214.494.9315
Frisco, TX
Social media marketing is more than simply publishing tweets, Facebook posts and Pinterest images; you have to really know your target audience and what they respond to online.
So what skills should social media marketers (SMMs) acquire to make their social efforts more effective? This exact question recently popped up over at Inbound.org.
Here are what SMMs themselves think are the most valuable skills people in their profession can have.
1. Content Creation
First and foremost, it’s important to create quality content that people actually want to read and share.
Don’t solely publish promotional content, as you don't want to annoy your audience. Instead, follow the 80/20 rule: 20% of the content you share should be about your business and brand, while the other 80% should be engaging, conversational content about issues your audience really cares about.
Tools & Resources
- Your own blog posts and gated assets
- Statistics
- Benchmarking reports
2. Content Curation
Content curation can help you fill up the 80% of that 80/20 ratio. This should be content that isn’t simply the most popular articles, but good, valuable content that addresses your audience’s pain points.
You can use the tools listed below to help you out, along with doing some manual work on your own. The reason for not relying solely on theses tools is that they often return only the most shared and/or viral content, meaning you’ll be sharing the same content as everyone else.
Tools & Resources
3. Community Management
As one Inbound.org member said, “you can push your content as much as you want, but if the community isn't engaged or interacting, your efforts won't be very useful.”
When it comes to community management, it’s more about engaging and less about posting on social media. Building a community is one of the best ways to engage passionate customers and increase your reach.
Tools & Resources
- Twitter chats (for tools read this)
- Sprout Social
- Hootsuite
- TweetDeck
4. Design
These days there are so many options when it comes to social media posts, that text-only posts are becoming fewer and far between. In fact, social media expert and Canva Evangelist Guy Kawasaki thinks you should include an image in every tweet.
You should use everything available to you, from images and GIFs to videos and sound bites. Even if you’re not a professional graphic designer, you can still add pizzazz to your posts using the following tools.
Tools & Resources
5. Analytics
Another key social media marketing skill is the ability to understand data. As one member put it, you need to have a command of both social media metrics and business metrics, understanding how social media is impacting the business (in terms of traffic, leads, etc.).
Understanding metrics means understanding your audience, their behavior, what’s working, and what isn’t. From this knowledge you’ll know what to tweak to make your social media campaigns more effective.
Tools & Resources
Conclusion
Social media marketers can’t have a simple “set it and forget it” mindset. The real work behind social media marketing starts way before anyone hits “publish” and continues long after.
In fact, effective social media marketing is a continuous process, one in which the pulse of the target audience is continually checked and campaigns are modified accordingly. Focusing on the five aforementioned skills will help you more effectively monitor and execute those campaigns.
