Quick Read

 

Social media marketing leverages various platforms like Facebook(now Meta), Instagram, X (Formerly Twitter), and YouTube to perform promotional activities about a company’s product offerings. Using a combination of effective social media marketing strategies can help build a stronger customer base.

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Social media marketing has become an integral part of any brand’s digital strategy, enabling businesses to connect with their target audience, build brand loyalty, and drive conversions. Before exploring the best strategies, it’s crucial to understand what social media marketing truly involves and how it serves as the foundation for effective campaigns that deliver measurable results.

Before we delve into the best social media marketing strategies, we must discuss what social media marketing is. How will you make great plans and strategies for social media if you don’t know what social media marketing entails?

PS: Those interested in mastering social media and wanting to understand digital marketing components must consider pursuing an MBA in digital marketing.

What is Social Media Marketing?

Source: Google

Social media marketing is promoting your brand using social media platforms. But it’s not just that. Social media marketing is about understanding the right target audience for your brand, making content relevant to the brand interests the target audience, and driving engagement to the brand pages. A good strategy of social media marketing is only possible if you maintain the above guidelines on the social handles of your brand.

Before we dive deeper into how each industry can use effective social media marketing strategies to take their social media game a notch above, let’s talk about how you can set up your social media strategy and make a full-fledged marketing plan for social media in a general sense:

1. Set up a Marketing Plan First

Making a plan is the first and foremost step of every mission, and then the research follows through.

In this case, your research will be related to the content. However, chances are that you will fail if you do not have a marketing plan for your social media. Consider what your brand expects from its social media presence.

For example, your primary goal is brand awareness. In such a case, you will use different social media marketing strategies, which involve making engaging posts, content formats, and copies for your social media to make people like and remember your brand.

2. Research Your Target Audience and Set a Primary Content Format

If your target audience (Specific group of potential customers) includes millennials, most of your content will be based on memes and trendy topics, but if your target audience is Gen Z, your content must be more mindful and woke.

Similarly, if your target audience is primarily children, then you will focus on mothers as well, and accordingly, you will decide on your social media platform and copy formats. For example, many mothers like to see engaging videos in Instagram reel format as well as on local apps like ShareChat.

The above examples were just to make you understand that based on your target audience; a business will have to create different social media marketing strategies that they can resonate with.

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3. Understand Your Competitors and Pre-Plan Your Content

Understand what type of content they post on social media, whether it is topical, informational, or promotional. Also, analyse which content works best for them and pre-plan your content accordingly.

This may take a while, but once you get the hang of pre-planning your content, your social media calendar and the content will run smoothly. As a result of this, you can create effective social media marketing strategies tailored to your audience.

4. Divide Your Content Into Buckets

Informational, entertaining, and emotional are some bucket types of content. Dividing your content into these buckets can help you understand your audience and measure your goals.

For example, if you want lead generation, you might focus more on promotion, while if you want more impressions, you might focus more on topical and entertainment.

Your content can always be a mix of more than two buckets and hence needs to be tailored to different types of social media marketing strategies.

An array of AI tools like ChatGPT can help to make and divide your content into different buckets provided you know how to give the right prompt. Attend our free ChatGPT course to smoothen your process now.

5. Always Experiment

Analysing what your target audience likes is important, but experimenting with content to attract new followers is also important.

Your social media marketing strategy should be designed in a way that the content on all your social media handles should strike a perfect balance between the most liked content and the experimental content.

What Is a Social Media Plan and Strategy?

A social media marketing strategy or plan is like a blueprint or a detailed summary of your social media goals and how you will achieve them.

A well-thought-through plan will enable you to increase conversions and drive traffic to your website as well. There are many social media marketing plans. One should do their research before picking one.

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Benefits of Using Various Strategies of Social Media Marketing

Now that you have a solid grasp on the concept of social media marketing, let us now understand how leveraging these platforms as a part of your social media marketing strategy can reap profits for your business.

1. It Humanises Your Business

Using social media platforms in order to upload posts and interact with your customers helps people to get familiar with your content and business.

Remembering the objectives behind a social media marketing strategy will help in creating an approachable persona that will help your audience connect with and eventually trust your business.

2. Drive Traffic

As a part of your social media marketing strategy, the links you paste on your social media posts or your profile help to drive traffic to your website. Users may like your post, click on the link, and browse your product, after which they may eventually convert into your customers.

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3. It Facilitates lead generation

Incorporating important features like Meta/Instagram shops, direct messages, a CTA(call to action) button on the profile, etc., in your social media marketing strategy will help you generate leads directly on these social media platforms.

