Social Media is FREE, right? Sure, it's free to post a message, photo, or even a video, but...there are some disclaimers to that statement!
It's "free" to post, but you need to "Boost" in order to reach a larger audience, and you need to target your audience so that they may be interested in viewing your post. And you'll need to have relevance for those viewers to react and engage.
Wait. The post doesn't go out to the World? But what if I have a "big" audience? That term is relevant to your business. Today we will talk about steps to the best social media "Boosting" practices for developing a great plan.
1.) Develop good content
2.) Keep good content coming! 3.) Define your audience
4.) Boost your post
5.) Refine your audience and messages
6.) Spend the money...you'll get it back!
Let's break down that word..."audience" so we can better understand the value of "Boosting."
Look at your followers. Let's say that you have 10,000 followers.. (subtract or add zeros to fit your specific following size) We'll put them ALL in one bowl for illustrative purposes. When you make a post, maybe 25-30% (roughly 2700) of those followers will even see your post. But let's assume that it was a "cool" post and people liked it, and shared it! Now you may reach a few other people outside of your 30% in the bowl. So now you're up to possibly 5,000 people that may have seen your post. Hmmm, not very impressive, but now let's BOOST that post! NOW we can reach a targeted audience of THOUSANDS right? Well, hang on. There's more to that disclaimer.
Imagine that bowl is setting on a plate. That plate may represent the "Boosted" audience of 35-45,000 people! If they are interested (and that's a BIG if) then they "might" be served your post. Still, the same percentages apply which results in nearly 15,000. So for a couple of hundred dollars, you "could" be talking to a few thousand people.
But the population of your city is much bigger than a few thousand, and you want to reach MORE of your local audience, then you'll need to boost to a much larger audience.
Let's go back to the bowl, and the plate analogies. In order to grab a significant audience, you would need to be Boosting to an audience bigger than the bowl. Bigger than the plate. Bigger than the table both are on! In fact, you would need to boost to an audience the size of the entire house that the bowl, plate and table is setting in, to reach enough people to make a substantial impact! That would be a MUCH larger plate! But fill that plate and you'll never be hungry!
Now it's time to cook up something to fill that plate!
If you have strong, relevant, interesting content, you will do MUCH better than just a simple post. Be clever, imaginative, but most of all RELEVANT! Repeat this with EVERY post! Don't do the same post over and over, keep it fresh and engaging. Keep doing this and you are on your way to a smorgasbord of content!
If you define your audience, you will stand a much better chance of being seen and capturing a stronger ROI. Find out just "who" is hungry for "What?"
Decide if you want "local" audience, or a "global" audience. Match the age, sex, activities and associations of followers so you can deliver something relevant.
Boost your post! Spend some money to spread the word!
Watch the interactions, engagement and response. (Who is consuming What) Keep the same metrics and see how your content is performing with your audience. Gauge new posts on this information. Adjust the criteria for your audience and adapt with the correct message.
Once you have refined your audience and message, look at effectiveness and determine what types of investment will make sense for you, your product, and your future business. Proper execution of this recipe will allow you to have financial confidence in your path!
Then commit to a campaign that lasts more than a day or two. Spend the allotted budget. Allow it to develop with your audience. Keep the campaign going until you have reached a goal of either reach, or response.
Now you have a cookbook to effective Social Media...but you are going to need a bigger plate!
Next Blog: Media didn't change, consumer behavior did ...is ...and always will!