Investing time and resources in social media is a good idea. But it’s important to have a very clear idea of what you want to achieve. Because unfortunately, posting regularly does not guarantee success. Around the world, the number of social network users continues to grow. 1.22 billion people use Instagram each month. On YouTube, more than 2.6 billion people watch content every month. And as for TikTok, the app has 1 billion monthly active users.
Many of these users are also share content. Every day, millions of posts are made on social media. So how do you stand out among competitors on social media? While well-established brands can grab the attention of users more easily, reputation alone isn’t enough. To grow a community and be sure users interact with the posts, your content must be relevant.
That’s why having a good social media strategy is very beneficial. This means that brands must consider in advance the kinds of posts they want to share and the goal they want to reach. When doing so they must define their main target audience and create a content calendar, taking into account all the aspects mentioned above.
Do brands have a social media strategy?
But are brands really thinking about their social media strategy? In 2022, it’s a clear yes. All of this work is done in-house for 65% of companies, according to a study conducted by Meltwater. In the same study, we find that 25% of respondents outsource less than half of their social media efforts to an agency, and only 2% outsource all their social media efforts.
The study also shed some light on brands’ social media objectives. Here are a few of the main ones:
- increase brand awareness for 82.5% of respondents,
- increase brand engagement for 61.8% of respondents,
- attract new customers for 48.3%.
Having a well thought-out social media marketing strategy is key for companies. But it’s always worth considering whether the strategy you’re pursuing is the right one. Indeed, digital trends and tools move quickly. Companies need to be agile and able to make last-minute changes to make sure their content meet users’ expectations. For example, in 2022, 40% of individuals surveyed have decided to rely more on TikTok than any other platforms. The app appeals to them as it allows them to boost their visibility easily. Unlike Instagram and YouTube, the content on TikTok is much less saturated and the algorithm gives everyone a chance if the post is well thought out.
When creating a social media strategy, choosing the right social media platform isn’t the only thing that matters. Companies need to think about the right way to do it. And content is still key. In 2022, 68% of brands said that content creation remains a top priority. Their desire to work on the message they convey on social media aims to achieve several objectives:
- 46.9% want to gain more followers,
- 34.9% want to generate more leads,
- 27.6% want to increase their sales.
What if the best way achieve this was to call on influencers?
Create your social media strategy with influencers
Creating content, maintaining a community, understanding users’ needs and interests in order to better communicate with them… What do all these aspects have in common? They perfectly describe the daily work of content creators. If companies want to have a better idea of how to use social media, they should turn to influencers: they can help them learn and offer interesting collaborations.
Even today, many brands still believe that influencer partnerships simply mean gifting products in exchange for a post. Over the past decade, the influencer marketing sector has grown significantly. Influencer marketing is now a key tool that’s just as important as the other strategies implemented throughout the year. When it comes to social media, partnering with a content creator can give companies a real boost.
But how do you include influencers in your strategy? To understand how collaborations between brands and influencers work, let’s take the example of Fnac, a large French retail chain.
During the lockdown, the company’s social media team decided to post more on Instagram and to better engage its users. At first, the objective was clear: to get as many people as possible to follow the page. In order to quickly reach one million followers, Fnac organised lots of contests with influencers such as Squeezie and Léna Situations. To participate and win the prize, you just had to follow the company’s profile.
Once the Instagram page managed to get a sizeable follower base, the team had to think up a content strategy. They wanted to ensure that people wouldn’t unfollow the page once these contests were over. But how do you keep followers as engaged as possible in the content and get them to buy in-store or online? Once again, the team got thinking about what kind of content would work best. In the end, they decided on a video series where influencers share their favourites. Artists were also interviewed and new contests were created.
For an influencer marketing strategy to work, brands must create an editorial calendar and plan content in advance. It’s also essential to think about what goal you want to achieve. Do you want to increase your visibility? Improve your brand image? Increase the number of people following the company page? Once all that is clear, it’s easier for both the brand and the influencer to come up with content that lots of people will enjoy.
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