You’ve built a solid social media following, yet the engagement rate remains lackluster. Despite persistent efforts to promote your product or service across social media channels, the conversion to sales isn’t quite hitting the mark. Some brands aren’t even on social media yet, but you are — isn’t that enough? On paper, your social media marketing strategy seems sound, leaving you struggling to identify the missing link.

If any of these scenarios resonate with you, it’s likely that your social media approach is outdated. The era of maintaining a pristine and polished online presence is behind us; instead, brands are achieving breakthroughs by embracing spontaneity and authenticity, primarily in the form of “lo-fi content.” While not every social media post may resonate with your audience, the key lies in viewing each post as a valuable insight that informs future strategy. As Sprout Social notes, “Done well, however, the upside of smart lo-fi content is undeniable, from higher ROI to scaling your brand awareness efforts. By striking the right balance of casual and relevant, these posts can humanize your brand and encourage shareability.”

So, where do you begin?

Distinguish Between Paid and Organic Social Media

It’s crucial to distinguish between the two primary types of social media—paid and organic— and to grasp the advantages and drawbacks of each. While paid practices often yield more immediate and flashy results, it’s crucial to integrate a balanced mix of organic content for sustained engagement. Consider this analogy: consumers reached through paid content can be likened to a rented audience, providing temporary engagement, whereas those reached through organic content constitute a loyal and earned audience, fostering lasting connections. Both are crucial in making up a well-rounded strategy.

Consumer-Centric Social Media Strategy

When devising your social media strategy, consider your own consumer behaviors as a guiding principle. Picture this: during a brief lunch break, you find yourself mindlessly scrolling through social media. Reflect on the content that captures your attention. 

• A brand you’re unfamiliar with posts a straightforward company announcement. *SCROLL*
•  Another brand, vaguely familiar, presents yet another obvious promotion for their product. *SCROLL*
• A brand you can’t recall following shares an open-ended, fill-in-the-blank question that allows you to showcase your industry knowledge and actively participate in the conversation. *CURIOSITY PIQUED* *COMMENTS ON POST*
• Now, envision a brand you’ve never encountered before sharing niche, witty copy, tailored to you and your industry (Hubspot does a beautiful job of this)—engagement turns into action. *LIKE. COMMENT. SAVE. SHARE!*

This isn’t to say that your achievements go unnoticed, but company-specific content primarily resonates with those already acquainted with your brand. For untapped audiences, more substantial incentives are needed. Consistently engaging new audience members lays the foundation for lead generation, transforming them into loyal brand enthusiasts and potential customers.

Our Recommendations

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to social media marketing; however, these tips, widely agreed upon by social media managers, are guaranteed to steer you in the right direction when it comes to formulating social media campaigns, as well as your brand’s overarching social media strategy with the goal of standing out in an oversaturated market.

1. Curate a List of Inspo Accounts: Keep diverse accounts on hand for continuous creativity and fresh perspectives. Use these as case studies to support your ideas, providing evidence of what works on social media to gain executive buy-in.

• Develop a Comprehensive Social Media Strategy: Thoroughly outline your strategy, aligning it with your brand identity and goals. Establish specific goals for accountability and recognize that strategies may need adjustment given the dynamic nature of the social media landscape. Hence, maintaining a well-documented social media plan becomes a valuable reference point to track the evolution of your approach over time.

• Avoid Hyperfixation on Vanity Metrics: It’s tempting to zero in on superficial metrics such as followers and likes, but these often lack substantial meaning. Vanity metrics are analytics items that can be measured but are not signifiers of real return on investment. While they can offer some valuable insights to you and your team, emphasizing quality over quantity is more beneficial. The most effective social media accounts don’t target the most people; they target the right people.

• Hope For, But Don’t Expect Conversions: Likewise, social media doesn’t always serve as a direct conduit for immediate conversions. Instead, it acts as a vehicle to cultivate loyal brand enthusiasts and guide users to other mediums. The goal could be to increase website traffic or email newsletter subscriptions. The crux lies in building awareness and ensuring your brand remains at the forefront of their minds when they’re ready to make a purchase or business decision.

• Beware of Instant Results: Being lured by promises of immediate results on social media is often a warning sign that warrants caution. While an unusually significant increase may fulfill a short-term goal, it can potentially inflict long-term damage that is more difficult to counteract. Giveaways serve as a notable example of this phenomenon. While they can swiftly triple a brand’s following, they often result in a subsequent decline as individuals unfollow upon realizing they did not win. These individuals initially followed your account with the aim of achieving a short-term goal, rather than being genuinely invested in your brand for the long haul.

Note: Many brands make the mistake of resorting to purchasing followers on platforms, inflating their following with a multitude of bots. This practice is detrimental, as these artificial “followers” rarely engage with your content and, in fact, can harm your page’s visibility to authentic social media users. 

• Embrace an Open-Minded Trial-and-Error Approach: Recognize that what works today on social media may not necessarily work tomorrow, and success on one platform may not guarantee the same on another. To break through the noise, it’s imperative to experiment with out-of-the-box content ideas. Should a post underperform or fall just short of a goal, view it as a valuable insight guiding you to adjust your focus and fill the gaps in your strategy. In the realm of social media, there’s no concept of failure; every piece of data is a valuable lesson waiting to inform and refine your approach.      

Ok, that was a LOT of information.

Do not fret – social media is truly its own universe, and many professionals have dedicated their entire careers to master its nuances. This is precisely where Bospar steps in. If you find yourself short on time or manpower to forge your brand’s social media presence, we’re here to showcase the transformative impact a team of specialists can make. 

Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us if you’re eager to delve deeper; we could talk about social media for days!