How much impact did that last tweet have on your marketing campaign? Did that Facebook ad really get you results? As a social media marketer, these are questions you would be facing every day. Even though our e-book, The Ultimate Guide to Social Media breaks down the entire workflow (a definite must-read!), we know that you still have some nagging questions left.
That’s why, we invited Kendall Bird for our latest #SEMrushchat. Being the Social Media Manager @CollegisEdu, she has hands-on experience in social media marketing and can provide actionable tips to your queries. Along with our other chat participants, she discussed top questions surrounding social media marketing. In case you missed it, here is a quick summary of the discussion:
Q1.What is your favorite social media management tool for analytics and managing multiple social media accounts?
A common mistake that most social media managers make is failure to pick the right tool to assist them in their efforts. It is quite easy to get wrong, since the market is inundated with numerous tools designed to help you. If you are on the look-out for one that combines allowing you to build a schedule for your social media with all the social media activities you want and include a fair bit of analytics as well, here are a few options our community is happy with:
A1: We like to use @hubspot, particularly now it handles Instagram posts. It links up with other aspects of marketing activity and gives an overall view. #semrushchat
— Jim Banks (@jimbanks) April 4, 2018
- Buffer
A1 We're currently using @buffer for our social scheduling and the analytics. Quite a good combination of management and measurement #semrushchat
— Digital Uncut (@digitaluncut) April 4, 2018
- ContentCal_IO
A1 A couple of our favourites to managing social media are @buffer and @ContentCal_io. We love to use Buffer's extension, and categorising posts on Content Cal makes scheduling a dream! #semrushchat
— Sharing.Social.London (@ShareSocialLdn) April 4, 2018
- Tweetdeck
A1: Has to be Tweetdeck for me as I live on here! #semrushchat
— Andy Drinkwater (@iqseo) April 4, 2018
- Sprout Social
A1: It was SproutSocial. So many to choose from now. Buffer, Spredfast, etc. Personally I'm trying out 3-4 right now! UGH! #semrushchat https://t.co/rU9RECpIRT
— Dean Brady (@deanbrady) April 4, 2018
- MeetEdgar
A1: For managing multiple accounts, we use @MeetEdgar. It really helps us make the most of our content and it's easy to keep track of all our different social platforms there. #semrushchat
— Express Writers (@ExpWriters) April 4, 2018
-
HootSuite
- Google Analytics
A1: For managing multiple accounts we love @Buffer.
For Analytics, we're old-school SEMs here so we love our @googleanalytics :)#semrushchat https://t.co/35Lq937vVr
— ThinkSEM (@ThinkSEM) April 4, 2018
- Meltwater
A1: Personally, I love Tweetdeck for managing social conversation. Professionally, @CollegisEdu we use Meltwater. #semrushchat
— Kendall Bird✌? (@simplymeK) April 4, 2018
Did we miss any of your favorite tools? Let us know in the comments!
Q2.Which social media metrics are most important for you to track?
Social metrics have definitely evolved from just likes or comments. Today neither of these on a stand-alone basis can be a benchmark of success for your campaign. This is because, the way leads interact over social media has fundamentally changed. Therefore, it makes sense that the metrics you use to track the success of your campaign evolve to reflect the same. Here are some ways for you to track your metrics:
Decide the Goal and then decide the metrics to track
Every campaign has different metrics – ultimately, it depends upon the goal of the campaign and the objective that you are trying to achieve. For instance, Awareness and Lead generation have different metrics – the former would focus on page visits and the latter on conversions.It is the goal that determines the metrics to track.
A2: It really depends on your goals. Are you trying to improve brand awareness, do you want better engagement with your audience etc.? Your goals will determine the best metrics to track.#SEMrushchat
— Heather Harvey (@Fizzle_Up) April 4, 2018
A2.) For me - this totally depends on the goal! This could be simple page growth or post engagement, driving traffic to the site, or actual sales/conversions. So many metrics to consider! #semrushchat
— Meisha Bochicchio (@MarketingMeisha) April 4, 2018
However Impressions, Ad Set interactions and Page views are typically sound metrics to go by.
