If you think social media is just a digital marketing fad for brands to drive engagement, pause for a moment.

With nearly 5 billion active users across platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and TikTok, social media platforms connect top brands, and their adoption continues to grow.

Social media usage trends (via Datareportal)
Social media usage trends (via Datareportal)

Social media marketing is one of the key marketing tactics for business owners to drive brand awareness among their target audience and boost sales.

The only downside? Managing social media can be overwhelming, especially for small businesses trying to build their brand and get more customer reviews.

Here, we’ll look at several examples from the best brands on social media. We’ll break down their strategies to uncover easy and actionable tips to win over your audience’s hearts and minds.

Nike: Inspiring Real-Life GOATS

Nike is a social media marketing legend, boasting over 400 million followers across various social networks. The iconic shoe brand excels at highlighting the authenticity of professional athletes, offering its audience a glimpse into their daily lives. 

Such content resonates with Nike’s audience, making it relatable and helping the brand ignite social media conversations.

Here are some examples of content Nike typically posts to spark engagement:

  • Sharing behind-the-scenes content. Nike shares photos and video content of athletes training, warming up, or just hanging out with their teammates, giving fans a glimpse into athletes’ real lives.
  • Featuring athletes from all walks of life. Nike’s social media doesn’t solely focus on big names; it also spotlights athletes from diverse backgrounds — both students and professionals. This content instills confidence in fans, assuring them that anyone can achieve their dreams.
  • Telling stories of resilience and perseverance. Nike athletes are celebrated for overcoming adversity and achieving remarkable feats. The brand reinforces these tales on social media to inspire followers to never give up on their aspirations.

Nike embraces a “show vs. tell” strategy in its social media campaigns, solidifying customers’ trust in its products by illustrating how they play a pivotal role in their journey to becoming better athletes and individuals.

A screenshot of Nike's Instagram page showing how it uses inspiring stories from athletes to connect to its audience
Inspiring active lifestyle (via Instagram)

GoPro: Promoting User-Generated Content

GoPro curates and shares its customers’ best photos and eye-catching videos captured with GoPro cameras. New customers can experience firsthand how GoPro captures high-quality, engaging content without much photographer intervention.

This tactic attracts adventure enthusiasts who can’t handle bulky equipment but want to capture high-quality images outdoors. Think about taking pictures while kayaking or rafting. How can you manage the equipment when both hands are in use? Just GoPro!

A screenshot from GoPro's Instagram showing a curated and eye-catching customer video
The ease of capturing every adventurous moment (via Instagram)

Besides user-generated content (UGC), GoPro also produces videos of extreme athletes in-house to keep its social media content thriving. These videos are less than a minute long, making them ideal for Instagram stories and tweets. They’re also easy to share and garner 2.5 times more social media engagement than longer videos.

The video marketing strategy by GoPro is definitely one to take note of.

Netflix: Creating Pop Culture Trends

Netflix is one of the best brands on and off social media. It leads with quirky pop culture trends and funny memes that appeal to millennials. The powerhouse brand responds to the interests and values of this demographic, making it likable, relatable, and popular.

Netflix’s social team is quite active and personable. For example, they regularly post memes from popular Netflix shows or movies and create quizzes or polls asking followers to share their opinions on their favorite characters or storylines. Interactive content keeps Netflix top of mind and makes it fun for followers to engage with its content.

Netflix's Instagram post with a meme from a popular Netflix show
Netflix audience loves #memeified content (via Instagram)

Starbucks: Hand-Crafting Social Media Stories

Starbucks, a coffee giant, boasts a strong presence with nearly 60 million followers across all social media platforms. The brand regularly shares compelling content that showcases its commitment to sustainability. It highlights new menu items, introduces the coffee farmers it partners with, and emphasizes its focus on sustainability.

Starbucks also frequently shares fun facts, coffee tips, and behind-the-scene shots of how its drinks are made to educate its target audience and build brand loyalty. 

A Starbucks Instagram post showing behind-the-scene shots of the farmers that supply its coffee beans
Recognizing the real “coffee-champions” and inspiring authenticity (via Instagram)

Storytelling is evident throughout Starbucks’ tweets and Instagram posts:

  • A video of a barista making a latte with foam art.
  • A photo of a coffee tree with a caption explaining how coffee beans are grown.
  • A video of a Starbucks employee visiting a coffee farm in Guatemala.
  • A behind-the-scenes look at Starbucks’ coffee bean roasting process.
  • A fun fact about the history of coffee.
  • A coffee tip on how to make the perfect cup of coffee at home.

A more ethical and credible brand naturally attracts everyday brand ambassadors.

Dove: Championing the Brand Purpose

Dove’s Real Beauty campaign is an excellent example of connecting social media initiatives with a brand purpose.

The brand consistently promotes body positivity and self-esteem across all its social media channels, including its YouTube channel. It has attracted millions of followers and has established itself as a socially conscious beauty brand.

Dove’s marketing campaigns resonate deeply with its target audience because they are authentic, uplifting, and mission-driven. The brand doesn’t just sell personal care products—it champions the message of self-acceptance and empowerment.

A Dove Twitter post furthering the message of self-acceptance and empowerment.
Every color is beautiful (via X)

Observing how Dove uses the same marketing tools as everyone else provides inspiration for standing out in a crowded market.

The takeaway? Identify your core purpose and align your social media strategy with that purpose. When brands share authentic and meaningful content that aligns with customers’ values, they foster a culture of trust and connection.

Airbnb: Spotlighting Authentic Experiences

Traveling in the post-pandemic era is all about experience-based adventures. People are eager to explore the world and create lasting memories. Airbnb leverages social media to showcase the unique experiences, exotic locales, and exceptional superhosts its platform provides.

Airbnb’s marketing strategy places a strong emphasis on storytelling. This leading brand shares authentic testimonials and vacation tales that promote exclusivity and drive demand across social media platforms. 

The novel marketing campaign helps Airbnb connect with its audience on a deeper level, fostering trust. By highlighting the platform’s unique experiences and diverse offerings, Airbnb draws in new users and inspires them to travel.

An airbnb Instagram post showcasing a new experience in Japan
Unique and authentic experiences to not miss out (via Instagram)

Unlike many tech and e-commerce giants, Airbnb doesn’t host a podcast. Instead, brand ambassadors frequently share their experiences as homeowners and investors — a distinctive approach to conversations about the brand.

National Geographic: Inspiring Through Breathtaking Visuals

With over 300 million followers across social platforms, National Geographic has perfected the art of delivering inspirational and educational content.

Their Instagram account is a prime example, showcasing stunning wildlife photography, unreal landscapes, and captivating creature close-ups. However, its informative and engaging captions truly set Nat Geo apart.

Nat Geo’s captions are not mere descriptions of the photos. They provide context, history, and scientific insights. They also narrate stories about the featured animals and places and often pose questions to ignite curiosity and discussion.

For instance, a recent post on Nat Geo’s Instagram account had the following caption:

An example of a Nat Geo caption providing context, history, and scientific insights into the wildlife
A moment of peace in the African savanna (via Instagram)

National Geographic masterfully balances text and video content, illustrating how nature is a complex and fascinating place full of amazing relationships between different species. This also serves as a reminder of the importance of protecting our planet and its wildlife.

The 135-year-old company has certainly embraced TikTok to connect with a younger and more diverse audience. With over three million TikTok followers eagerly consuming its educational content, it stands out as one of the top brands to follow on social media.

