Social media budgets are on the line in 2023 as executives demand results, according to new research from Hootsuite. But after yet another turbulent year for brand communities, what does success look like on social media? And how can marketers use social in new ways to drive meaningful results?
In this #ContentChat recap, Brandie McCallum (@LttleWys), a writer and digital marketer, and the community discuss how social media can improve your content marketing strategy, including lessons from the past three years to help you use social to your fullest advantage. Read the full recap below to learn:
- Ways to stand out on social with video
- How to measure your results on social media
- Tips for identifying your opportunities on social
Q1: Given the turbulence of 2022, what are you recommending your clients do with social media in 2023?
Excluding Twitter, Brandie is recommending that her clients stay their course and use social media to collect emails, drive traffic, and engage their communities.
A1: With the exception of Twitter, I am keeping reccos the same. Use social to collect emails, drive traffic to websites & chat with your community!
#ContentChat— Brandie McCallum (@lttlewys) December 5, 2022
A1: I am reserving judgment on Twitter, I have a core group, that still chats and my bestie @KellyInPhoenix keeping me up on Football, otherwise meh! #ContentChat
— Brandie McCallum (@lttlewys) December 5, 2022
I’m always surprised when marketers don’t have clickthroughs on links to owned content as a KPI for their social media programs. It can be such an effective traffic driver.#ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Content Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) December 5, 2022
I’m shocked. It amazes me that people don’t think it through, they spend thousands on a website and don’t maximize #contentchat
— Brandie McCallum (@lttlewys) December 5, 2022
Right?! And if you are #B2B, in particular, driving clickthroughs to your content from buyers who are in the market is one of the most valuable actions social media can drive for you!#ContentChat pic.twitter.com/hnZ0DoGeTv
— Erika Heald | Content Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) December 5, 2022
Lets not forget how it factors into the KPI’s of your budget and the C-Suite! #contentchat
— Brandie McCallum (@lttlewys) December 5, 2022
Review your 2022 social media data to understand what kind of content and which topics you should prioritize in 2023.
A1a: If you haven’t already done so, now is a perfect time to look at your social media data from 2022. What kind of content and which topics got the most engagement on which platforms? Use this information to adjust your 2023 social media mix.#ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Content Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) December 5, 2022
This is a must do! Especially if you don’t do it consistently. Don’t forget to change those passwords and check those bios!! #contentchat
— Brandie McCallum (@lttlewys) December 5, 2022
Conduct social listening—here are eight steps to do so—to identify new communities and platforms that you should explore.
A1b: Next, take a look at what you’ve earned from your social listening. Are there new communities and platforms where your best customers are talking about you or the benefits you deliver? COnsider adding one or more of those platforms to your experiments list.#ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Content Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) December 5, 2022
Remember: The new year is a chance for new beginnings. Be authentic, and use data to guide your strategy.
A1: Be authentic. 2023 is about new beginnings even for legacy brands.#ContentChat
— Sweepsify 🎈 (@Sweepsify_) December 5, 2022
Q2: Many marketers predicted that video content would be increasingly popular on social media—are videos top content?
Videos are great for distilling key concepts or adding a personal touch to build relationships.
A2: Totally. Since the world currently has the attention span of a monkey! Vids, also give that personal touch, feels more connected. #ContentChat
#ContentChat pic.twitter.com/aQ1xuNoS6S— Brandie McCallum (@lttlewys) December 5, 2022
Instagram Reels can be especially powerful, but video content on other channels varies in effectiveness.
A2: Is video the best/top-performing content? It depends. On @Instagram, Reels and other video content get 10x or 100x the engagement of many static posts. But other channels, like @LinkedIn still see better engagement from text or audio posts. So, it depends.#ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Content Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) December 5, 2022
Remember that micro-communities can be impactful, too.
A2: Videos from top influencers and brands, yes.#ContentChat
— Sweepsify 🎈 (@Sweepsify_) December 5, 2022
Partially… Micro communities can be impactful, too. For smaller audiences, these videos mean a lot. It’s not all Kravis & DWTS vids!! #ContentChat
— Brandie McCallum (@lttlewys) December 5, 2022
Much like written content, your video content needs a clear purpose and to provide value for your community.