A2: It depends on the campaign I'm running. Awareness and led gens have different metrics, but I'll always look at impressions, ad set interactions, and pages viewed #semrushchat
— Danny Ray Lima (@dannyraylima) April 4, 2018
A quick check
A quick way to find out if your posts have failed is by checking if it has off-topic comments and non-existent shares. It is the perfect indicator that the post has failed to engage the audience – without having to dig through complex numbers.
a2) Posts that fail have off-topic comments or no comments/shares. Post hasn't activated audience. #semrushchat
— Ryan Johnson (@rsj8000) April 4, 2018
Engagement metrics that matter
Engagement metrics should take precedence over any vanity metrics such as the number of followers you have or the amount of likes you get. Even if you have numerous followers, chances are that they may not be seeing your posts. More importantly, even if they see the posts and they don't encourage them to engage, it may well be a failure.
A2. Engagement metrics should be at the top. It doesn't matter that you have thousands of followers if they're not seeing your posts, and it might not matter that they're seeing your posts if they're not engaging #semrushchat
— Marketing Strategies (@MktngStrategy) April 4, 2018
This is especially true when communication and posts happen via Gifs and videos. You have no idea if the like is for the content you have shared or the Gif. The resulting ambiguity does not spell a sound number to bank your campaign metrics on.
A2) Likes are a worthless measure. You can post a pic of a dog & get 200 likes. #semrushchat
— Ryan Johnson (@rsj8000) April 4, 2018
A2 Likes are rubbish. You don’t know if people like your words or the gif you added for effect.#SEMRushChat pic.twitter.com/lSetaZYgjd
— Simon Cox (@simoncox) April 4, 2018
Therefore, solid engagement metrics like comments/replies to your posts, shares, the number of impressions vs. clicks and finally recall (are your leads returning to your brand?) have to be the primary focus.
A2: Engagement first.
• Comments/replies
• Impressions
• Link clicks
• Recall—are people returning to our content?#SEMRushChat— Narmadhaa (@s_narmadhaa) April 4, 2018
Good engagement denotes an effort by the lead to actively interact with your brand (or your message) and that is a big plus.
a2) Important metrics require effort: Share, comment. These show active engagement. #semrushchat
— Ryan Johnson (@rsj8000) April 4, 2018
If you are using videos to post, remember to check the video in minutes viewed – that is a sure indicator of how interesting your content was to the lead.
A2: First, it depends on what the goals are for the company/client. Broadly I would share I am interested in post volume and engagement rate in addition to video minutes viewed. Social metrics are evolving from the basics of likes, comments and shares. #semrushchat
— Kendall Bird✌? (@simplymeK) April 4, 2018
So, what's next? Once you have Engagement metrics sorted, amplification and conversions should be the next priority. You will have to monitor the number of visitors coming to the site, see who joins your mailing list to nurture them further and ultimately, who converts or makes purchases.
A2: Engagement is important, but we also pay close attention to conversions. We want to see that followers are visiting our site, joining our list, making purchases, etc. #semrushchat
— Express Writers (@ExpWriters) April 4, 2018
A2: Ooh, great question. We try to avoid vanity metrics and focus on metrics that matter. Engagement is one, amplification, conversions is always nice ancillary stat to get excited about. #SEMrushChat
— Jim Banks (@jimbanks) April 4, 2018
Regardless of the metrics you choose, it is important to keep the goals and metrics consistent and not change them to get better numbers.
A2: I think it also matters what the social marketing team are being benchmarked against. If it's clicks, then measure clicks, if it's engagement, measure that, but don't move the goalposts to make things look better than they are #SEMrushChat
— Jim Banks (@jimbanks) April 4, 2018
Q3.Let’s say you’re trying to convince your CEO or direct report that your company should be utilizing social media platforms. How do you convince them it’s important?
The number of people who frequent social media is steadily increasing. While we may not have seen the birth and death of countless social media channels, the fact is that social media is here to stay! Your target audience has found a new way to interact with each other and with you as a brand. If they cannot reach you (your brand) via that channel, or are not impressed by the content you have in place, your authority and reliability can be put to question.
A3. The world is heavily reliant on social media now. If you don't have a social media presence, your authority and reliability will take a knocking. It's quicker and easier to reach your customer base too, so if you're not utilising it, you're losing. #SEMrushchat
— Ben Hardicre (@BenHardicre) April 4, 2018
It is just like any other marketing channel – with a huge pool of target audience just ‘there’, who can take notice of your brand. Therefore, it is vitally important to explore and a profound loss if not tested.