OREO: Being Clever and Timely

When it comes to social media content, OREO takes the crown for its clever, creative, and timely posts. The brand knows how to align its content with culturally relevant moments, grabbing followers’ attention at the perfect time.

For instance, during the 2013 Super Bowl blackout, OREO posted a witty tweet that read, “You can still dunk in the dark.” It went viral, generating millions of impressions.

Oreos famous tweet posted on Twitter, now X.
A dunk that makes life a little bit sweeter & trendier (via X)

This move is now known as the “OREO moment” among social media marketers, often cited as an example of a top brand successfully leveraging an opportunistic event unfolding in real time.

Since then, OREO has also utilized its social media presence to promote new products and flavors in unique and engaging ways. For instance, a recent post highlighted the Barbie phenomenon.

For a cookie that’s been around since 1912, OREO does a phenomenal job of cutting through the marketing noise and achieving exceptional brand loyalty. 

Wendy’s: Throwing Friendly Shade

Wendy’s social media team has fully embraced its role as sassy social media experts. Their Twitter account is renowned for its humorous, biting responses to follower comments and feisty jabs at competitors.

When a follower asked Wendy’s to describe their food in three words, they responded with “Never frozen beef.”

They also tactically called out the “missing beef” from McDonald’s recent marketing campaigns, a key ingredient that helps Wendy’s stand out.

Wendys on Twitter: Where's the Beef?
Wendy’s beefing it up (via X)

Wendy’s isn’t afraid to poke fun. Their distinct, irreverent tone shines through and gets people talking, driving brand awareness and customer loyalty.

Not every small business owner should emulate Wendy’s, but they should consider the attitudes and interests of their target audience. For instance, having fun safely is central to the Phat Rides customer experience. 

Wayfair: Educating and Inspiring

Wayfair is more than just a home goods retailer. Their social media tutorials teach followers how to transform a house into a home. With DIY hacks and insightful tips on platforms like Instagram and Pinterest, they cover topics ranging from design trends and seasonal decorating to organizing small spaces and offering cleaning advice.

Wayfair also prominently curates and promotes UGC, showcasing innovative ways customers have styled their products in their homes. These inspirational visuals garner numerous likes and pins, contributing significantly to Wayfair’s $12 billion annual revenue.

Wayfair showcasing innovative ways customers have styled their products in their homes
Your home is where your heart is (via Instagram)

How Small Businesses Can Win on Social Media

To implement social media strategies on a large scale, you need resources that many small businesses may not have. So, what can they do to adopt the strategies that big brands follow to up their social game?

  • Try influencer marketing. Collaborate with nano or micro-influencers (10,000–100,000 engaged followers) in your niche to increase your reach and credibility.
  • Spotlight UGC. Encourage your followers to tag you in social content featuring your products. Then, repost these photos and videos to boost credibility and build brand trust
  • Follow trends. Use key events like holidays, film and television releases, viral music scores, and more to craft branded social media content that catches the trend wave and engages your audience.
  • Educate and inspire. Post tips, fun facts, and behind-the-scenes content that offers value beyond promotions.
  • Perfect your brand voice. Develop a consistent brand personality that reflects your style and values; social media posts should “feel” like your company.

Consistency, quality content, and engagement are key to building a thriving social community that grows with your business.

🏆 Looking for a powerful social media management solution? 🏆
See how Nextiva simplifies social media for small businesses today. 

Defy Convention to Ace the Social Space

Becoming a top brand on social media begins and ends with consistency, high-quality content, and aligning your interests with those of your audience. It’s more than just using the right hashtag or engaging trendy influencers.

Small businesses need to challenge conformity.

For your target audience to see your brand, remember it, and even talk about it, you have to take chances to stand out. Sometimes, this means being passionately committed to customer success or highlighting a problem that needs to be addressed.

Other times, it’s about ensuring your social media content doesn’t just feel like a marketing campaign but is entertaining, inspiring, or refreshingly honest. 

Related: Noteworthy Social Media Trends for Business Growth

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alex Doan

Alex Doan is an experienced senior marketing professional specializing in propelling growth for both B2B and B2C companies. Proficient in streamlining marketing operations for seamless sales transitions, utilizing analytics and consumer insights to achieve measurable outcomes. Committed to enhancing lead and customer experiences through effective journey mapping.

Posts from this author

Reputation and public perception are major contributors to sales, profits, and the success of any business. 

Nothing damages a small business’s reputation more than a social media crisis. A social media crisis can turn consumer sentiment against a brand if left unchecked. 

However, with a preventative and proactive approach to social media crisis management, small businesses can withstand a crisis and even bolster their brand’s reputation in the face of the nastiest social media crisis.

This comprehensive guide covers all social media crisis management aspects relevant to small business owners.

What Is a Social Media Crisis?

A social media crisis is a situation on social media that significantly harms the reputation of an individual, organization, or brand. This situation can arise from various unexpected events or controversies, such as offensive or insensitive content posted by the brand, customer complaints, and or other misconduct by employees.

Social media crises often happen unexpectedly and threaten to damage a brand’s reputation. 

In one survey, 69% of business owners said they experienced a crisis over the last five years, and 95% of leaders said their social media crisis action plan needs improvement. 

These crises can occur for many reasons, often beyond the business’s power to prevent — in many instances, all you can do is respond. But your decision-making in times of crisis and how you respond makes or breaks the public’s perception of your business. 

For example, a disgruntled customer’s negative post or review might go viral; an employee might upset a customer, or a social media post from your brand might be insensitive and misinterpreted by the public.

example of a social media update gone wrong

Social media crises can also arise if your business makes a decision that doesn’t align with customer expectations — like when PayPal decided to update their “Acceptable Use Policy” last year with a clause that allows PayPal to withdraw $2,500 from users’ accounts if that user posted anything the company deemed as “misinformation or offensive.” 

Understandably, this resulted in a social media crisis in the form of the #BankruptPayPal movement, with customers turning to Twitter to first spread the news about PayPal’s decision and then to encourage others to take action by closing their PayPal accounts:

The boycott directly impacted PayPal’s value, causing it to drop over 13% following its policy update. This shows the potential business impact of a social media crisis: 

PayPal boycott trend on Twitter following its policy update

Other examples of social media crises include: 

  • False information being spread about your company 
  • Security breaches exposing customers’ private data
  • Illegal or inappropriate behavior by staff

If left unmanaged, these crises WILL spread rapidly through social media marketing platforms — because nothing moves faster than bad news. Failure to manage these crises properly will ruin your public image, directly impacting sales, profits, and business success. 

The Importance of a Social Media Crisis Management Plan 

Every small business needs a social media crisis management plan regardless of size or industry. 

This procedure outlines who does what during a crisis and contains established steps to follow. Such a plan helps you mitigate damage by responding quickly and effectively.

Critical elements of an effective social media crisis management plan include:

Defining a crisis response team

Who are the key internal stakeholders that will make decisions and deliver the response? Typically, this includes social media policy managers, PR and communication spokespersons, customer service, executives, and legal, if necessary.

Monitoring and listening

How will you monitor social media and the web to detect emerging crises in real time? Use social listening tools to track brand mentions, hashtags, negative comments, etc.

Internal communication

How will information flow internally, and how will decisions be made quickly during a crisis? Outline stakeholders, reporting structures, and channels. A comprehensive social media crisis communication plan describes response protocols.