4. Helps to Raise Brand Awareness

Using visuals helps you register your content more easily in the minds of your target audience than text.

Also, with the aid of effective social media marketing strategies, a company can reach people who don’t search for your content or product on search engines. These efforts facilitate raising brand awareness

5. Facilitates Relation-Building

Connecting with your audience directly on social media by holding live discussions, collecting feedback, catering to their queries, etc., will help them feel valuable. This will help instil a sense of confidence in the minds of your audience that will eventually develop into a good customer-business relationship.

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How to Create Your Own Social Media Marketing Plan

You can only benefit from mentioned above provided you create a perfect social media marketing plan to execute your campaign:

1. Select Your Platform

You will need to select which platform will suit best for your business. Depending on your business or product, the social media platform that you employ to run promotional campaigns will vary accordingly.

You can always start by employing one platform as a part of your social media marketing strategy and eventually move on to other platforms when you can effectively handle your campaigns on other platforms.

Source: buffer

2. Define your Goals and Objectives

You should set realistic goals as to how many posts you should upload in a day, the frequency of posts, etc., depending on the objective of your campaign.

You can also check your competitor’s social media marketing strategies and see how they interact with their audience. This will help you adjust your social media calendar accordingly.

Speaking of social media, Instagram is one renowned social media platform that everyone is aware of. Instagram, as a marketing tool, has a lot to offer, which many marketers are not aware of. Check out our free Instagram marketing course to explore the intricacies of this platform now!

3. Track Performance and Make Changes

You should continuously monitor the performance of your social media campaigns and check if your audience is engaging with your posts, generating traffic, driving leads, etc.

Check how far this campaign has met your targets. In the event of any discrepancy, check the areas responsible for not meeting your target and make adjustments in your social media marketing strategies accordingly.

Social Media Marketing Strategies for Small and Large Businesses

In today’s world, only having a social media page without any direction is almost pointless. Let’s have a look at how you can leverage social media by having a strategy in place for both small and large businesses

There are many social media marketing strategy templates available out there for small businesses. You can pick and choose the right tactics to help your business grow. Let’s have a look at some of the most effective social media marketing strategies –

1. Set Objectives

The first step before creating any social media marketing strategy is to set clear goals. What is it that you’re trying to achieve? Some common goals include an increase in conversions, brand visibility, etc.

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2. Start With a Plan

Once you’ve identified the goals and objectives you might want to incorporate into your social media marketing strategies, the next step is developing a brief plan.

3. Competitor Research

Competitor research is what your competitors are doing. How are they getting it right? You will get a good sense of what people are doing and how you can apply it to your strategy.

4. Social Media Audit

If you already have a social media page, identify what kind of content is working for you and what isn’t. Know more about how to conduct a content audit.

You can do so through web analytics like Google Analytics. If you’re new to web analytics, check out this online Google Analytics course.

5. Social Media Calendar

The next step is to create a social media calendar. A content calendar will also give you direction to create your social media marketing strategy and help Identify any special days.

6. Use Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is a great way to spread the word about your small business to increase visibility and credibility. It so must be a part of your social media marketing strategy.

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7. Know Who Your Audience Is

Understand who your target audience is and what are they looking for. You can understand this better through social media analytics.

8. Expand Your Audience

Once you’ve identified your target audience, start looking for ways to make effective social media marketing strategies to expand it to reach a bigger audience further.

9. Get Networking

Reach out to bigger businesses or other entrepreneurs in related fields for collaborations.

10. Online Reputation Management

Online reputation management is critical. How the brand is perceived by the audience can make or break your small business.

A social media marketing strategy plays an important role in building a brand’s reputation; any wrong strategies can adversely affect a brand’s image.

To understand this better, we recommend you study big giants’ social media marketing strategies that have helped build a strong ORM. Hence, you should read these blogs on the marketing strategy of Nivea and Honda marketing strategy.

11. Use Chatbots

Artificial intelligence has made tremendous contributions to digital marketing. The chatbot is here to stay. It can communicate and resolve consumer problems with ease.

If you are interested in learning about how businesses leverage AI to communicate with your customers then I would recommend you to check out our blog on artificial intelligence and digital marketing.

12. Create a Personalised Experience

Leverage various platforms as part of your social media marketing strategy to send out personalised communication to your customers. Email marketing is a great digital marketing channel for doing so. Check this course on email marketing out to know more.

13. Quality Content

Your content must be relatable, impactful, and have a solid connection with the audience. It is important to have authentic content as well.

