Some time ago we wrote about frequently asked questions about social media marketing. Today it's time to delve a little deeper into the subject, leaving the basics behind us. Without further ado…
Do I need a marketing strategy?
How many hashtags to use on Instagram?
Instagram allows you to use a maximum of 30 hashtags in posts. Does that mean we should use 30? Not necessarily, and it's really hard to answer that question. For a long time, it was recommended to use a number close to 30, so as to maximize the possibility of increasing reach through hashtags. However, not so long ago, theories appeared that the IG algorithm changed its approach to hashtags and by using more of them, we are somewhat diluting their effect. In connection with this, many voices appeared to limit ourselves to 3-5 most important tags.
The truth is that we don’t have access to social media algorithms, and they change frequently. That’s why the best option is often to simply try different solutions and see how they work. In any case, we definitely don’t recommend “forcing” hashtags – let them actually reflect the content of the post and let this approach dictate their quantity.
Why does my company need social media?
The truth is that you have to answer this question for yourself. Sure, we can write here about the various benefits of having a Facebook or LinkedIn page. We could also go so far as to say that in today's world, if we are not on the Internet, it is as if we did not exist at all.
However, this is not the most important thing and probably all people functioning in the business world already know it perfectly well. However, in order to operate effectively in social media (or marketing in general), it is good to answer the question "Why?"
There may be many reasons for this. We can focus on building brand awareness, we can try to increase the engagement of our current customers and create a platform that will allow us to cross-sell, up-sell or popularize the affiliate program. Maybe we want to gain contacts with potential customers, or maybe we want to stand out from the competition through interesting and unusual communication. Perhaps our websites are to serve as a business card for the company, which will increase its status not among target customers, but among business partners. Maybe we want to take care of our Employer Branding and our activities will be aimed not at customers or partners, but at potential employees. Or maybe we want to create a platform that will allow happy customers to share their opinions, which will serve as social proof for others.
As you can see, there are many reasons why we might want to appear on social media. The ones we choose will greatly influence how exactly we should act.
How to respond to positive comments?
In the previous edition of the post we wrote about how to deal with negative comments, but it is worth mentioning that positive ones also require a response.
The whole idea of social media communication is that it can and should work both ways. Positive comments are a perfect opportunity to not only like them, but also reply, ideally motivating further conversation. This is a great way to continue building the perception of our brand as customer-friendly.
How to use ad formats in regular posts?
If you’ve ever seen a Facebook ad with a dedicated button leading to an external site or Messenger, we have good news. You can also use these formats in organic posts, although it requires a bit more fiddling. You can find more information on this topic in our post "How create Facebook ad formats for free?": https://komukoncept.pl/jak-tworzyc-formaty-reklamowe-na-facebooku-za-darmo/
Paid reach vs organic reach
When it comes to advertising, a common question is whether it is worth using Facebook campaigns to increase the reach of our posts.
The short answer is: generally yes, it's worth it. First of all, organically our reach doesn't grow very dynamically, especially if our page doesn't have many fans. Apart from entering our media from other sources (such as a website), Facebook itself mainly allows us to grow by sharing posts with our fans' friends. If you sometimes see a post on the wall that your friend liked or commented on, then this is exactly the mechanism. As you can see, the more fans we have, the greater the reach we will get thanks to this mechanism.
Nevertheless, even small amounts of money for Facebook ads can increase our reach and reach new recipients many times over. This is a good way, especially when our fanpage is just starting out – it is really hard to spread your wings without it, although you can try to do it differently, e.g. through viral campaigns. However, making a good viral campaign usually also involves costs.
Should we write the same thing on all social media platforms?
Generally no. Of course, there are messages, announcements or information that we want to spread as widely as possible, important enough that we want to have the greatest chance of reaching the largest possible group of our recipients. However, apart from such messages, it is worth diversifying what we write in specific social media.
There are two reasons. Most platforms, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram, are social media with different characters that attract different types of recipients. When creating content, we should therefore adapt to what recipients expect from a given social media platform. A post that will interest people on LinkedIn will not necessarily interest those who prefer Instagram – and vice-versa.
Of course, there are also recipients who use different social media at the same time. However, we should not send the same message over and over again. This will cause boredom and irritation rather than interest.
How to measure effects in social media?
Usually, the most important ones are considered to be reach, which tells us how far our communication reaches, and the engagement rate, which tells us whether our communication meets the expectations of the target group. Other statistics, such as page visits or memories, are highly dependent on what our goals are for SMM.
As with everything, we need to put statistics in context. A large number of likes or comments do not always meet our goals. Contrary to appearances, using simple techniques and a very small advertising budget, getting dozens or hundreds of comments under a post is very easy. But what if these are comments from people who forget about our brand immediately after writing the comment?
And that's all for today 🙂 Check out our latest posts ⤵
- Written by: Michal Opydo
- Posted on: 9 Mar 2022
- Tags: facebook, instagram, Marketing, q&a, advertisement