Today, social networks are not only platforms for communication, but also full-fledged platforms for doing business.

The inexorable growth in the popularity of social media networks is accompanied by an increase in business interest in these sites. Today, the digital presence is vital for any company, and the absence of a work account is bad manners in the business environment.

Everyone wants to post content on social networks to attract users and increase sales. But not everyone can. The demand of huge number of content generation has also increased demand for social media management tools to simply content publishing work. We will tell you about the main genres or types of posts that exist on social networks. This information will help you understand how social media content is created and will be helpful when preparing posts for your business promotion.

Why businesses need content marketing

Among the multi-million audience of social networks for each business there is its own. It’s stupid not to use it.

With content, you can:

• let the audience learn more about the product or product;
• increase loyalty;
• show an expert level;
• attract new subscribers;
• find out the needs of the target audience;
• increase conversion.

Without a clear knowledge of why and for whom to generate content, no one will need it. And this means that the business will not gain social media followers, which means not getting potential customers, and investments in this area will be wasted.

So, the key to progress lies in the preparation of a competent content marketing strategy.

1. Set a goal

It is impossible to measure the result if there was no goal in the beginning. They might be the following:

• Lowering the cost of a lead: you may spend less money on ads if you have a good reputation.
• Increase awareness: The targeted audience will have a better understanding of the product and the firm as a result of the valuable material, which will lessen resistance.
• Increasing the number of clicks to the website: it will attract more visitors, which will help rank it higher in search engines.
• Determine the audience’s needs: you have a good understanding of readers’ interests, as well as their demands and pains. Any promotion campaign will benefit from a thorough understanding of the target audience.

Performance indicators are monitored based on the goal: the number of new customers, reach, likes, and visits to the website.

2. Study target audience

It’s hard to promote something by content marketing without mentioning the target group.

When analyzing the target audience, you need to find out:

• gender and age;
• place of residence;
• what social networks do you spend more time on?
• estimated income;
• what their interests are, what they read;
• what problem can the purchase of the product solve?

More attention should be paid to information about which social network is a priority for the target audience. Each network has its own characteristics, respectively, and the promotion strategy will vary. Do not spray on all social networks. It is better to choose 2 and give them due attention.

3. Study the competition

Competitors can look at:

• in which networks they are published;
• which entries receive user feedback;
• what content dominates (text, photo or video file format, etc.);
• what is the frequency of posts, etc.

You can determine the direction of the growth of your own accounts after studying the advertised groups of rivals.

4. Choose the type of publication and subjects

Following a thorough examination of the target group and competitors, it will already be clear what is interesting to potential clients. You have to continually test and analyze the reader’s reaction in order to provide something useful.

What content to post? First of all, interesting for readers and viewers. Often you can see how the brand feed begins to dazzle with posts only about promotions and discounts. This is considered spam.

To hold the audience’s attention, publications should be diversified and focused on various topics.

The main types of marketing content are described below.

Educational. It should be at least 50%. The goal of this type of information is to educate the user and demonstrate their competence. Posts should be on the brand and not about everything that is going on in the world.

Entertaining. It should be around 30% of the total number of publications. People generally use social media for enjoyment. You can include games, surveys, and interactive activities as part of the entertainment content. This increases the activity in the group and invigorates the participants. The most important thing is to publish high-quality photographs, video content, and gifs.

Particular attention should be paid to the video format, which is taking up more and more space on social networks today. The most important thing is to come up with good ideas and know what your audience might like. As for editing, there are many programs for a variety of needs, budgets, and platforms, take at least native iMovie app or iMovie for Windows.

Branded. There should be roughly 10% of this type of substance. You can include information about the product, the company, promotions, and discounts. It will not be superfluous to also dilute the posts with contests in the format “How to …”, company’s news, humor (memes, gifs, etc.), reviews, infographics, master classes, etc. The post template should be designed in a corporate style.

5. Compile all of the data into a content marketing plan

You must know the direction in order to see where you are going. As a result, the information gathered must be compiled. This may be accomplished using SEO research and many templates in the form of tables that are freely accessible on the Internet.

A content plan is required in addition to the overall promotion approach. After becoming perplexed for one day (with the assistance of a content panner), you may proceed according to the plan for a month without racking your brains. You may include not only the topic of the post but also the predicted reaction in the content strategy. You may also include cells to track reader reactions.

The output frequency might also vary. However, for commercial accounts, the normal guideline is 1-2 publishes each day. Each niche has its own variations on this.

Features and problems of promotion through content marketing

Results should be reviewed regularly. It’s important to experiment. It is necessary to take into account the reaction of the audience to a particular format, change the release time of publications, their number, etc. By experience, you can understand what the target audience likes. Without analysis and strategy adjustment, content marketing is a waste of money.

It is expensive. The services of a marketer, copywriter, designer, and Social Media Marketing manager cost money. The effect of the promotion will not be immediate. At the beginning of the journey, you need to invest in order to get an effect in the future. And if you quickly abandon everything, then the investment will be in vain.

Want to recoup costs as soon as possible. Many people want to make a profit as soon as possible. As a result, more ads and less useful content begin to appear in the feed. If loyal users will forgive the abundance of advertising (but not for long), then new subscribers will not like it.

The desire to get a cool group by any means. A serious mistake would be cheating likes and subscribers. The ultimate goal of promotion in social networks is to increase sales. Bots won’t buy anything.

Conclusion

Content marketing in social networks is a financially and time-consuming method of promotion with a delayed result. But with a skillful approach, it will begin to make a profit. The cost of subscribers and leads will gradually decrease, and social networks will become an inexpensive promotion channel. It is important not to stop and keep working.