14. Invest in SEO

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is a significant factor in digital marketing. You need to be able to attract an organic audience and it also contributes to brand credibility.

You must target the right keywords for your SEO efforts to reap results. To target the keywords, you will have to conduct keyword research.

This will help you rank higher for these keywords on SERP (Search Engine Results Page) and will help users come across your page more easily for those keywords.

15. Create a Community

As part of social media marketing strategy, it is essential to create a community with your followers. This will give your brand a humanistic approach.

Engage with your audience by asking questions, offering compliments, and joining conversations. Show genuine interest in their lives and opinions. Make sure this is done nicely – do not impose on their privacy.

16. Hold Live Sessions

Holding live sessions engages the audience. Invite industry-relevant guest speakers and opinion leaders to attract a large audience.

17. Use Video Content

Video content is a useful tool that should be employed in your social media marketing strategy. Create engaging videos that showcase your products, services, or behind-the-scenes footage of your business.

Platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok are excellent for reaching a broad audience through compelling visual content.

18. Run Social Media Contests

Hosting contests on social media can significantly boost engagement and expand your audience. Encourage followers to participate by providing incentives if they like, share, or comment on your posts. Offer attractive prizes to increase participation and create buzz around your brand.

19. Utilise Social Media Advertising

Investing in advertising is essential to a company’s social media marketing strategy to reach a targeted audience quickly.

Platforms like Meta, Instagram, and LinkedIn offer advanced targeting options to help you reach potential customers based on demographics, interests, and behaviours. Paid ads can drive traffic, increase brand visibility, and generate leads efficiently.

Bonus tip: If you are considering enrolling in a digital marketing course, check out our list of the top 10 Best Digital Marketing Courses with Placements, which can provide valuable insights and educational options.

Social Media Marketing Strategies for Doctors

Source: Google

(Dr. Siddhant Bhargava- A doctor and a social media influencer)

Here’s a list of some good social media marketing strategies for doctors –

• Identify your target audience – Understand your audience demographics. Their age, what they want to know about the healthcare sector, etc. Your best source of information is your patients. Talk to them about it, and if they seem inquisitive, ask them to follow your account.
• Content is key – Create content based on different social media marketing strategies relevant to your target audience. Publish regularly. It’ll help build a relationship with your followers.
• Pick the right platforms – Understand which platform is more popular amongst your target audience.
• Helpful information – Share useful information, tips, and things that are interesting enough to be shared.
• Keep it short – Based on your social media marketing strategy, keep your content brief and not too long. Keep it pictorial, if possible, and communicate through the visual.
• Do not overdo it – Link your contact number in your profile. Do not sell your services in every post; it is a vast social media put-off.
• SEO – Add SEO keywords to your content to make it SEO-rich. You can also add a blog to your website and boost your SEO.
• Cross-promote – Cross-promote your communication on different channels by adding your blog link to your social media.

Before creating any sought-after marketing strategy, particularly for social media, one must have a strong grasp of the company’s business structure. Check out this blog on Business Model of Zomato to better understand this concept.

Social Media Marketing Strategies for E-commerce Stores

We’ve listed some of the best social media marketing strategies for E-commerce stores out there –

• Display brand personality – Social media is a great way to display your brand personality. Is your brand luxurious? Is it fun and playful? You can create content and visuals that convey your brand personality to your target audience.
• Collaborate with brands – As part of social media marketing strategy, brand collaborations boost visibility as their followers are exposed to your brand. If the brand is trusted and well-known, it is a big win.
• Influencer marketing – Since most Gen Zers and millennials use social media to seek information, reach out to an influencer to form a connection with them. Read more about how to connect with Gen Z here.
• Promotional Offers – Communicate promotional offers on your social media. Since it is easily sharable, people can spread the word easily.
• Short format videos – Invest in short format videos on social media. They have good engagement.

If you are interested in gaining an in-depth understanding of social media marketing strategies with the help of an example, then you must read our blog, Analysis of Amazon’s Digital Marketing Strategies, to understand and implement these strategies for your online e-commerce store.

Social Media Marketing Strategies for Healthcare

Turning to social media is an excellent way for the healthcare industry to stay connected with its patients and other related industries. Here are some top social media marketing strategies for the healthcare sector –

• Include common queries – Include common queries in your communication. These could be related to any ailment. Ask expert doctors to answer these questions.
• Provide health information – Provide valuable health information in a simple manner, in layman’s terms. Do not complicate it.
• Create trends – One of the best social media marketing strategies is to create health trends. Break the stigma attached to many ailments. For example, Cipla’s Breathe Free campaign is an example of how they tried to normalise and break the stigma attached to asthma by leveraging social media.
• Include CSR – Cover any CSR activities on your social media. CSR can be one of the best social media strategies to help build a positive image for your brand.
• SEO – Add SEO keywords to your social media as well. Include more searched keywords and phrases in your communication, hashtags, profile information, etc.

