Off to a good start with Social Media

Almost everyone has an account on one or more social media. It seems an ideal way to connect with your target audience. But where do you start?

In this class, you'll learn which channels are of interest to you and how to get your message clear.

Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram: there are several social media channels to choose from. And as the list of choices continues to grow, it becomes increasingly difficult to determine which channels to use to achieve your goals.

So start by choosing the appropriate channel.

The most important thing when choosing a channel is to consider your social media strategy. This describes the how and why of your online activities. It helps achieve your goals and shapes content.

Among the first things you look at are your goals and your target audience. After all, you use social media to get in touch with your target group, so of course you want to reach them. Check which channels your target group is present on.

When it comes to social media, there is more to it than just Facebook and Twitter. There are different types of channels, each with their own benefits.

Please note that the channel matches:

• The organization
• The social media goals
• Target group
• The reach you envision

Notice:

The reach and behavior of participants varies by platform. Facebook has the largest number of users in the Netherlands, but does not necessarily have the greatest reach for businesses.

To do

Consider what channel your target audience is on what their behavior is on this channel. Do they want to read information from your company, be inspired with beautiful photos, share and like posts or engage in conversation with your company?

We offer you a global overview of when which channel is appropriate and for which target audience:

Kanaal: Facebook

When: When you want to get started building a community

Target audience: broad audience

Kanaal: Instagram

When: For companies with high-quality photography

Target audience: primarily young people

Kanaal: LinkedIn

When: For insights into careers and the industry you work in

Target audience: business audience

Kanaal: Twitter

When: For interaction with customers to create loyalty

Target audience: increasingly older target group

Kanaal: YouTube

When: For attractive videos

Target audience: broad audience

Kanaal: Snapchat

When: To record and send photos and videos directly to followers

Target group: young people

Kanaal: Pinterest

When: For visual industries aimed to inspire the target audience

Target audience: women between the ages of 20 and 39.

Message

It is important to determine on which channels you want to broadcast what message. The message is the one where your target audience immediately recognizes that you want to communicate / interact with them.

Each channel has its specific features and capabilities. So you will need to determine a "different" message for each channel that is tailored to that channel.

In addition, the channels all have different contributions to your strategy. One channel might have name or brand awareness as its goal while the other might be used to engage with a consumer.

So keep a close eye on which channel you use for which purpose and through which message you do so to target your audience.

Note

However, don't use social media as a conduit to push your message toward the market.

Instead, start your social strategy by listening to your target audience. Delve into what your target audience finds interesting and find points you can capitalize on with your own story.

Interaction with the target audience is much more important than constantly sending the message. With interaction, reach and social awareness becomes a lot more valuable.

Four tips for a strong communication message:

• Be clear: A good message is short and communicates in a clear way why your target audience should choose you.

• Formulate your message in an active way: use active language

• Keep it positive: focus your message on what you deliver or what problem you solve, rather than what you prevent or don't do.

• Keep it short: why use five words when you can tell the same thing in three? Look critically at your text and delete all unnecessary language.

ROI

If you put time and effort (and money) into social media, you also want to know what has been the result of this. A term often used for this in marketing is Return On Investment (ROI).

ROI can be approached in different ways, depending on the goals you have set. Therefore, it is helpful to define them in advance.

The most common way to do this is through KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). These are variables to analyze performance.

This ROI can be approached in different ways: on the one hand, there is conversion (for example, a purchase from someone who came to your website through Facebook), but maintaining your fan base is also worth a lot. Without those fans, there is no conversion!

All the social media goals you can think of are tied to one of the four macro goals, namely:

1. Exposure (visibility or branding).
2. Engagement (participation, involvement)
3. Influence (influence, virality)
4. Action (action, conversion)

As you can see, the actions or conversions in the last step are indispensable. These will ultimately ensure a financial impact and thus a real ROI.

We provide some examples of KPIs by macro goal based on which you can determine the ROI of social media:

Exposure - A reach of X number of people

Engagement - A certain percentage of people who click through to your website

Influence - A positive sentiment of a certain percentage around posts about your brand

Action - A certain number of people signed up on your website to receive a newsletter