External response strategy

How will you communicate externally across social media and other channels? Have pre-approved templates and policies for social media posts and FAQ pages ready.

Take the PayPal example, for instance. They obviously monitored social media channels (and the stock market) and were ultimately forced to respond. PayPal went through news channels and stated that the notice “went out in error” (which isn’t the best way to face a social media crisis, but at least they responded):

PayPal's external response strategy following the boycott trend on its policy update

Of course, each type of crisis, or potential crisis, must be assessed on merit. 

But having a pre-determined course of action, with go-to stakeholders and a communication system established, means you can respond rapidly and effectively and practice damage control. 

Post-crisis review

How will you evaluate the effectiveness of the response, make changes to policies and procedures, and report learnings to stakeholders? Metrics and data should drive your review, particularly with real-world sentiment analysis and ongoing online discussions. 

Testing and training

How will you train team members on procedures and test the plan with practice scenarios to identify gaps?

Training team members based on others’ mistakes is ideal here. The fewer social media crises your business experiences, the better. One lesson we can pass on for sure is that failing to act during a social media crisis is THE WORST course of action possible. You must react and manage the crisis; how to best achieve that depends on its nature. 

Related: Social Media Management: What It Is and How to Do It Well

Preparing for a Social Media Crisis

In addition to an emergency response plan, prepare for potential crises proactively:

  • Establish guidelines on appropriate social media activities for employees.
  • Train customer service in direct messaging skills for rapid complaint resolution.
  • Prepare templates for apology statements, status updates, holding statements, etc.
  • Set up Google Alerts for your brand name, competitors, products, etc., to detect issues early.
  • Conduct fire drills by simulating a crisis scenario and response. Learn from each practice run.

How To Manage a Social Media Crisis

When a crisis emerges, having a plan allows your business to respond swiftly, decisively, and with the best chance of mitigating the fallout. 

This step-by-step process can be a good starting point to help you develop your social media crisis response plan: 

1. Assemble your crisis response team

Alert key stakeholders and team members per your plan. Assign responsibilities for investigation, internal coordination, social media response, public relations, leadership approval, etc. Your social team executes your strategy.

Get clear on who needs to approve specific actions. Ensure every stakeholder is aware of the social media crisis plan. 

2. Evaluate the situation

Before acting, analyze the scale, facts, sentiment, essential voices, media coverage, and overall impact of the emerging crisis. Categorize the crisis type and determine the level of response needed. Listen for misinformation to spread. 

Stick to the facts in your internal information gathering. Responding too early to the market could create more controversy. 

3. Get aligned on the next steps

Bring your team together to decide how to respond across all channels, including social media platforms and offline. Draft an official response for leadership approval. 

Don’t wing it. Be direct about what action has been taken and the next steps. 

4. Respond promptly

Speed is crucial. Once your organization has determined the nature and path forward, post your official response on social media accounts and owned channels. Halt all further scheduled posts if you have them queued up. 

Continue monitoring and responding to comments in real time. Inform decision-makers about the volume and sentiment of comments so they understand the growing (or declining) impact. 

Often, social media is the start of a brand’s crisis, but it isn’t the end. Consider posting details on your website or blog to add helpful context about the situation. 

5. Communicate effectively

Express concern for those affected. Explain how you addressed the issue, take responsibility, and share essential information. Avoid jargon and always remain professional.

For larger brands, this means arming your customer support team with guidance on responding to inbound calls and tickets and means to document or log complaints. This way, agents aren’t in a position to make up answers or inflame the situation due to a recorded call. 

An outstanding example of ownership is Slack’s response to their downed systems last year:

An example of ownership - Slack’s response to their downed systems in 2022

Slack took the opportunity to endear itself to its users by thanking them for their patience and sharing part of their own perspective on the issue. 

6. Update all relevant channels

Ensure your website, blog, emails, ads, phone messaging, social media channels, and offline locations align with your official response. Update the FAQ pages with information on the crisis.

For example, in 2018, Chipotle voluntarily shut down all locations in response to an E. coli outbreak in its restaurants so it could evaluate and train its team. All communications had a consistent, professional look and feel. And as a result, Chipotle earned back consumer trust and improved its food prep procedures. 

7. Continue monitoring sentiment

Keep listening to social media conversations and adjust your responses accordingly. Sentiment analysis can help you track whether the response is improving brand perception.

In Slack’s case, users reacted well to their social media crisis response, and the Slack social media team continued to engage with users on a personal, yet professional, level:

Screenshot showing how Slack monitored sentiment on social media after a massive outage

By doing so, Slack’s effective crisis management gave them a chance to improve their affinity with their customer base instead of letting a crisis situation damage their reputation. During a social media crisis, set up a digital “war room” for stakeholders to join and get answers quickly

Conduct a post-crisis review to determine root causes and learn from successes and missteps. Put updated policies in place to reduce future risk. 

Publicly updating policies is an important step in managing a social media crisis. 

A recent example is how Zoom responded to allegations of using audio, video, and chat content to train artificial intelligence models without consumer consent: 

An example of how Zoom responded to allegations of using audio, video, and chat content to train artificial intelligence models without consumer consent

Addressing the issue head-on is essential in any social media crisis management strategy. The problem must be clarified and addressed so your business controls the narrative. 

Related: How to Make a Social Media Plan: Crafting an Effective Strategy

Crisis Communications Best Practices

Follow these proven PR techniques during the crisis response and post-crisis recovery:

  • Be quick, transparent, and truthful: Address the crisis proactively and avoid looking like you’re hiding information. Get ahead of the story rather than letting it control the narrative. Provide regular updates.
  • Show empathy: Acknowledge those affected and what your brand is doing to address concerns. Avoid appearing indifferent.
  • Apologize sincerely: Take responsibility and don’t blame external factors. “We made a mistake and are working diligently to…” goes a lot further than excuses.
  • Stick to the facts: Speculating or providing incorrect information creates more headaches. Always verify info before releasing and correct mistakes ASAP.
  • Bring in experts: Quote leaders, authorities, and specialists like influencers to lend credibility and demonstrate you’re taking it seriously.
  • Focus on solutions: After the initial response, focus on your corrective actions and how you’re moving forward.
  • Update messaging: As the situation evolves, so should your narrative. Adjust messaging as new information emerges.
  • Learn and improve: Demonstrate how the crisis provided learnings you are using to enhance policies and shape future training.

Key Takeaways on Handling Social Media Crises

With social media’s accelerated news cycle, crises can go viral instantly. 

Small businesses that prepare can minimize potential damage and maintain trust even under challenging situations. Remember these tips:

With the right mix of preparation and effective real-time execution, your small business can manage social media crises decisively.

Stay ahead of problems and let your customers see firsthand how much you care about them, not just in good times but also in bad.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Joe Manna

Joe Manna was a senior content marketing manager at Nextiva. He blends his marketing acumen and deep technical background to improve people's lives with technology. His expertise helps companies large and small serve more customers. He enjoys a rich iced latte and a non-fiction business book when he's not pressing words.

Posts from this author

Effective Social Media Strategies for Small Businesses

September 11, 2023 6 min read

Joe Manna

Joe Manna

Social media has become an integral part of any modern marketing strategy. Executing an effective social media marketing strategy takes more than creating a content calendar and posting scheduled posts on social media.

