Rethinking Social Media Strategy

A few weeks ago, Mark Zuckerberg made a platform-changing announcement regarding the ranking system for Facebook. The newsfeed algorithm will now be even more selective of the content we see on a day-to-day basis. Facebook is concerned about the clutter of posts from pages and is determined to make the platform more purposeful to everyday users. Content from Facebook Pages will be ranked lower, appearing less often in the newsfeed, to give users the opportunity to see what is most important to them, from friends and family.

Cue the end of the world as we know it for Facebook content marketing and organic reach, right? Not quite. At Strategic America, we are calm and collected in the face of this new change and have insights to help you understand how these changes could impact your business and more importantly, how to revisit and restructure your current strategy to ensure your social media efforts are effective.

In our experience, relying on organic reach alone, to promote your business, spread awareness or share content should never be an option in our books. A top-notch social media strategy which aligns with your business’s key performance indicators (KPI’s) and goals will include both paid and organic strategies. As marketers, we have become complacent on social platforms, using the free space to advertise our businesses, forgetting these channels continue to evolve with their own goals in mind.

If your current social media strategy doesn’t identify processes to engage with users through paid and organic campaigns, here are some best practices to streamline social media marketing for top results.

Paid Content – Paid advertising is essential in increasing the reach of your content to build your social audiences. Through paid methods, your business can attract custom audiences depending on your target and objectives. Advertising on social media is great, because it’s scalable to meet any budget.

Organic Content – Consistency and frequency is crucial to maintaining a social audience and to stay relevant as a thought leader in your industry. Steady organic content encourages your audience to stay up-to-date with your business. As your audience becomes comfortable with your valuable content, engagement increases. Even with the latest changes to Facebook’s ranking system, your posts will be ranked higher and show in the newsfeeds for users who engage with your content.

Because organic content remains a critical component to any successful social media strategy, the following steps will help implement high-quality content.

1. Refocus on your audience: Social media has taught marketers to be reactive and we forget to be proactive and purposeful in creating content our audiences will find valuable. Are you posting just to post? Maybe it’s time to reevaluate the audiences your business wants to reach, and then research what those users are most interested in. Strive for authenticity and your content will garner genuine interactions and a community of users who value your business.
2. Incorporate more video: We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: video is the most consumed content on social media. Facebook even prioritizes video to other content when ranking in the newsfeed. Don’t be intimidated by producing videos either. You can get by with a smartphone and simple editing tools until you’re comfortable creating a higher-quality product or can budget for professional material.
3. Listen: Investing in a great social listening tool can help your business better understand conversations happening around your brand. This knowledge will enhance your content and interaction with your social audiences. After all, social media is all about building relationships.

Good luck and happy posting!