A2: I think video still has the potential to be top content, especially if optimized with subtitles (please, if you’re reading this, include subtitles on your videos) and if there is a clear purpose. My feeds are overrun with useless videos, but I’m working on it… #ContentChat
— Alek Irvin (@AlekIrvin) December 5, 2022
A2a.: Useless meaning dash cam footage, random security cams, local phone recordings, etc. that provide no value for my day-to-day, just drama or excitement. So, not professional brand videos by any means. #ContentChat (reposted with the correct hashtag)
— Alek Irvin (@AlekIrvin) December 5, 2022
Q3: How do you find the channels that resonate and connect with your community?
Test a few channels to see how your community responds to your content. Budget for this experimentation so that your strategy can continually evolve.
A3: I test. Test some more. Then look at the analytics. Where are people watching my vids, clicking the links. One of my clients gets a lot of traffic from Google biz page.
#ContentChat— Brandie McCallum (@lttlewys) December 5, 2022
I second this! You’ve got to give yourself some time and budget to experiment some, so your strategy doesn’t grow stale.#ContentChat https://t.co/S3XvIqLcgk
— Erika Heald | Content Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) December 5, 2022
A3: Trial and error 🙂 whichever gets me into the most conversations. That’s why Twitter is so great. #ContentChat https://t.co/BbIUevY7NK
— DiKayo | dikayo.eth at #Zoomtopia ♠️❤️♣️♦️ (@dikayodata) December 5, 2022
Demographic data can help you understand who you are reaching on each site.
A3: It depends. In my opinion it’s easiest to go by demographics.#ContentChat
— Sweepsify 🎈 (@Sweepsify_) December 5, 2022
I’ve found that Facebook and LinkedIn demographics are pretty rich. but haven’t found the Twitter demographic data to be as useful. How do you look at and apply learnings from demographics in your strategy? #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Content Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) December 5, 2022
Using Google Tags and compare to the demographics of referral websites to do some estimations.#ContentChat
— Sweepsify 🎈 (@Sweepsify_) December 5, 2022
Directly ask your community what channel(s) they prefer through surveys or focus groups. Supplement this direct feedback with social listening and market research.
A3. In some cases I have done a focus group and actually asked what channel my TA prefers. #contentchat
— Shruti Deshpande 🇮🇳🇬🇧 (@shruti12d) December 5, 2022
Love doing focus groups and 1:1 customer conversations. We can learn a TON from our communities if we only ask them!#ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Content Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) December 5, 2022
Market Research – Stalk em crazy
— Takshi | Social Media Manager & Copywriter 💜 (@takshichopra) December 5, 2022
Q4: How do you measure your social media success?
Link clicks and site traffic are valuable ways to measure if you’re successful on social media.
A4: After I count my Gold Stars!! Link clicks, traffic to website, growth. Love me some Google analytics. #ContentChat pic.twitter.com/LVda2ohizG
— Brandie McCallum (@lttlewys) December 5, 2022
A4: Are users converting? That’s success. #ContentChat
— Sweepsify 🎈 (@Sweepsify_) December 5, 2022
Measure your social media results against your objectives to ensure you’re measuring meaningful things.
A4: I measure my social media results against the objectives I set for social media overall and each channel in particular when I documented my content strategy for the year. Otherwise, we’re just reporting back “what happened” without the business impact.#ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Content Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) December 5, 2022
A4. Agree with that. I used to be in that position where doing a lot would count towards ‘successful’ but not anymore. Doing small yet quality stuff with high impact wins. #ContentChat
— Shruti Deshpande 🇮🇳🇬🇧 (@shruti12d) December 5, 2022
Yes! Exactly. Marketers can’t skate by with reporting back on activities and saying it’s building brand awareness. Social media can—and should—drive real business outcomes.#ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Content Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) December 5, 2022
That’s an issue as well. Many don’t have access to the data they need, it’s difficult to get the full picture if you are just looking at Socal Media data. You need to look at it all! #contentchat
— Brandie McCallum (@lttlewys) December 5, 2022
Focus on the quality of interaction given your community size. A brand with 200 followers that gets 3-10 reactions on average per post is much more successful than a brand with 200,000 followers that gets 3-10 reactions per post.