It requires careful planning, commitment, and optimization over time. 

This no-fluff guide provides small business owners and marketers with a starting point to craft a robust social media marketing strategy.

Developing a Social Strategy

Effective social media strategies begin with well-defined business goals and objectives. Before diving into tactics, setting goals for what you wish to accomplish is essential.

Common business objectives:

  • Increasing brand awareness
  • Growing share of voice
  • Expanding social support 
  • Achieving content distribution
  • Scaling digital marketing
  • Monitoring real-time trends

Aside from amplifying marketing efforts, social media enhances customer support, accelerates product innovation, and improves talent acquisition. It’s also a goldmine of market intelligence.

We suggest focusing on no more than a couple of business goals. Spreading yourself too thin may hinder your effectiveness. Start with one and expand as needed. 

Setting goals

With clear goals established, the next step is conducting a social media audit of your existing social media presence. This includes taking stock of all current social media accounts, followers and content engagement rates, and competitors. The audit will reveal areas to improve and strengths to double down on.

The audit provides you with historical social media analytics. These social media metrics help you understand clickthrough rates, engagement rates, and audience demographics. 

With this data, you can set achievable social media marketing goals. 

Audience pain points

Before venturing too far into content planning, get deep into your target audience’s psyche. 

Buyer personas can help here, but you should go a bit deeper in basing your audience’s content needs on actual statements and behaviors—not theoretical ones.

Where to uncover customer pain points:

  • Recorded sales calls
  • Customer support tickets
  • Customer surveys
  • Customer reviews
  • Social media comments
  • Competitors’ online reviews

With this data, real content formats emerge. Here’s how I’d approach these content themes.

  • If prospective customers ask many questions, consider investing more in information-based content, such as blogs.
  • If they ask for relatable examples of customers (references), you could ramp up customer case studies and testimonials.
  • If your sales team isn’t having as many conversations, you should invest more in brand-building activities like influencers, partnerships, and more.

From here, you can map out these types of content and which social networks and strategies are effective. For example, Instagram and TikTok attract younger audiences, while LinkedIn attracts professionals.

Related: 10 Ways to Spark Social Media Conversations (with Examples)

Measurement and KPIs

You need clearly defined benchmarks to know if your social media strategy is effective. Key performance indicators (KPIs) help you focus on the metrics that matter. If audience growth is vital, then followers are more relevant. But if engagement is critical, then engagement rates are better. 

Common social media performance metrics:

  • Follower growth
  • Engagement rate
  • Impressions and reach
  • Attributed pipeline and revenue
  • Attributed website traffic
  • Brand mentions and share of voice

Having this strategic framework established, you can develop an effective social media marketing plan. And you can report on it to executives without drowning them in too much data. 

Developing your content strategy

Content fuels all social media marketing. Map out the types of content you will create and share on each platform. 

Anyone can create content, but only you can distribute it effectively. One approach to work with your social strategy is the atomization of content. This means taking a major piece of content like a case study and creating a wide array of smaller content assets from it. 

Align content types with buyer journey stages like awareness, consideration, and decision.* 

You can improve your business or brand awareness by following these steps:

  • Blog posts or articles: Provide detailed, informative content to help your audience accomplish their goals or share long-form stories and insights. 
  • Educational videos: Show, don’t tell. Share videos and screencasts to spark curiosity about your brand and build authority. This kind of content should appeal to both prospective and existing customers.
  • Case studies: Provide specific examples of how your ideal customer achieves their goals with your product or service. It establishes social proof and builds trust.
  • User-generated content: Share photos and videos of customers showing authentic brand experiences. It could be as simple as testimonials, wearing swag, or co-hosted webinars. 
  • Polls and surveys: Engage followers and collect valuable audience insights. The more provocative, the better. 
  • Memes or humor: Use for low-effort, high-engagement social media posts that reflect your brand voice. Don’t take yourself too seriously, but monitor your engagement rates. 

* People don’t make decisions linearly. Nevertheless, people must discover your brand (awareness), think about what it can do for them (consideration), and talk to sales or buy your product (decision). Ensure your social media content reflects this reality. 

B2B buying journey illustrative - Gartner

Integrating Social Media Outside of Marketing

An integrated social media plan addresses all aspects of social media to improve business.

Here are some business functions to include in your plan: 

  • Customer support: Personalized customer care based on incoming mentions and direct messages.
  • Product development: Gather real-world insights based on customer and market reactions. 
  • Talent acquisition: Attract top-notch candidates based on a high-value employer brand.

Social customer support

Customer support via social media is now more crucial than ever for small and mid-market businesses. It is a powerful tool to engage with customers, solve their problems promptly, and foster stronger relationships. 

Here are some essential tips for efficient social customer support: 

  • Monitor conversations: Keep a close eye on your social media channels. Respond promptly to comments, messages, and mentions to deliver effective customer service.
  • Use social media management tools: Use social media software to track customer interactions and ensure every request is answered.
  • Train your team: Ensure your team is well-versed/trained in the social media platforms you use. Train them to provide helpful, courteous responses. It’ll also help you handle criticism with grace. 

Let’s illustrate this by comparing traditional and social media-based customer support.

Function Traditional Customer SupportSocial Media-Based Support
Response TimeInstant or up to 72 hoursOften instant or within a few hours
EngagementLimited to one-on-one interactionsPublic responses and one-on-one direct messages
ChannelsEmail, phone, live chat, and online requestsTwitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and WhatsApp
PrivacyHighLimited

Product innovation and development

Social media marketing tools provide product teams with invaluable insights into customer feedback and can monitor competitors.

The following are two practical ways product teams can leverage social media for product innovation: 

  1. Customer feedback: New customers often share their experiences with products on social media openly and candidly. Product managers gain perspective on what customers want to do with their products and how they make them feel. This information can be used to improve how solutions fit into user’s lives.
  2. Social listening: Tracking mentions of competitors and product names is a smart way to uncover potential product opportunities. It also provides a glimpse at potential risks and obstacles customers face. It also aids in market research into possible product features. 

Talent acquisition

Social media has transformed the way companies connect with potential employees. In particular, it helps organizations become a top employer brand that attracts top candidates. 

The following are specific ways social media can enhance your talent acquisition process: 

  1. Employer brand: Showcase your company’s culture, mission, and values, making it more attractive to potential employees. This increases your brand visibility and creates a positive employer brand.
  2. Employees as advocates: Social media channels like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook make it intuitive for employees to build buzz for their employer from diverse voices and personal testimonies about joining the team.
  3. Job advertising: With an impressive employer brand and enthusiastic employee engagement, recruitment marketing campaigns can be more effective with fewer ghosts and better candidates.

Tips to build a top employer brand

As much as the company can curate a professional online profile, your brand is in your employees’ hands. 

Some tips for building a top employer brand are as follows:

  • Educate on what’s public vs. private: Develop a sensible policy for protecting sensitive/confidential company information. Disclose what’s shareable vs. not in company meetings. Ambiguity results in mistakes and fear of posting updates.
  • Encourage honest employee reviews: Make it a habit to share what you’re doing to make the workplace enjoyable and flexible for employee needs. Have a meaningful check-in with new team members after their first month, and suggest they share their experience with others on Glassdoor, Indeed, and ZipRecruiter. 
  • Respond to employee reviews in meaningful ways: Respond warmly and professionally to all reviews. Be mindful not to debate; acknowledge, thank, and emphasize the upside when possible. Identify trends and bring them to the attention of the senior leadership team to improve the workplace. 

