The power of social media marketing is unquestionable, regardless of the niche your business represents. As of October 2021, over 4.5 billion people are active on social media channels. It’s also interesting to point out that 54 percent of internet users rely on social media for product and service research.

A millennial is logged into a social media account for an average time of two hours and 38 minutes each day. That’s a lot of time for the delivery of a relevant message and the establishment of an enviable brand reputation.

To make the most of these platforms, you need a tailored social media marketing strategy that’s in line with your promotional goals. It should also work well with other forms of digital promotion you’re already utilizing like content creation and search engine optimization (SEO).

Sporadic Facebook publications aren’t going to cut it if you want the best return on your marketing investment. Here are a few key ways to be strategic about social media use.

Start with the Basics: An Impactful Profile

Before thinking about publishing content as a part of your social media marketing, you will have to tackle the basics.

The first part of successful new social media marketing strategies is the creation of an impressive presentation. Many elearning companies overlook the “about us” section of a profile, which is a huge mistake.

A social media bio gives you the chance to start off strong. This is why you can’t just copy and paste the same standard presentation in each profile. The way you introduce your brand on Facebook shouldn’t be the same as your Twitter or Instagram presentation.

Here are a few examples of the differences between the various kinds of bios and “about us” sections. To stand out, you can embrace a couple of approaches. You can make the presentation humorous but informative, emotional (why the business matters to you and why it should matter to customers), original and filled with professional authority. Whichever tone and approach you choose, make sure that the bio is comprehensive and in line with the overall style/tone that you’ve adopted for social media marketing.

Come Up with a Content Sharing Strategy

Social media management and marketing is also heavily dependent on the kinds of content you decide to share via your profiles.

A good social media marketing strategy needs to be based on a content calendar like the examples featured here.

You already have a website dedicated to your elearning business and you’re definitely publishing blog posts (if you’re not, you’re missing a huge opportunity to optimize your content marketing!). Such content can be shared via your social media profiles to reach a wider audience and grow the popularity of the content you’ve been working so hard on.

Sharing your own content, however, isn’t the only thing you can do to diversify the publication calendar. A few other great varieties of social media posts you should definitely explore include the following:

  • Other relevant resources and content from non-competing websites (to give your audience a more thorough look at a topic)
  • Native content like Facebook videos, for example
  • Relevant images or infographics (if these are tailor-made for the respective channel, you’ll get extra points and some viral potential)
  • Polls and questions that your audience can answer – these give you a chance to receive valuable feedback from potential customers
  • Contests and giveaways – excellent marketing tools when you want to gain new followers or promote a new product/service launch, for example

It’s also a good idea to come up with separate content calendars for each social media you’re present on. The content you share via Facebook shouldn’t be the same as your Twitter publications. Facebook gives you more of a chance to form a community and interact with your audience. Twitter is the perfect social channel for the promotion of content published on your corporate website.

Paid Promotion as a Part of Your Social Media Marketing Strategy

Apart from working on organic reach via your profiles, you should definitely consider paid promotion via social media platforms. Facebook Ads is one example of a paid opportunity you can count on to reach a wider audience.

Paid social media advertising makes sense in multiple situations:

  • When you’re establishing your social media presence and want to quickly gain new followers
  • In the event of a campaign (promotion, new product launch)
  • When you want to target your ideal customer (if you already have a buyer persona in place)
  • When you want to drive leads and conversions

A good social media marketing strategy integrates both organic and paid reach. The good news is that paid promotion is fairly affordable and it yields a high return on investment. That’s why you should definitely plan for the execution of such campaigns every now and again.

To make your paid social media strategy effective, you need to have a good idea about the end goal, the characteristics of your ideal customer and the action that you want them to undertake. Sometimes, such a campaign will need to be supported through the creation of landing pages and even mini websites dedicated to the campaign. Partnering up with a professional marketing team on such a project, especially if you don’t know how to set up a paid campaign and integrate it with your organic efforts, is the best approach to get results right off the bat.

Brand Interactions as the Final Key Element

There’s one more important aspect of social media marketing worth talking about.

Most brands focus on just the content that they create.

They don’t put emphasis on the interaction with followers, potential clients and thought leaders in the respective field.

Relevant interactions, however, increase visibility and add to the online reputation of the brand. 

The first aspect of interacting on social media involves handling information requests. Some of the latest stats suggest that 79 percent of customers expect a response to their social media publications within 24 hours. Of all social media users, 39 percent anticipate a response from brands in 60 minutes!

It’s vital to be present and responsive every single day. Interacting with your audience creates a sense of community. Being quick to respond also demonstrates good customer service and attention to detail. Not only will you handle requests in the best possible manner, you’ll also collect invaluable feedback about key aspects of running your business.

The other aspect of brand interactions involves engaging with thought leaders and industry reps. Sharing their content, publishing comments on their pages and even considering collaborations can be incredibly beneficial for both parties involved. You’ll be reaching a well-established audience that may be unaware of your social media presence. In addition, you’ll be establishing your solid positions within the industry.

As you can see, a good social media marketing strategy has many elements. It’s tailored to the respective platform, in line with your brand identity and regularly modified. Social media groups are living, breathing “creatures” that evolve all the time. If you’re present and you pay attention to key dynamics, you can deliver a powerful message that will reach the right audience and help generate conversions.