A4: I like to see a higher engagement rate than competitors or peers, based on follower count. So a brand w/ 200 followers consistently getting 3-10 reactions (likes, shares, comments) per post would be more successful than a brand w/ 200K getting 3-10 reactions. #ContentChat
— Alek Irvin (@AlekIrvin) December 5, 2022
Also I am trying not to be too affected by the leavers. More targeted ones and happier followers are more important.#Contentchat
— Shruti Deshpande 🇮🇳🇬🇧 (@shruti12d) December 5, 2022
Q5: What are the critical metrics or KPIs you’re tracking?
Your metrics should ladder back to your social media goals, which ideally map to your business goals. In general, site traffic, link clicks, and community growth can be valuable metrics to track.
A5: I hate to give you this answer, but I have to! IT DEPENDS!! Haha, sorry. Everyone should have some of the basic/ same goals – Traffic, link clicks, growth. Otherwise, what are your goals? After that, check your goals. I’ll take my shot now! #ContentChat
— Brandie McCallum (@lttlewys) December 5, 2022
A5: My primary social media KPIs are:
1) Clickthroughs to owned content
2) Reshares and comments on curated content
3) Social mentions
4) Month-over-month increase in engagement rates and followers in our target regions#ContentChat— Erika Heald | Content Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) December 5, 2022
If you’re hosting live conversations, look at your attendee numbers and find a time that most people can join and are active.
I look at my Twitter spaces #data and try to switch up the times I host to see which people come when. With live content, it can be hard to negotiate time zones. #ContentChat https://t.co/cCtXb4crE2
— DiKayo | dikayo.eth at #Zoomtopia ♠️❤️♣️♦️ (@dikayodata) December 5, 2022
How has your content performed over time? Look at your most and least popular content. What can you learn from each?
A5: Popularity of top tweets over time. Which ones are truly evergreen.#ContentChat
— Sweepsify 🎈 (@Sweepsify_) December 5, 2022
Engagement is a major metric to track. Do people like, share, or comment on your content? Each of these actions is often the first step toward building trust with your brand (which is essential for eventually driving a sale).
I must say visits to websites are far less via social media which is discouraging but then the social media itself does pretty well with decent amount of engagement. Which is confusing! #ContentChat
— Shruti Deshpande 🇮🇳🇬🇧 (@shruti12d) December 5, 2022
I haven’t figured out this glitch either. If the goal is to get the folks to our website then does great social engagement matter if it doesn’t meet that goal?#ContentChat
— Kathryn Lang – hopesmith and dream ignitor (@Kathrynclang) December 5, 2022
Love this question!
Engagement, such as a like or a comment, is often the first step towards building that trust and honing in on what your community cares about. #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Content Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) December 5, 2022
One of my clients tends to have 3x the clicks through to their owned content than all other engagements for their social content. But it took us several years of optimizing our approach to get there!#ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Content Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) December 5, 2022
I remember when training sales people, we told them, People will say yes after the 10th no. Meaning, you needed to build a relationship, take time to answer questions before taking, Social is the same, give before taking #ContentChat
— Brandie McCallum (@lttlewys) December 5, 2022
Always nurture, engage and be consistent in your messaging. They will turn around if they find you relevant #ContentChat pic.twitter.com/XDB4fZpL8a
— Shruti Deshpande 🇮🇳🇬🇧 (@shruti12d) December 5, 2022
Q6: What advice would you share with someone who is new to creating a social media strategy?
Join peer groups to chat strategy and seek help when you need it. Be ready to adjust your methods based on your data—experimenting is the best way to optimize your strategy.
A6: Join peer groups, READ, READ More, and check the data. Adjust your methods, social media is the ever changing, it’s not set in stone, be ready to change what you are doing! #ContentChat pic.twitter.com/ixfMiEd4RS
— Brandie McCallum (@lttlewys) December 5, 2022
It’s ridiculous when people say we have always done it this way on social media ..like what!! #ContentChat
— Shruti Deshpande 🇮🇳🇬🇧 (@shruti12d) December 5, 2022
Pay attention to how the algorithms prioritize and serve content across channels.
A6: Learn the algo as much as you learn your audience. Every time you build a campaign, there will be differences in how people engage with your content.#ContentChat
— Sweepsify 🎈 (@Sweepsify_) December 5, 2022
Love this. Also learn to experiment a bit. Results can be surprising.#contentchat
— Shruti Deshpande 🇮🇳🇬🇧 (@shruti12d) December 5, 2022
When you’re first getting started, it’s best to focus on just one or two channels. This helps you give your best effort in a couple of places, giving you the necessary time to learn your community’s needs and find how to engage them with content.