Related: Noteworthy Social Media Trends for Business Growth in 2023

Stay Focused With a Durable Social Media Strategy

Change is the one word that’s synonymous with social media management. New social media platforms, content types, and consumer behaviors—it moves quickly. 

With a successful social media marketing strategy, you can creatively inspire your audience to action and improve your business from the inside out.

You’re going to face social media crises; you’ll have 15 minutes of fame—are you ready? 

No matter how good your plan is, execution matters. Focus on the outcomes; ask yourself if you are helping your target audience or just posting social media updates.

At the end of the day, social media should help the business to strengthen across the board: customer service, marketing, recruiting, and brand. It has incredible reach if you place your bets on the table and pair it with ruthless execution (and patience). 

With proper planning and commitment, a social media strategy gives small and medium-sized businesses a competitive edge.

Related: Building an Online Presence: How to Achieve Digital Dominance

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Joe Manna

Joe Manna was a senior content marketing manager at Nextiva. He blends his marketing acumen and deep technical background to improve people's lives with technology. His expertise helps companies large and small serve more customers. He enjoys a rich iced latte and a non-fiction business book when he's not pressing words.

Posts from this author

To stay relevant on social media, you need a good strategy that caters to your target audience. It’s tempting to automate your social media content strategy, but the problem is that you must figure out what will work and when it will work.

A solid content plan can help you reach your marketing goals and business objectives. Also, it can amplify your brand’s voice and drive traffic to your website.

We’ll take you step by step through creating a social media marketing plan that helps you achieve your business goals.

Understanding the Importance of a Social Media Plan

Every business should create a marketing plan to boost its social media presence. 

A social media marketing plan is no longer a luxury but a necessity. This roadmap helps to align your social network activities, such as social posts, with your business goals.

Planning out your social strategy is more than having social media accounts on various platforms. These social media channels allow you to resonate with your ideal customers and engage them effectively.

And while social media is primarily used to advance digital marketing efforts, it’s common to involve other departments like customer service and product development. Doing so ensures that you’re not pigeonholed into merely posting tweets. 

So why do you need a social media plan? Perhaps this research from Content Marketing Institute (CMI) will describe why it’s critical for small businesses to invest in planning and operating their social media usage.

B2B marketers with a defined content strategy outperform those without one
Marketers with a defined content strategy tend to outperform those without one (via CMI)

Given that social media and content strategy are hard to separate, businesses with well-defined content plans generally outperform those that do not have them. 

It’s ideal to commit resources who can brainstorm scroll-stopping campaigns and give input on content creation to stay out front. 

Before you scope out the types of content and formats, you need to think about your ideal customer and your business objectives.

Unlike traditional marketing, the interactions are bidirectional. This introduces risk to some organizations. Your social media plan should anticipate customer pain points and define internal workflows. 

Social media plan checklist

What should you include in your social media strategy template? Here’s a quick checklist of what it should entail.

  • Current reality (SWOT)
  • Brand voice and positioning
  • Ideal customer research
  • Top performing content
  • Competitive examples
  • Analytics and KPIs
  • Business goals/workflows
  • Budget and resources

Leveraging social media to achieve marketing goals

Social media has reshaped how businesses connect with customers. Companies can use it to communicate with customers, build relationships, and create a community.

Businesses can learn a lot about their customers through social listening. They can discover what customers like, what they need, and their pain points. They can then use this information to improve their products, services, and social media campaigns for customers.

Moreover, social media platforms have become a key source of information for consumers. People turn to social media to discover new products, read reviews, and seek recommendations from their peers.

Benefits of a Detailed Social Media Plan

A well-structured social media marketing plan affords many benefits. It allows you to focus on outcomes, address internal and external challenges, and ensure your team understands your priorities and needs regarding social media. 

Here are some of the noteworthy benefits of a robust social strategy. 

Business integration

Social media functions aren’t on an island. They roll up to broader business objectives such as customer support, marketing, and product development. Clearly outline your social media goals to fit your business strategy. A social media marketing plan helps you to advance goals like brand awareness, website traffic, leads, and sales.

Effective posting schedule

A well-structured social media plan allows you to maintain a consistent posting schedule. Consistency is crucial in social media marketing, as it helps build brand recognition and keeps your audience engaged. With a social media content calendar, you can plan and schedule your social posts ahead of time.

Performance evaluation

Lastly, a social media plan helps you to analyze and track your performance on social media. Track engagement rate, reach, and click-throughs to see if your social media marketing is effective. Reach and post engagement are also quantifiable, even if it’s not about driving traffic to your site. 

It helps to perform brand social media audits to see what kind of content is doing well and the type that falls flat. Apply these insights to tighten your publishing workflow. 

Steps to Make an Effective Social Media Plan

With a clear understanding of the importance of a well-structured social media strategy, let’s delve into the essential steps required to create an effective social media plan.

Step 1. Define your social media goals

Defining social media goals and objectives is essential to having a clear strategy. Articulating your social media goals helps you to focus on social media and measure success or find improvement areas. 

When brainstorming social media goals, consider the overall purpose of your business. Avoid vanity metrics or simply growing followers. People quickly tune out brands that don’t give them a reason to listen. 

Social media goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). For instance, instead of saying “grow followers,” a SMART goal might be “increase Instagram engagement by 15% over the next three months.”

Typical social media goals to consider include:

  • Increasing engagement
  • Scaling product and brand awareness
  • Website traffic growth
  • Speeding up social support response times
  • Growing attributed sales leads and pipeline

However, you have to present them in the SMART manner.

Step 2. Research your target audience’s social media platforms

Choosing your company’s social media channels is vital for reaching individuals in your target audience. But which social networks do they use? 

Go beyond simple demographics. By developing a few buyer personas, you can segment your social media content around a few archetypes in your customer base. 

Consider interviewing those who appear to be your typical customers. Seek to learn how they consume social media, where they get trustworthy recommendations, and the top publishers and brands they follow. 

Begin with some hypotheses and test them. Find your future customers and the content around your industry, including that of competitors. You might need to adjust your plan if you can’t find real-world examples.

Here are some considerations for each of the top social networks.

1. Facebook: A powerful platform with 3 billion users for reaching a wide audience. Personalized advertising options lead to effective campaigns. The algorithm showcases content to interested users, ensuring targeted outreach.

2. Instagram (IG): Popular among the under-34 demographic (70% of users); ideal for visual-focused businesses like fashion, food, or travel. Showcase products through captivating images and videos. Use relevant hashtags to expand reach and consider creating new ones.

Social networks by age group among U.S. users - Edison Research
Top social network by age group among U.S. users (via Edison Research)

3. Twitter (now “X”): Directly engage with your audience and provide customer service through succinct tweets. Perfect for news sharing and conversations. Limit the use of hashtags and posting links to your site for increased reach.

4. TikTok: Fast-growing platform for creative video content. Engage younger audiences by following trends and using popular audio, hashtags, and influencer collaborations. Showcase brand through entertaining content that aligns with trends.

We recommend using Instagram and TikTok for consumer brands; there are some cases when B2B brands can excel on them, but it’s more difficult. 

If you serve professionals or B2B clients, LinkedIn is your best bet. It’s great for long-form content and for engaging with others, and it skews heavily on sales and marketing. You can network, share industry insights, and establish your business as a leader. 

