Plugging your organization’s marketing efforts into social media is a great way to build links back to your site. A recent study by Convince & Convert found that 22% of Americans use social networking sites several times per-day.1 With so many users active on social media, there are numerous opportunities to engage with followers.

Some organizations are masters at fostering their communities and developing a social brand, yet find it difficult to convert followers into site traffic. The key to generating more traffic is to align your campaigns with your audience. When your social media campaigns are centered around your audience, your social media strategies will be more responsive to your followers.

To help you gain the traffic you want, we’ve created a list of 4 social media campaign essentials:

Choosing The Right Networks

There are hundreds social media networks to choose from, but you’ll want focus on networks that best reflect your brand. Take into consideration how your brand aligns with the platform’s main demographics and its depth of engagement. Here are some popular platforms to consider:

  • Facebook: According to Pew Research Center, nearly 72% of online American adults use Facebook.2 The platform is also adaptable for mobile use and has a relatively massive character limit of 63,206.
  • Twitter: Unlike Facebook, Twitter carries a strict 140-character limit and only reaches 23% of adult users.3 While Twitter may seem lacking in overall users, a study by Sprout Social found that 49% of Twitter users follow brand or companies compared.4 This is massive compared to the average 16% of other networks.
  • LinkedIn: The most direct platform for engaging with professionals is LinkedIn. The platform has nearly 128 million users in the U.S. and growing.5
  • Google+: The unique thing about Google+ is all Gmail accounts have one. Postings on the platform are also indexed by Google’s search engine, making it ideal for quality content.

Develop a Content Strategy

The focus of every social media campaign should be to promote useful content. It’s not enough for content to have a catchy headline. To gain a boost in referral traffic, you’ll want to create content that offers meaning information for your audience so that they share it on their accounts.

There are many types of content that work well with social media. Depending on your audience and the timing of your posts, some article types will offer more traffic than others. Here are some article types to consider:

  • How-To Articles: Reviews a problem and offers a step-by-step solution.
  • Informative Articles: Offers factual information on a specific topic.
  • Influential Articles: Offers opinions with reasons and supporting ideas.
  • Lists: A curated list that is focused around a specific topic.

It’s always a best business practice to publish articles that align with the content on your site. For more information about developing content strategies that will earn your site’s traffic, fill and submit our short form here.

Find Your Ideal Followers

An organization’s community of followers can be as diverse as it is large. The key to earning more traffic is to focus around those followers who will bring you the most traffic. Organizations with a high number of followers but low levels of engagement and inbound traffic is a sign of poor content to audience alignment.

Most social media platforms offer basic demographic information on your followers, such as age, interests, location, and occupation. Build persona profiles about your ideal followers and focus your content efforts around their needs, challenges, and habits.

Track Your Progress

A major component of any social media campaign is keeping track of valuable metrics and reporting. While the metrics that are available to you may vary by platform, these four metrics are essential for evaluating the quantitative value of your efforts:

  • Growth in Followers/Fans: Is there growth in the amount of followers/fans you have? What are the drivers for more followers/fans?
  • Engagement: Are followers/fans engaging with your posts? Which content is generating the most engagement?
  • Timing of Traffic Peaks: How long does traffic for your content last? Are your posts being made at the appropriate time?
  • Click-Through Rate: How many clicks per-impression are you seeing?

There are many tools available that can help you track the progress of your social media campaigns. Some metrics, like engagement by Hashtags are much more difficult to track. Download our free Hashtag Counter Tool to start tracking the value of your hashtags.

Developing an effective social media campaign is a great way to generate more traffic and find leads. Social media strategies run the risk of falling short if your campaigns don’t align well with your brand, audience, or platform. By following these 4 essentials, you’ll see higher quality traffic flowing from your social media networks.

With a long history of developing successful digital strategies, Strongpages has generated significant results for clients across all industries. Strongpages offers professional content development services that drive conversions and generates new business for clients across various industries.

To learn more about how content development services will help you reach your digital marketing goals, fill out our form and a content expert will contact you soon! Don’t forget to follow our Twitter: @Strongpages & LinkedIn: Strongpages for SEO and PPC success!

 

1 Jay B. “11 Shocking New Social Media Statistics in America”. Convince & Convert. http://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-media-research/11-shocking-new-social-media-statistics-in-america/
2 Maeve D. “The Demographics of Social Media Users”. Pew Research Center. http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/08/19/the-demographics-of-social-media-users/
3 Ibid.
4 Dominique J. “Which is Best for Your Brand”. Sprout Social. http://sproutsocial.com/insights/facebook-vs-twitter/
5 Craig S. “125+ Amazing LinkedIn Statistics”. Expended Ramblings. http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/by-the-numbers-a-few-important-linkedin-stats/