A3: In 2019, it is projected that there will be around 2.77 billion social media users in the world. The numbers of social media penetration are increasing, and for trends sake, social media is here to stay and it's reach is worth taking advantage of. #semrushchat
— LXRMarketplace (@LXRMarketplace) April 4, 2018
You never know, it could be the perfect medium for your brand to establish a voice and reach the audience.
A3) Similar to Q2- This is marketing. Be it a specific campaign or expertise in your field. Ask: "What are you trying to say, and is one/many SM channels the correct medium?" And what's the budget for these pursuits needs to be a factor too.#SEMrushchat
— ArcsecDigital (@ArcsecDigital) April 4, 2018
You need to look at hard data and numbers. Proving ROI out of every social media campaign or program can be tricky. For example, can you honestly attribute X no. of visitors or conversions to your site to a single particular tweet?
A3: Usually by showing them examples of the uplift key competitors are getting, driven by social amplification. Proving ROI to the C Suite is always a slippery slope. There is usually one shining example in every industry of a business doing social "right" #SEMrushChat
— Jim Banks (@jimbanks) April 4, 2018
However, if you can show the value of your efforts to your CEO – that is, outline exactly what each of these numbers mean and the impact that it has brought the business, then you will be able to get a shoe in.
A3 Data - if the numbers can be made to mean something the CEO (probably he) can grasp.#SEMRushChat pic.twitter.com/zgiL5ocY9F
— Simon Cox (@simoncox) April 4, 2018
Typically, there is always one shining example of a brand using social media the right way. That's why it's important to look at what your competitors are doing and analyze their tactics. If you can highlight that to your CEO, show him how similar your goals are to that of the company you have chosen, your battle is half done.
A3: Usually by showing them examples of the uplift key competitors are getting, driven by social amplification. Proving ROI to the C Suite is always a slippery slope. There is usually one shining example in every industry of a business doing social "right" #SEMrushChat
— Jim Banks (@jimbanks) April 4, 2018
Otherwise, you can also opt for a SWOT analysis of your company’s or client’s marketplace to see what kind of campaign can work best for you. What works / has worked for your competition need not necessarily work for you as well. You can check out what tools and strategy they are using and see how best to use them to achieve your targets.
A3: Show them that every other competitor is also doing the same. Show them metrics on numbers of shares, likes and comments they are missing out on #semrushchat
— Andy Drinkwater (@iqseo) April 4, 2018
A3.) Assess company goals, what the competition is doing (right and wrong), and the feasibility of actually managing social. Does it actually make sense for your company? How will it provide value? #semrushchat
— Meisha Bochicchio (@MarketingMeisha) April 4, 2018
A3: Again, what are the company/client goals? Align on these first, then show the WHY. Are your competitors using the tool and how effective are they? What type of results are you expecting and how can you best show them these numbers? #semrushchat https://t.co/DRcfehLZ2z
— Kendall Bird✌? (@simplymeK) April 4, 2018
In order to get more concrete data, you can A/B test the marketing budget to see the effectiveness against ROC.
A3: Do Social Media SWOT analysis of your company/clients marketplace, if the figures and findings backup the proposal, you could use an a,b test of marketing budget to see effectiveness against ROC #semrushchat @semrush @simplymeK
— Alexis Huddart (@Flexoid) April 4, 2018
At the very least, you can highlight the amount of shares and engagement your competition is gaining from that channel – the same kind of interest and mind share that you are missing out on.
A3: Show them that every other competitor is also doing the same. Show them metrics on numbers of shares, likes and comments they are missing out on #semrushchat
— Andy Drinkwater (@iqseo) April 4, 2018
It's also important for you to build loyalty and customer service. More often than not, disgruntled customers take to social media to voice their views or reach out for help.If your brand is not present in the same medium to listen, offer support and rectify the problem, not only are you providing bad customer experience, but also sending out a completely hostile message. Remember, with such a huge audience pool watching, it can very easily be a huge turn off to your brand loyalty.