Twitter is generally an effective channel for sharing company updates, but true brand-building tends to revolve around individual personalities rather than corporate brands. 

Top social networks B2B marketers used- CMI
Top social media platforms B2B marketers used (via CMI)

Step 3. Creating engaging social media content

When you plan your social media strategy, focus on creating exciting content that people will want to share because the content is vital in social media marketing. But what exactly does engaging content look like? 

Let’s explore some types of content that you can share on social media to captivate your audience.

Types of social media content

FormatDescriptionBenefits and Tips
ImagesHigh-quality visuals catch the audience’s eye and convey emotions or messagesSpark interest, stop scrolling, and evoke emotions; select/edit images aligning with the brand and audience
VideosShort, engaging videos tell stories, showcase products/services, and connect personally with the audienceCapture attention, engage viewers, and provide tutorials or testimonials; optimize for mobile and add captions
Blog PostsShare in-depth articles to drive traffic and position the brand as an industry thought leaderShowcase expertise, provide insights, and establish credibility; craft intriguing captions for higher clicks
InfographicsVisual representations of complex data or information that captivates the viewer’s attentionEasily digestible insights perform well on visual platforms
Customer MediaShare user-generated content to build trust and create a sense of communityHumanize the brand, show social proof, and encourage sharing

Now, let’s dive into greater detail.

  • Images: High-quality images can spark interest and increase engagement. An appealing image can catch the eye of your audience and make them stop scrolling. Images of a beautiful landscape or a delicious dish can convey a message and evoke emotions. Take the time to select and edit your pictures to ensure they align with your brand and resonate with your target audience.
  • Videos: With mobile video consumption rising, creating short, engaging videos can help you reach a larger audience. Videos allow you to tell a story, showcase your products or services, and connect personally with your audience. 

Videos can capture attention and keep your audience engaged. They can show behind the scenes of your business, provide tutorials, or share customer testimonials. Remember to optimize your video content for mobile viewing and include captions for those who prefer to watch without sound.

  • Blog Posts: Sharing blog posts from your website can drive traffic and position your brand as a thought leader in your industry. Blog posts provide an opportunity to dive deeper into topics that are relevant to your audience. They allow you to showcase your expertise, provide valuable insights, and establish credibility. 

When you share blog posts on social media, create interesting captions that make people want to click and read the entire article. Consider adding a captivating excerpt or a thought-provoking story to build interest and curiosity.

  • Infographics: Infographics condense complex information into easily digestible, visually engaging formats. They can communicate insights, data, processes, and more in a manner that holds the viewer’s attention. Infographics perform incredibly well on visual platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.
  • Customer Media: Build trust by showing user-generated content and social proof. This will create a sense of community and give your brand a more authentic, human voice. Make it easy for fans to tag and share their experiences with your brand on social media.

When you’re posting on social media, here are some tips to bear in mind.

  • Keep it simple. Short and clear messages work best because people’s attention spans are really short these days. Make sure you focus on one main point in each post.
  • Call to action. Don’t forget to ask people to do something after they read your post, like asking them to comment or share. This is known as a “call to action.” Just give them a little nudge to get involved.
  • Hashtags can be tricky. They were once a staple of social media to reach and connect you with more people, but hashtags aren’t as helpful anymore. Hashtags tend to reduce reach and engagement on Twitter. Proceed with caution when using hashtags, and be aware of less flattering interpretations.

Related: 10 Ways to Spark Social Media Conversations (with Examples)

Step 4. Scheduling and posting your social media content

At a tactical level, knowing your publishing schedule allows you and your team to make decisions faster. You will know the volume of the content, the tools, and the resources you’ll need. 

But it’s not just about randomly throwing your content out there. Think through when and what you’ll post to stand out to your target audience. 

When is the best time to post on different platforms? 

Well, it’s not a one-size-fits-all answer. The ideal posting time can vary depending on the platform and your specific audience. However, here are some pointers to get started.

Best times to publish on social media

Social Media PlatformBest TimeBest Day(s)Worst Day 
Facebook9 a.m. – 11 a.m.Wednesday, Thursday, and FridaySaturday
Twitter9 a.m. – 12 p.m.WednesdaySaturday
Instagram11 a.m. – 2 p.m.TuesdaySunday 
LinkedIn9 a.m. – 2 p.m.Wednesday and ThursdaySunday
  • Weekday mornings and afternoons are the best times to post on Facebook. Most people take a break from work or school and scroll through their newsfeeds between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.
  • Weekday mornings and afternoons are the best times to post on Twitter. This is likely when people take lunch or quick work breaks.
  • People are most active on Instagram weekdays in the late afternoon and early evening. Posting between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. can help you get more likes and comments on your social media posts.
  • Posting content on LinkedIn during business hours performs better than on weekends. The best times to post are usually between 9 a.m. and early afternoon until 2 p.m. Only post on weekends or late evenings when professionals are less active.

Related: Noteworthy Social Media Trends for Business Growth in 2023

Step 5. Using social media management tools

As a part of a well-rounded social media plan, consider the following elements and workflows.

1. Feedback Handling

  • Negative Feedback: Have negative response templates ready to respond to unhappy customers. Keep feedback polite and try to resolve issues.
  • Positive Feedback: Acknowledge and thank people for their kind words. These positive response templates boost your online image.
  • Crisis Management: Prepare a plan for handling unexpected issues or controversies. Swift and transparent communication is key.
  • Escalation: Identify who should deal with serious matters. If something needs urgent attention, know who to bring it to.

2. Reporting and Analytics

  • What to Measure: Define the social media metrics to be tracked, such as engagement (likes, shares, comments), reach, and click-through rates. These show how well your content is performing.
  • Sharing Results: Share these analytics with your team regularly, as they help everyone to understand what’s working and what might need tweaking. It might be helpful to share with other business leaders as well. 

3. Access and Content Removal

  • Access Control: Limit who can post on social media from your team. Not everyone needs access.
  • New Content: Provide a pathway for internal team members to request or suggest new content to be sent out. Rather than operating like an order taker, consider these as a starting point to collaborate with them to create a successful campaign. 
  • Content Removal: Have a clear protocol for removing inappropriate or outdated content. Quick action helps uphold a positive image. Juggling different social media sites can feel like a lot, especially without a proper workflow. That’s where social media management tools like Nextiva come in handy.
Social media management software by Nextiva
Social media management software by Nextiva 

These tools can make scheduling and posting content on many social media channels easier. You can make a calendar for your social media content, then schedule your posts in advance and automatically dispatch them at the best times for more reach and engagement.

In addition, these tools provide valuable data and information to track audience growth, engagement rates, and which types of content perform best. This data can steer your future social media marketing strategy and help you make data-driven decisions.

Related: Social Media Management: What It Is and How to Do It Well

Step 6. Measuring and adjusting your social media plan

Reviewing your social media performance can help you meet your objectives. When setting goals, think about the key performance indicators (KPIs) that align with your dreams. To generate leads, track click-through rate, conversion rate, and cost per lead.

Monitor and use this data to tweak and adjust your social media marketing plan. To see if your strategies work, compare your social media metrics to benchmarks. To improve your social media marketing, track KPIs and compare them to your goals.

Nextiva simplifies social media performance tracking
Nextiva simplifies social media performance tracking

Generally, measuring engagement, follower, and click-through rates can show how well you’re doing on social media. These metrics show how well your social media marketing works to catch and keep your audience’s attention.

