When most folks talk about “keeping up with social media” they are referring to keeping up with what their friends have been up to on vacation or with their families. When marketing professionals talk about keeping up with social media, we are more likely to be talking about making sense of the ever changing suite of features found on different social media sites and apps. Complicating matters further, many social media changes like tweaked Facebook algorithms completely alter once-effective marketing strategies.
With all of this in mind, how can you keep up with social media marketing features? Today, we will aim to answer that question by giving a few high level tips on how your marketing team can stay on top of your game.
Follow Social Media Industry Leaders
This might seem like a no brainer, but it is also easy to skim over amongst the sexier solutions to this problem. Staying in tune with Google, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and other social media public forums is essential. The best way to stay on top of changes to social media platforms is frequently to get the information straight from the horse’s mouth.
While you might find some of these feeds to be tedious or unnecessary, nearly all social media giants put out notices and/or press releases when they make changes to features, functionality, or anything else that would impact users. Following these companies is a great place to start.
Keep up with Social Media News Sites
If following the largest companies on earth isn’t your cup of tea, you might prefer to instead subscribe to and/or follow social media news sites that provide the latest information on the biggest social media platforms. Examples of sites/platforms to follow include:
The benefits of relying on these third party sources is that they are more likely to give honest and direct insights into changes to social media platforms without any sugar coating or salesmanship. The potential downside here is that news sites may have their own agendas and they are relying on second hand information and passing it along to you rather than representing their own organization.
Always Track Your Social Media Metrics
Understanding changes to social media features is one thing. Seeing how these changes impact your brand position is another matter entirely. Tracking social media metrics is a must, regardless of any outside circumstances. By continuously documenting and analyzing your metrics like reach and engagement, your marketing team can determine where your brand strategy is succeeding, where it is lagging, and what opportunities exist for potential growth.
Many social media platforms provide their own metrics and even offer some data analyses over time. This is a great place to start. Some larger companies may also opt to track their own social media metrics outside of that system, offering an even greater breadth of information from which to work. Whatever the case may be for your business, tracking social media presence is an absolute necessity.
Don’t Shy Away from New Social Media Features
Marketing departments have the same tendencies as any other human-led organization. Namely, we tend to stick to what we know. Unfortunately, in the world of modern marketing this simply will not get results. When new major features like Instagram Stories come out, there are several reasons why being an early adopter is often a huge boon to businesses:
- The social media platform will be pushing their new feature at all costs. Going back to Instagram Stories, when that feature was released, Instagram (Facebook) was pushing it so hard that it almost drowned out standard Instagram posts. Companies that adopted the tech early got that initial boost of traffic and engagement.
- It presents an opportunity to corner the market within that feature’s subset. As a continuation of that thought, jumping on new social media features as soon as possible allows brands to not only be associated with that new feature, but also to get a jump on the new opportunity the feature allows.
- Using new social media features shows your audience that your brand is making an effort to try new things. The importance of brand personality cannot be overstated in 2020. Customers expect to “know” the brands they patronize, and they want to feel connected. Using new social media features is a humanizing trait because many of your consumers will be doing the same.
Clock Tower Insight Marketing Solutions
At Clock Tower Insight, we turn data into business solutions. By maximizing brand positioning, CX management, moments of influence, and more, we help build our clients brands in the short and long term. Clock Tower Insight believes that happy customers equal a happy business. We work closely with clients to tailor their brand from top to bottom in order to maximize positive image, exposure, and sales.
To learn more about how we may be able to help your business grow, read about our 15 plus years of focused experience working with brands such as Starbucks, Kraft, McDonald’s, and much more.