A3. By explaining how necessary it is for customer service. #SEMrushchat
— Reva Minkoff (@revaminkoff) April 4, 2018
A3. Explicitly show that the audience is out there and that they are active. And importantly, an audience that will bring more referrals. Coupled with expanding the brand, it's a win-win situation #semrushchat #socialmedia
— Joe Jason Cayetano (@GameofJoes) April 4, 2018
Make sure you pitch your plan the right way. No social media campaign ever succeeded without sound strategy. If you need your CEO to buy in, your plan will have to be sound.
A3: Create a plan and show them! Let them know which platforms they should be using, how to use them effectively, and what kind of results they'll drive for the business. #semrushchat
— Express Writers (@ExpWriters) April 4, 2018
Go in with a solid plan, define what you intend to track and predict how it will impact the business. Align your company’s goals with that of your campaign and measure the right metrics.
A3.) Assess company goals, what the competition is doing (right and wrong), and the feasibility of actually managing social. Does it actually make sense for your company? How will it provide value? #semrushchat
— Meisha Bochicchio (@MarketingMeisha) April 4, 2018
Give it a trial period, analyze the results and see how you can attribute business impact or value to your campaigns.
A3: Show examples of other companies doing it really well.
Also, suggest a trial period dedicated to social media with a strategy put in place - gather the metrics and show them the results. If you can demonstrate conversions or hot lead generation, you're in.#SEMrushchat
— Heather Harvey (@Fizzle_Up) April 4, 2018
4.Can having a social media account have any negative impact on a company or business? Why or why not?
Absolutely! Like any other marketing channel, social media marketing is another channel for your audience to connect and interact with you. That means, the communication goes both ways – your audience have the liberty to troll you, provide negative comments or feedback on a public forum if they are unhappy with you. Thus, it can adversely impact the brand image for the worse, if done wrong.
A4: If you're not engaging with the audience yes, or if you're not providing any value to social media. Yes, as a business you open yourself up to trolls and negative feedback, but if you are active and engaging, it can have a positive feedback, just look at @Wendys #semrushchat
— Danny Ray Lima (@dannyraylima) April 4, 2018
Here are a few things that can help you avoid that fate:
1. Having a strategy
A4: Yes, having a social account can definitely have a negative impact on a company. If there isn't an initial focus/strategy, then you will be sitting on dead space. A lot of people use social for research and if your company isn't sharing, you'll lose customers. #semrushchat https://t.co/yzncb3Ejul
— Kendall Bird✌? (@simplymeK) April 4, 2018
Every social campaign that you launch has to be thought through. If, you start Re-tweeting and re-posting posts that has no value to your target audience and does not interest them, they will publicly tell you about it.
A4: Absolutely! If you are not active, just self promote all the time, don't interact and appear to just be a spam bot, you will lose reputation #semrushchat
— Andy Drinkwater (@iqseo) April 4, 2018
Ceaseless self-promotion, not listening to your customers to address their problem can all have a negative impact.
A4: Having a social media presence and only using it for self-promotion and not listening to customers can be harmful. If someone complains, EVERYONE can see it. How you handle it can win you lifelong fans, or build a pool of haters. Someone needs to monitor 24/7 #SEMrushChat
— Jim Banks (@jimbanks) April 4, 2018
2. Being human
Speaking of addressing customer problems, the tone you take up on social media has profound impact. Nobody wants to chat with a faceless brand.
A4/2: You have to be a real person at the end of the account - no-one will interact with bland posts that carry no interest #SEMrushchat
— Andy Drinkwater (@iqseo) April 4, 2018
Your audience fully expect you to have a voice – a little bit of human behind every message you send out .
A4. How you respond to customer reviews and criticism is critical. #semrushchat
— Reva Minkoff (@revaminkoff) April 4, 2018
3. Acting wisely on feedback
Even if you receive negative feedback, the way you tackle it can make all the difference between a social media success and a failure. Your response to it will have to be timely, well thought out, human (but we already covered that) and most importantly, solve the problem.
A4: Anything you put out there online can be bad or good -- depending on how you monitor it, respond to reviews, etc.
Be sure you don't post insensitive things, don't utilize disasters to try to sell, respond to people, be nice...#semrushchat https://t.co/249s3q06aP
— ThinkSEM (@ThinkSEM) April 4, 2018
Remember, every bad review can actually be your next opportunity to identify and rectify a customer problem you had not been aware of before and is the perfect opportunity to build trust.
