6 Must-Know Social Media Marketing Concepts

Achieving consistent success in social media marketing can feel, at times, like trying to hit a moving target. What works one month may not work the next month, and the methods one organization uses to drive follower growth and realize conversions may not be effective for another organization. Expensive software programs, trendy marketing gimmicks, and loophole-like social tactics are often touted as a solution to the ever-evolving social media challenge; however, these fly-by-the-night approaches often leave organizations with unsustainable results.  

Social media can be a confusing marketing medium for even the most innovative and tech-savvy teams, largely due to the fact that social media is always changing. Many of the changes that influence social media, like algorithm updates and user preferences, are outside the marketing manager's control. Instead of setting a rigid, long-term social media marketing strategy, modern marketing teams must prioritize the development of a responsive social media presence that’s customized to the organization’s goals, the organization's resources, and the organization's target audience. Implementation of an agile, data-oriented approach is key to sustainable social media success.

While social media is always changing, there are a few social media marketing-specific concepts that stay (relatively) the same, regardless of the tech world’s latest app and user trends. Acknowledging these social media marketing concepts can help today’s busy organizational leaders stay oriented towards brand relevance and the cultivation of long-term relationships. 

Here are six must-know social media marketing concepts for nonprofit organizations:

 Engagement is a good thing.

When it comes to social media, engagement is always the goal. This marketing concept is true across all social media platforms. Generating engagement - user actions such as Likes, comments, shares/retweets, etc. - on social media content helps expand the post’s reach which means it will be shown to more people. While it’s easy to get lost in the technical side of social media, it’s important to remember that good social media is always social - it starts conversations, builds relationships, and fosters community. Engagement is one way that organizations can measure their social ranking across all platforms. 

A multi-platform social media presence is best.

Just being on one social media app won’t cut it for most organizations, as such an approach will greatly limit the organization's target market reach. Different social media apps have different user demographics. For example: Pinterest is currently dominated by female users, while YouTube is predominantly male in its active user base. Incorporating a multi-platform social media presence can help organizations reach more of their target audience by meeting potential supporters on the social media platforms that they frequent. When reviewing social media channels to prioritize, organizations should research the app’s user demographics and compare this data with the demographics of their target audience(s). The goal of all marketing strategies is to meet potential customers where they are, and today’s consumers are on multiple social media apps. 

Social media is all about connections.

While social media marketing objectives typically focus on follower numbers and conversions, an often-overlooked and incredibly important social media concept is the idea of connections. Social media provides organizations an awesome opportunity to connect with community members in a unique and personable manner through responsive engagement. One easy-to-implement connections-focused strategy is for brands to tag organizations and people when relevant (at an event, donating to organizations, etc.). This type of social-proofing engagement provides evidence of organizational relationships and connections that have the potential to positively contribute to the organization's brand reputation. 

Media-rich posts tend to perform better than text-only posts.

The majority of text-only social media posts are boring and do not consistently perform well on social media channels. Today’s digital world is increasingly prioritizing immersive user experiences - experiences that are best facilitated through the use of a variety of media components including engaging video and interesting graphics. While there are some exceptions to this social media marketing concept, media-rich posts that include videos or images tend to experience a large reach than posts that are limited to just text or a link. When reviewing content to post online, consider ways that you can enhance the post through the addition of media-rich content, like a supplemental video, a corresponding graphic, an app-facilitated poll, or even an eye-catching GIF. 

Social media is all about the user and their experience.

Social media content must resonate with the target audience, as social media is all about the user and their experience. Just posting what you like or think is funny won’t cut it when it comes to managing a nonprofit’s social media channels. An effective strategy offers value that goes beyond mere information broadcasting; instead, it educates, inspires, and connects with the user and their life. When evaluating content for social media posting, social media managers should ask themselves, “Does this content apply to the user’s life and make it better?”. If the answer is “No,” revise the content to be more user-focused. The same key messages can be communicated, just in a more-user focused, and thus, effective manner. 

Successful social media rarely happens overnight - it’s a process.

One of the most important social media marketing concepts is to realize that successful social media rarely happens overnight - it’s a process that requires consistent engagement, brand-relevant content, and a responsive strategy that allows the organization to customize its social media efforts to the always-evolving needs and demands of their target audience. While going viral may seem like a quick fix to a brand’s lagging social media efforts, going viral should rarely be a communications goal. While having a post go viral can (sometimes) be a positive thing, consistent engagement on an organization’s social media platforms may be much more fruitful in the long run. Viral content often snowballs at an incredibly fast rate, which can result in an avalanche of unproductive and negative interaction that does not enhance the organization's mission or objectives. 

Does your organization’s social media marketing strategy incorporate these concepts?

Developing an effective social media strategy can be challenging for even the most innovative of organizations. Recognizing and implementing evergreen social media marketing concepts that will not diminish in effectiveness with the latest social media app change or new consumer trend can help position future-focused organizations for sustainable social media success. 

If you would like additional information on how social media can help your organization reach its development goals, contact Becker Digital to schedule a Discovery Call. We specialize in helping mission-driven organizations connect with their communities through customized digital strategies. Also, learn more about social media marketing in our webinar, Building Community Connections Through Social Media

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