social shows that they are aware of the potential that interactive activities have on socialmedia.
Sprout Social not only tweets industry expertise, advice, and success stories, but also keeps up with digital trends to keep followers engaged. Sprout Social held a live online event where readers could ask the lead researcher Dr. Mike Blight any questions they might have following the release of The Sprout Social Index, which included socialmedia marketing trends for 2022 and beyond.
The #AMA (ask me anything) hashtag, which first became popular on Reddit and has since become a staple social media tool for user insight, was used by Sprout Social to promote its event via Twitter in the social media post mentioned above.
These kinds of Twitter interactions are helpful for uniting opinions and enabling marketing professionals to share knowledge on a channel they are familiar with.
3.Buffer Blog.
Buffer is a useful tool for scheduling social media posts that includes reports, analytics, and a browser extension. It is easy to use and compatible with all major social media platforms, excluding Pinterest (which is not available in the free version).
The Buffer blog delves a little bit deeper into how businesses and other organisations can make the most of social platforms while still assisting individuals and organisations with managing the timing of their social media posts.
Mike Eckstein, a product marketer at Buffer, discusses the significance of creating engaging socialmedia posts in one blog post. Without engagement, there is no opportunity for growth, learning, or interaction between the audience and the brand. Eckstein noted that many companies aren’t quite achieving this, though.
He cited a Sprout Social survey that revealed that the typical business posts 23 promotional messages for every reply it sends to followers. That’s not a conversation; that’s a sales pitch, and neither of those things constitute successful social media marketing.
4.Social Media Explorer,
The first thing Social Media Explorer does is get to work. The Tork Media consulting firm powers the social media blog, and the authors are socialmedia marketers who speak specifically to other marketers. Their writing is succinct, sweet, and full of sound advice.
Consider a recent article by Tork Media owner Adam Torkildson about developing compelling social media marketing campaigns. He immediately emphasises the value of increasing social media engagement to draw in repeat customers. He then moves on to the crucial tactics and developments that, from enhancing response times to following the most recent social media trends, can make your social networking campaigns successful.
He provides specifics on how, and more importantly, why, each social media and content marketing strategy tip works to raise overall engagement rates.
5.Peg Fitzpatrick,
Beginning modestly enough, Peg Fitzpatrick’s website introduces herself as “… just a small town girl living in a lonely [digital] world.” Similar to you, I started out with no followers and am still learning.
But Fitzpatrick has established a solid reputation as a social media strategy guru, particularly among bloggers. Her knowledge has spread throughout the internet, and she still motivates her audience with the most recent free marketing resources and guides on her social media blog.
She thoroughly explains how to blog, master hashtags, and recently added 50 calls to action to motivate any digital marketer! Fitzpatrick also shares social media news and business insights on her YouTube channel. She recently detailed Instagram marketing trends for 2022 in detail.