Social Media Marketing Strategies for Restaurants

Here is a list of some effective social media marketing strategies for restaurants we thought you’d like to have a look at –

• Perfect your website – It is essential to keep updating it. One should be able to navigate it easily. It must also be mobile responsive as more than 50% of users use their smartphones for information. Check this online WordPress course to learn how to make a website.
• Focus on SEO – Invest in local SEO. This will help people know about your restaurant locally and internationally as well. For example, if your restaurant serves Italian food in Mumbai, focus on long-tail keywords like Italian restaurants in Mumbai. So when a person looks for Italian food in Mumbai, your restaurant will show up.
• Increase Followers – As part of the social media marketing strategy, the company must focus on increasing the number of followers. Post regularly and post good content.
• UGC content – User-generated content is a big hit in restaurants. Request your customers to share their experience and post it on your page with their permission. Reviews are a great way of building your brand.
• Visually appealing content – Your images need to look very attractive. Write catchy captions as well. Invest in a good photographer to take good images of the ambience and the food.
• Increase engagement – The main aim behind the creation of any social media marketing strategy is to create and increase engagement through competitions, free giveaways like dinner nights, and live sessions.

Do you find this article insightful? Check out our other digital marketing blogs now!

Social Media Marketing Strategies for B2B

Here’s a list of the best social media marketing strategies for a B2B business –

• Paid media to target buyers – Use paid media in your social media marketing strategy to target potential buyers. See how you can use Google Ads for this here.
• Influencer marketing – Keeping in line with the objectives of social media marketing strategies, the company needs to leverage influencers relevant to their industry to spread the word if their industry has a niche and is very tight-knit, even better.
• Focus on conversions – Your communication needs to focus more on conversions and the consumer buying stages.
• Focus on customer support – Be quick in answering queries and any concerns. Online reputation management is key. Check this short online reputation management course out to know how to go about it.
• Follow trends – If your industry has a trend, leverage it quickly.

Best Social Media Marketing Strategies Examples

We have listed some interesting social media marketing strategy examples below –

1. Netflix India

Source: Google

The social media marketing strategy of Netflix has a unique way of using memes for its various social media platforms. The content is fun, engaging, and appealing to its target audience. The engagement is always high, and since it is relatable, timely, and relevant, it is consumed easily.

Netflix created a fun Instagram post where they showed what their famous characters’ Instagram profiles look like. Have a look at the image above.

2. Sabyasachi

Source: Google

Sabyasachi, an Indian luxury designer label, is a great example of a well-implemented social media marketing strategy. Whenever a new launch occurs, the designer label creates hype through influencers and opinion leaders. The brand makes every new launch feel like a story appealing to the audience’s aspirational factor.

For example, the H&M x Sabyasachi collaboration you see in the image above.

3. Zomato

Source: Google

Zomato’s social media marketing strategy comprises contests and high audience engagement. Their social media strategy makes the best use of moment marketing. As you can see in the image, Zomato celebrated the 2019 election win on social media.

4. Durex India

Source: Google

Durex India’s content has always been smart and witty. As they say, content is king. They have included various sexual innuendos in their social media marketing strategies whilst also keeping it subtle and not out there.

Durex even congratulated Vicky and Katrina for their wedding in a quirky post.

If you find this interesting, check out these top case studies as well!

Template for Social Media Marketing Strategies

Here’s a standardised template for social media marketing strategies that you can refer to

• Identify your goals and target audience.
• Understand your competitors before planning and strategising.
• Conduct a social media audit to know what has worked for you.
• Create a social media content calendar to schedule tasks and posting times for your social media.
• Set up brand profiles on various social media platforms once you have 2 weeks’ content bank ready to post.
• Consistency is the key to success on social media platforms as it is algorithm-friendly.

Track, analyse, and report the running strategies to determine what works for you.

Conclusion

We hope you enjoyed reading our blog. Tell us in the comments below which strategy worked the best for you!

This online digital marketing course is a good option if you’re looking for a comprehensive digital marketing course.

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Get in touch with IIDE’s senior academic counsellor at admissions@iide.co or +91 9619958615, and they will answer all your doubts regarding digital marketing.