A6. Here’s some:
👉 Always remember your audience
👉Set clear objectives
👉Focus on fewer channels
👉Repurpose content
👉Be consistent
👉Have an integrated marketing strategy. Social media on its own is not gonna get you sales! #ContentChat— Shruti Deshpande 🇮🇳🇬🇧 (@shruti12d) December 5, 2022
Conduct a competitor social media audit to see what’s working and where you can stand out.
A6: Before you start to document your social media strategy, take stock of what your sales competitors and your content competitors are doing on social. What’s working well, and where are gaps you can fill? What does “good” look like for engagement in your industry?#ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Content Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) December 5, 2022
Do not reinvent the wheel as they say. You may find some quick wins right there #ContentChat
— Shruti Deshpande 🇮🇳🇬🇧 (@shruti12d) December 5, 2022
Loop in other teams to help you source content. Public relations teams, for example, can share relevant industry news articles, thought leadership content from your executives, or coverage of your brand that you can curate on social.
A6: My advice for someone new to creating a #socialmedia strategy:
– Pick 1-2 channels to start
– Start small with your posting cadence (the goal is to be consistent)
– Loop in other teams to source content from. PR or comms can be especially helpful!#ContentChat— Alek Irvin (@AlekIrvin) December 5, 2022
Selectively jump on trends, as long as they’re relevant to your brand or identity.
Don’t forget to improvise and jump on some trends or try a little #Hashjacking. Make it relevant but do it! @Wendys & @Arbys are great at that! #contentchat https://t.co/yHfX1qf50X
— Brandie McCallum (@lttlewys) December 5, 2022
Q7: What are your favorite resources to recommend for community & content?
Check out the below resources to learn more about social media and content marketing. Who or what is missing from this list? Let us know using #ContentChat on Twitter or LinkedIn.
A7: @SFErika, obviously… she has an amazing community. @CMIContent, @MarketingProfs (GET @AnnHandley Everybody Writes2) , @KateBuckJr. Find the FB, Li, or Discord groups, don’t be afraid to ask questions! #ContentChat
— Brandie McCallum (@lttlewys) December 5, 2022
A7: In addition to those @lttlewys mentioned, check out the @MarketingProfs pro membership (I’ve been a member ever since I first visited the site in 2013. Always learning something new from the smart folks there)#ContentChat pic.twitter.com/eIS21bLSIB
— Erika Heald | Content Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) December 5, 2022
Q8: What do you predict will happen with social media in 2023? Are there any new platforms we should check out?
Many of us will explore new social media channels in 2023, especially private channels like Discord and Slack.
A8: 2023 is going to have it’s challenges,I mean, did you see @Pantone‘s color of the year? It is going to be like an episode of #Yellowstone!! I’ve been checking out Post, Mastodon, and Discord. #ContentChat pic.twitter.com/qbrttr3zvb
— Brandie McCallum (@lttlewys) December 5, 2022
A8: I’m anticipating more break out apps to make unique content on the top social media platforms
Content produced by these apps will be the new “filters” this year IMO#ContentChat
— Sweepsify 🎈 (@Sweepsify_) December 5, 2022
A8: I think 2023 will be the year private social takes root. I envision people (and brands) spending more time in Discord, Slack, and other private, curated groups and less time on public social platforms.#ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Content Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) December 5, 2022
Mastodon may rise in popularity, but some of our community members haven’t loved the Mastodon experience.
A8 I’m keeping an eye on Mastodon. I have seen quite a few jump ship. But it hadn’t tempted me enough yet. #ContentChat
— Shruti Deshpande 🇮🇳🇬🇧 (@shruti12d) December 5, 2022
Dipped in my toes.. MEH. Super underwhelmed, very similar to Slack #contentchat pic.twitter.com/jk2j6rKGWT
— Brandie McCallum (@lttlewys) December 5, 2022
I haven’t spent a lot of time there, but same. You can @ mention people or comment on their posts and literally receive no indication they saw your comment or care. It’s been a bit of a bummer.#ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Content Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) December 5, 2022
One thing’s certain: social media will be critical for customer care and branding.
The social-first approach to brand and customer care strategy will dominate social media for brands wanting to reap big.#ContentChat
— Titus Kores (@thadigitalguru) December 6, 2022
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