How to Run a Social Media Marketing Campaign That Brings You Business

If you’re a business owner who needs to run a social media campaign to connect with more customers, you may not even know where to start; most people don’t. This guide gives you the skinny on running a successful social media marketing campaign so you can boost your bottom line.

How to Run a Social Media Marketing Campaign That Brings You Business

First things first: You don’t need to read this guide if you want to outsource your social media and take a hands-off approach. I can handle your entire social media presence, from running targeted campaigns that include social media ads and organic (non-paid) posts so you can expand your company’s reach and earn more business.

But if you have the time and inclination to work on your own social media campaigns, this guide is here to help.

Check out these nine steps to pulling off an amazing social media marketing campaign:

Define your goals
Zero in on the channels you want to use
Pick a publishing tool
Plan your strategy and choose which metrics matter
Create a content calendar
Design content that’s shareable and engaging
Schedule your posts
Manage the details on your campaign
Review and analyze your results

Here’s a closer look at each.

Social Media Marketing Tip #1: Define Your Goals

To determine whether your social media marketing campaign was successful, you first need to define what success looks like. Do you want to increase brand awareness? Drive traffic to your website? Sell more products or services?

Get specific and think about what kind of return on investment (ROI) you can expect from each goal. That way, you can track whether you’re meeting your targets. Some common goals for social media marketing campaigns include:

Generating leads
Building brand awareness or consideration
Engaging customers or fostering loyalty/advocacy
Increasing website traffic or click-through rates (CTRs)
Driving offline sales or generating online sales revenue

Social Media Marketing Tip #2: Zero In on the Channels You Want to Use

There are tons of social media platforms, and you may be tempted to try them all. But that’s not realistic – and it’s unnecessary.

Focus on a few social media channels that make the most sense for your business. For example, a B2B company may get more ROI from LinkedIn than Facebook, while a B2C company may find Instagram more effective.

Social Media Marketing Tip #3: Pick a Publishing Tool

After you’ve chosen your channels, you need a way to publish content on them. If you’re only using one or two social media platforms, you can probably get away with using the native publishing tools (such as posting directly on LinkedIn or Twitter).

But if you want to post on multiple channels or want more features, like scheduling and analytics, you’ll need a social media management tool. Though I can’t recommend a social media management tool, there are several available. Check Google for reviews and testimonials to find out whether you’re looking at one that won’t let you down.

Social Media Marketing Tip #4: Plan Your Strategy and Choose Which Metrics Matter

After you figure out your goals, channels and publishing tools, it’s time to start putting together your social media marketing campaign.

The first step is to come up with a strategy – in other words, what kind of content are you going to post, and how often will you post it?

Your strategy should be based on your goals, target audience and the kind of product or service you sell.

For example, if you’re a B2B company selling expensive software, you’ll want to focus on creating content that educates prospects about your product so they can see its value. In contrast, a B2C company selling fashion might focus on creating stunning visuals and showing off its product in creative ways.

After you settle on a strategy, start thinking about metrics. What kind of data do you need to track in order to determine whether your campaign is successful? Some common metrics include:

Reach: The number of people who see your content
Engagement: The number of interactions (likes, comments, shares) with your content
Website traffic: The number of people who click through to your website from your social media posts
Leads or sales: The number of leads or sales generated as a result of your campaign

Not all of these metrics will be relevant to every business. Pick the metrics that make the most sense for your business and track them throughout your campaign.

Social Media Marketing Tip #5: Create a Content Calendar

Creating content can be tough – it’s hard to come up with ideas that are both interesting and timely. That’s why it helps to have a content calendar.

A content calendar is a document where you plan out the content you want to publish in advance. Your calendar may include sharing blog posts, social media updates on news related to your business or information on your products, or simply sharing images of the products you offer.

Social Media Marketing Tip #6: Design Content That’s Shareable and Engaging

After your calendar is ready, it’s time to start creating content. But not just any old content will do – your social media posts need to be shareable and engaging if you want people to pay attention.

Some tips for creating shareable content include:

Make sure your visuals are on-point: Whether you’re sharing images, infographics or videos, make sure they’re high quality and visually appealing.
Use strong headlines: Your headline is the first thing people will see, so make sure it’s attention-grabbing and relevant to the rest of your content.
Keep it short and snappy: People have short attention spans, so make sure your content is easy to read and to the point.
Include a call-to-action: Tell people what you want them to do after they’ve read your post, such as visit your website, sign up for your newsletter or take some other action.

Social Media Marketing Tip #7: Schedule Your Posts In Advance

After you prepare your content, it’s time to start posting. But instead of doing it all in one go, schedule your posts in advance so you don’t have to worry about it every day.

Most social media management tools have scheduling features that allow you to plan out your content and automatically post it according to your schedule. This way, you can take a break from social media while still keeping your content flowing.

Social Media Marketing Tip #8: Manage the Details of Your Campaign

Keep tabs on all your posts and watch how successful they are at grabbing people’s attention. If people like, comment on or share your content, make it a two-way street; consumers love it when companies engage with them on social media. If you don’t respond or like other people’s posts, people will view your social media campaign as inauthentic – or worse, notice that you’ve automated it. (This is a major reason that a lot of companies hire social media marketing experts, actually; an expert will respond to consumers and make sure they feel heard.)

Social Media Marketing Tip #9: Review and Analyze Your Results

Analyze your results during (and after) any active campaign. You should always be looking for ways to tweak your strategy to improve your results. For example, if you find that bright, splashy videos garner more attention than black-and-white photos with a lot of text overlay partway through your campaign, make the change immediately – there’s no need to keep doing something that doesn’t work.