  • Engagement rate. This metric gauges audience interaction with your content, including likes, comments, shares, and clicks. It reflects the content’s resonance and interaction.
  • Follower growth. This signifies growth in your social media reach, indicating the effectiveness of your strategy in attracting new followers and expanding reach. SocialInsider benchmarked the average engagement across the top four social media platforms. TikTok had the highest engagement rate at 4.25%. The rate is more than 400% higher than other platforms.
TikTok has up to four times higher engagement than Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter - SocialInsider
TikTok has up to four times higher engagement than Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter (via SocialInsider)
  • The click-through rate (CTR). It measures call-to-action clicks in social media posts, indicating successful traffic redirection. Monitoring the CTR enables evaluation of the call-to-action effectiveness and aids in optimization for improved outcomes. As a tip, not every social media post must drive clicks—it’s best to optimize your message on social media platforms. 

Luckily, social media analytics tools make it easier to report on these metrics. 

These tools show how well your social media is doing and let you efficiently study your data. They provide reports and visuals that help you see trends, find opportunities, and track progress.

Related: Best Brands on Social Media: 10 Inspiring Examples to Follow

Charting Your Own Path to Social Media Success

Now that you know how to make a good social media plan, you can create a strong brand that stands out from your competitors. It’s a lot of work — from creating great content, planning out publishing, and setting goals to connecting with your audience. 

The fusion of creativity and data-driven insights paves the way for sustainable growth. Remember, social media is ever-changing, so stay innovative, fresh, and willing to learn. 

Ready for a social media workflow tune-up? See how our social media management tool helps nimble marketing and support teams stay on top of social media. Check it out today!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Joe Manna

Joe Manna was a senior content marketing manager at Nextiva. He blends his marketing acumen and deep technical background to improve people's lives with technology. His expertise helps companies large and small serve more customers. He enjoys a rich iced latte and a non-fiction business book when he's not pressing words.

Posts from this author

Social Media Management: What It Is and How to Do It Well

September 11, 2023 9 min read

Joe Manna

Joe Manna

Social media is much more than posting Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn updates.

Before it was dubbed “social media,” it was known as “community management.” As an expert who led social media for small businesses in 2008, I’ll break down everything you should know about effective social media management. 

I’ve crafted this guide for small business owners and new marketing staffers who need to develop a social media strategy and get their organization firing on all eight cylinders with respect to social media channels.

What Is Social Media Management? 

Social media management is the process of planning, creating, and publishing content across social networks to grow a brand’s online presence. Managing social media involves educating stakeholders, developing a marketing strategy, and establishing governance to ensure a brand’s voice and customer experience are conveyed across social media channels. 

Included as essential parts of social media management are the following functions: 

  • Social media and marketing integration
  • Business and platform-specific content plan
  • Social media performance analysis
  • Planning and creating content across multiple platforms
  • Website content promotion
  • Personalized customer support
  • Brand and review monitoring
  • Overseeing training and social workflows

Sounds like a lot, doesn’t it? This is why social media responsibilities are often split among several members. As a small business or startup, this might be one person (or the business owner). 

The two primary reasons you need social media management are to guide the organization through social media and reach a targeted audience with engaging content and personalized support. 

Unlike 15 years ago, you shouldn’t automate your social media campaigns. It’s a bad look and ineffective at persuading your audience to care about your brand and take action.

Social media is the catalyst for multiple marketing strategies - Gartner
Social media is the catalyst for multiple marketing strategies (via Gartner)

👉 Real talk: Your business should be on social media because your customers want you there, and there’s a specific business objective behind it. If neither of these is true, you probably don’t need social media management. 

Elements of a Social Media Marketing Strategy

An effective social media strategy aligns with the brand’s overall marketing objectives and business goals.

Here are some key elements to consider for your social media marketing strategy:

Target audiences and personas

Analyze your existing customer demographics and create detailed buyer personas to determine your ideal customers on social media. Identify their age, location, gender, interests, pain points, and motivations.

It’s imperative to understand your audience’s media consumption habits. Refrain from making big bets based on hypotheticals (I’ve been burned before). Talk to your customers on the phone, get to know them as people, how they research brands, and why they use social media. 

With this knowledge in hand, you’ll be ahead of 75% of others in the industry. 

Relevant social media platforms

Research each social media platform and select the ones where your target audience is most active. Top platforms include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and TikTok. Consider emerging platforms as well.

Instagram and Facebook are rated as the most effective for social media ROI - HubSpot
Instagram and Facebook are rated as the most effective for social media ROI (via HubSpot)

By default, you might feel you need to be everywhere. You don’t need to. If nothing else, claim your brand before someone squats on your name.

Follow the money and the market. Where are your prospects? Where do customers spend most of their time? If it’s Twitter or Instagram, great. But if they primarily use LinkedIn, tailor your social media content plan around that platform. 

Lastly, try to enjoy how a social network functions as a user before going full throttle with marketing messages. There’s a little truth to marketers ruining everything.

Social listening and customer support

It’s crucial to set up listening tools to be responsive to inbound questions from customers and prospects. Connect every social media profile you have into one management tool.

Prepare a plan for how you’ll handle complaints and compliments. A smart strategy is to go from public to direct messages to provide customer service.

Nextiva lets you engage customers and prospects with an all-in-one social media management tool

Over time, report on the number of brand mentions and specific campaigns stemming from your marketing efforts. Social media management tools can notify you of the growth or decline across your social media presence.

Setting measurable goals

Depending on your use case or stage of your business, you might not need metrics.

Hear me out for a second.

It’s okay to explore and experiment on social media. There’s not a sure-fire template or benchmark you need to hit to prove value in your business. 

Figure out what makes some brands more attractive than a pack of Double Stuffed Oreos. What are the underlying dynamics — is it the graphics, the advice, or are prominent influencers juicing up the algorithm?

Without a big audience to start with, you will need to be creative. You will likely need to make a sizable investment in promoting your social media channels. And you will need to leverage platforms such as email, video, and even your phone system. 

With that said, you’ll want to consider the industry and competitors when it comes to setting targets for your social media marketing program. With defined business goals and KPIs in mind, you can analyze the effectiveness of your social media efforts. 

For instance, followers matter when your audience matches your ideal customer profile, but don’t do anything unnatural to play the system.

Consider tracking engagement, traffic, and even share of voice (market share) on a given social network. 

Content strategy and posting schedule

At this point, you should know a few key items: your ideal customers, what they consume on social media, and your overarching business goals. These help you craft a well-rounded content strategy for your business on social media. 

🛑 Now is the time to hit the brakes and think about the purpose behind your social media content.

It should not be to generate leads or sales. Yes, you read that right. 

The goal behind your content is to be memorable and helpful to your audience. You don’t do that with gated webinars and whitepapers. Instead, focus on understanding the core reasons why people are interested in your product or service. 

Trusted marketing advisor Gaetano DiNardi draws a line in the sand regarding “demand capture” and “demand creation.” You need both, but social media should be utilized to build genuine interest, trust, and affinity for your brand. 

Digital marketing has transitioned from direct response, lead generation-focused marketing campaigns to a demand generation approach that covers brand awareness, demand creation, and demand capturing across the entire sales funnel. 