A4. Other than seeming out of touch if you don't have SM - It has the possibility to allow any problems (or perceived problems) to become much more public. Which gives you an opportunity to identify,address, and resolve issues publicly if managed well (build trust). #SEMrushChat
— Amanda Coe (@AmandaCoeStudio) April 4, 2018
Keep in mind that social media profiles are indexed by Google – and a bad review can be picked up on the SERP page and negatively impact first impression.
A4) Social Media profiles are also indexed by Google and if their first impression is not good enough, people won’t follow. #semrushchat
— Liliana H (@Liliholl) April 4, 2018
A4. Reviews are social media, and a bad review can do a lot of damage to a business. #SEMrushchat
— Reva Minkoff (@revaminkoff) April 4, 2018
4. Having an expert behind the screens
Since social media is the public face of your company, it has profound impact in shaping how your brand is perceived by the audience. Therefore, the posts have to sensible, rational and emotionally well thought out.
A4: Sure. Social media becomes negative when we—
• consider harsh feedback to be negative,
• shower followers with self-promotional content
• ignore those trying to engage with us
• forget to check our language
• become political
• take things personally#SEMRushChat— Narmadhaa (@s_narmadhaa) April 4, 2018
A4: Social media can have a negative impact on a business if it's not done properly. For example, far too many people post without thinking first.
You can get into a lot of trouble this way. #semrushchat
— Express Writers (@ExpWriters) April 4, 2018
It cannot be relegated to the interns or the new joinees. In fact, you need your best person on the job, trained to deal with customer problems with tact and frequently rotated so that no one is in the firing line constantly.
A4 and rotate your staff frequently so they are out of the firing line - I expect it is very tiring - ask the @semrush team - they seem to rotate a lot. #SEMRushChat pic.twitter.com/LeB0q29WMM
— Simon Cox (@simoncox) April 4, 2018
A4 If your social media team are underpaid, overworked and tired of your companies excuses for bad service, they can get belligerent with customers and make PR molehills into mountains.
They really are frontline staff and need careful training.#SEMRushChat pic.twitter.com/QTpVlvURrS— Simon Cox (@simoncox) April 4, 2018
A4 If your social media team are underpaid, overworked and tired of your companies excuses for bad service, they can get belligerent with customers and make PR molehills into mountains.
They really are frontline staff and need careful training.#SEMRushChat pic.twitter.com/QTpVlvURrS— Simon Cox (@simoncox) April 4, 2018
A4 If you don't know how to use it, it can definitely have a negative impact:
- typos
- grammatical mistakes
- personal opinions reflecting the company
- bad customer service(still, so many companies think that SMM is a job for the interns)#semrushchat
— Tereza Litsa (@terezalitsa) April 4, 2018
Q5.In your opinion, what are the top 3 ways marketers can maximize LinkedIn for business in 2018?
LinkedIn is currently one of the top B2B platforms in the social media world. It is a chance to meet like-minded professionals, network, get the latest industry news and also get a general idea of where businesses (yours and competition) are heading.
A5: LinkedIn is the most professional social platform. A business' goal should be to establish themselves as a dominate voice in their industry offering knowledge. Join groups, post insightful internally created articles, and propose solutions. #semrushchat
— LXRMarketplace (@LXRMarketplace) April 4, 2018
A5 We love using LinkedIn for:
- professional networking
- keeping in touch with clients' / contacts' updates
- discovering interesting B2B content#semrushchat— Digital Uncut (@digitaluncut) April 4, 2018
Therefore, as with any other social media platforms, it can be used for both organic and paid campaigns – the advantage being that your audience are a lot more business oriented and come across your content while pursuing something work-related (and not a cat video).
a5) Great place for publishing/thought leadership. Join groups. Best place for targeted B2B advertising. #semrushchat
— Ryan Johnson (@rsj8000) April 4, 2018
A5:
1 - Complete your profile. This ensures people have something to read about you.
2 - Write articles: Pulse isn't the greatest editor, but gets your articles in front of a lot of people quickly
3 - Engage in groups: be interesting and have something to share#SEMrushchat
— Andy Drinkwater (@iqseo) April 4, 2018
Here are some ways you can maximize your LinkedIn for Business:
1. Thought leadership
Post and engage in LinkedIn groups that are relevant to your sector.
A5: Post and engage in LinkedIn groups that are relevant to your audience, write article directly on LinkedIn and boost best performing organic posts with paid ads #semrushchat
— Fanny Heuck (@FannyHeuck) April 4, 2018
If these articles get enough traction or attention, you can also boost them with paid campaigns to increase interested visitors to your site. Encourage experts in your company to volunteer articles on LinkedIn Pulse and link them to the company page. As long as the content provides genuine value, it will be well received by the audience.
A5 Regular industry postings from field experts from your company with strengthen your companies standing with peers - that filters to your customers. But ensure it is quality and not just link bait rubbish.
— Simon Cox (@simoncox) April 4, 2018
Apart from publishing articles, the latest update – LinkedIn videos (autoplay) and video for company pages are a huge boon. It is the best way to get the audience hooked with your content, with powerful visual impact.
A5: Recently:
LinkedIn has introduced auto-playing video ads.
2: Video for Company Pages.
Leverage it!#SEMRushChat— Saad AK (@SaadAlikhan1994) April 4, 2018
A5 build an audience - you have a lot of data in Linkedin to reach out to and create your tribe.#SEMRushChat
— Simon Cox (@simoncox) April 4, 2018
With regular such postings, you will definitely be able to build an audience of like-minded individuals, who will regard you as a thought leader and that will significantly impact your social mileage.Quick tip – to get noticed even more quickly by the right audience, use Slideshare.
A5/2: Complete your business page. Get followers and post regularly.
You can also utilise Slideshare to help you get noticed even more in your chosen field #SEMrushchat
— Andy Drinkwater (@iqseo) April 4, 2018
2. Promote employee engagement
No company is without it’s battles. You can encourage employees to come forward and share their challenges, their success case studies and how they handled difficult problems on the platform.
A5. #semrushchat
- Sharing all success case studies which were once challenges.
- Sharing each milestone and encourage employees by involving them on LinkedIn.
- Sharing company culture to escalate the overall brand value in front of other professional network. https://t.co/ZLEnnSnGIu— Parth Suba (@parthsuba77) April 4, 2018
Not only will it promote a sense of camaraderie within your employees, it will add value to other businesses who may be facing the same problem.
3. Escalate brand value
Remember that other companies and their employees are watching what you do on LinkedIn. So your profile has to be updated, the links relevant and the content absolutely impeccable.
A5: Keep the profile well-maintained. Optimize the profile for search by including keywords, link to the LI company page from your blog, website and mktg materials, share relevant content with followers, and publish engaging thought leadership content to the LI page. #semrushchat https://t.co/RngO8lUnqo
— Kendall Bird✌? (@simplymeK) April 4, 2018
The more value you add to your viewers, the better your brand will be perceived by other employees.
And that, sums up our discussion for the day. Though we have barely scratched the surface of social media marketing, these handy tips can keep you focused and goal oriented. What do you have to add to this? Leave us a comment and let’s talk!
Make sure to join us this week to discuss "How to Create Awesome Content & Ensure it’s Seen" with special guest, Casie Gillette!
[ebooks-promo slug="ultimate-guide-social-media-semrush"]
What Are Featured Snippets (How Do You Get Them)?
In this guide, we’ll discuss the importance of featured snippets and offer ways to improve your chances of ranking at the top of Google.How To Perform a Technical SEO Audit in 15 Steps
From indexation and crawlability issues to handling any structured data errors, it‘s important to ensure your website is working properly. In this guide, we‘ll show you how to do a technical SEO audit and how to fix issues you come across. Plus, we‘ll cover a bit about how our Site Audit Tool can help.The Anatomy of the Perfect SEO Report
SEO reporting can be a complex task: from the metrics you should include to how often you should update it, an SEO report can take up a lot of your time. In this guide, our goal is to help you to understand what a perfect SEO report should look like and what it should include, helping you to take your reporting to the next level.What Are Rich Snippets (How Do You Get Them)?
Rich snippets can help draw the eye of searchers and encourage them to click. Here’s what you need to know about ranking for a rich snippet.9 Steps to Creating SEO-Friendly Content
Industry Shifts, Online Stats & Surefire Insights for Digital Marketing Growth. In this turbulence-proof ebook, we highlight the industries that made the smoothest transition to online. You’ll see...