Gaetano DiNardi on Demand Generation

Having that said, here are the types of social media content to post: 

  • Hot takes on what’s happening in the industry
  • Tips and tutorials to solve specific pain points
  • Videos showing your solution or product at work
  • Casual interviews with top industry voices
  • Carousels and slides with original research and points of view
  • Customer stories and case studies with real faces and logos
  • Sneak peeks of your most recent email newsletter
  • Takeaways from conferences and industry events
  • Polls and genuine questions to ask your target audience
  • Unexpected moments of brilliance and creativity
  • Memes, newsjacking, and divisive topics, but proceed with caution

The content to post shouldn’t deviate much from your current content strategy. 

Keep in mind that the goal is to earn trust and be memorable. When prospects realize they have a need, they’ll come back to you.

With a rough list of content ideas, map them out for each platform. Give yourself the flexibility not to post every day, but try to stick to a consistent cadence.

Pro tip: Each blog post you publish can be atomized or broken down into smaller assets so you can share various components that fit each social platform. You ought to ensure each post is optimized for your target audience so they can consume it easily without a high commitment. 

Video-first social media content

Video is so important; you need to be proactive with ideation, production, and distribution. Social media platforms are increasingly rewarding video content. Whether you’re building up your audience, educating your customers, or posting Stories and Shorts, video is no longer optional. 

Invest in building out your video team agencies alike. Align your video creation with your brand identity with a high-quality video. Focus on being valuable, authentic, and visually appealing.

While videos don’t have to be the center of your social media plan, they should still be a key component of it. 

Utilizing paid social ads

Another area to consider is paid or performance marketing campaigns across social media. Most companies that want to grow will need additional social media advertising to distribute content to their audience. 

Share of marketing budget based on program spend - Gartner
Share of marketing budget based on program spend (via Gartner)

Take all your insights about your current customers and channel them into your paid social strategy. You don’t want to burn your budget on reaching “anyone in the U.S. 18+” as you’ll get nowhere. To be cost-effective, narrow your audience and set a daily budget.

Consider starting with a remarketed audience first until you nail down your brand’s social media campaigns. 

Type of content to use for paid social:

  • Insightful case studies and customer testimonials
  • Video-based product tours with helpful context
  • Deep dives into how to do something faster or easier with your brand
  • Atomized blog content with a call to action to continue reading
  • Recycle previously successful organic (unpaid) social media content

Social Media Management Best Practices

Setting up profiles is just the start. Actively managing your accounts and interacting with your followers is crucial for social media success.

  • Monitor notifications: Stay on top of all mentions, comments, shares, and direct messages to identify opportunities for engagement.
  • Post consistently: Follow your content calendar to post regularly across your social media networks without long gaps between updates.
  • Implement a workflow: Develop processes between team members to streamline community management.
  • Use content creation tools: Social media management tools like Nextiva or Hootsuite help teams schedule posts, engage with followers, and monitor brand mentions.
  • Analyze past content: Identify post content that resonated well on social media platforms and recycle it in your scheduling tool.

By following thoughtful content marketing practices, your small team can actively manage growing social media communities as you expand your reach.

Remember that social media interactions are public, and potential customers are watching. Be cordial, prompt, and direct. The last thing you want is to copy and paste responses to people.

Types of Social Media Analytics

There are a plethora of built-in and third-party analytics tools to help track the performance of your social media efforts. Monitoring key metrics and optimizing based on insights is crucial. 

  • Audience growth — Are your follower numbers consistently increasing? Does the audience resemble your ideal customer? 
  • Engagement rate — Is your audience reacting to the content you post? This metric is expressed as a percentage of your reach.
  • Impressions — Was your content seen in your audience’s news feeds? 
  • Reach — How many unique people could your social media content reach?
  • Website clicks — How much traffic is being driven to your site from social media? This metric isn’t always a good measure of success — think about your campaign objectives. 
  • Conversions — When creating demand, you’ll begin attracting higher-intent leads. How many resulted in leads, pipelines, or sales from social media?

Look at performance trends over time and optimize your strategy accordingly. Consider analytics capabilities within your social media management software like Nextiva. Set up automated reports and dedicate time each month or look back at past data to achieve social media ROI.

Social Media Management Tools

Managing multiple social media accounts, engaging consistently with your community, and tracking performance is difficult without utilizing specialized social media management tools.

The primary benefit of a social media management tool is that it’s engineered to work with each social network for analytics, publishing, and even removals. It helps your team work from one dashboard instead of several distinct workflows.

Social media management software by Nextiva

We recommend budgeting approximately $300 per month for the best social media management tools and services. Plan for roughly $100 per month per user as your team grows. 

Here are a few top picks:

  • Nextiva — In addition to its highly rated cloud communications platform, Nextiva has a social media management solution for customer service and marketing teams. It includes a ton of advanced features for a flat-rate price each month. 
  • AgoraPulse — Ideal for businesses, especially those working with a lot of paid media and having to do content moderation. Like Nextiva, it also offers a unified social inbox, social listening, and reporting tools.
  • Sprout Social — Best for larger organizations and agencies with a rigorous approval workflow. Includes employee advocacy and brand monitoring capabilities. 

The right social media management tool will optimize workflows, engagement, and analysis for an effective social media strategy. Consider both your budget and social media scheduling needs.

Final Thoughts on Social Media Management

A strategic approach to social media management is key for small businesses looking to drive brand awareness, website traffic, leads, and sales.

Social media has evolved a lot over the last 15 years. It’s crucial that your social media strategy endures and has room to adapt to changes in the market. Pay attention to the changes in the platforms, user feedback, and the pressing needs in your business. 

Set relevant and attainable goals, invest in high-quality content, set up the proper workflows internally so you can support customers, and weather the storm when crises emerge. 

Managing social media effectively is one of the top ways to bring your marketing strategy to life and scale your brand.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Joe Manna

Joe Manna was a senior content marketing manager at Nextiva. He blends his marketing acumen and deep technical background to improve people's lives with technology. His expertise helps companies large and small serve more customers. He enjoys a rich iced latte and a non-fiction business book when he's not pressing words.

Posts from this author

Review Marketing: 5 Ways to Accelerate Business Growth

September 11, 2023 5 min read

Joe Manna

Joe Manna

There’s a huge trust gap in businesses today. 

One PwC study found that despite nearly 84% of business executives thinking customers highly trust their company, only 27% of them would agree. Trust is nearly guaranteed to build a supportive community around your brand and increase the rate at which customers come back to you time and again. 

One quick measure of that is the number of reviews. Another measure is their star ratings. What else can you do to grow your business?

Integrating real customer feedback throughout your marketing strategy helps to shorten sales cycles, lower acquisition costs, and grow revenue.

So, let’s look at some of the most effective tactics to grow brand trust and sales.

What Is Review Marketing?

Word-of-mouth marketing has existed for as long as humans have been talking. If something is just that good, you’ll want to tell someone about it. People have always made personal recommendations to their friends, colleagues, and family. 

The internet, however, has increased the reach and impact of word-of-mouth marketing. Customer reviews and referrals are valuable social proof that your brand and its offerings are credible and worth the money.

What consumers choose to buy is significantly influenced by reviews. Harvard Business Review uncovered that for every one-star increase a business gets on Yelp, it increases revenue by up to 9%. Positive reviews confirm the dependability and quality of a product or service. On the other hand, negative reviews frequently lead to distrust or deter clients. 

Review marketing places a major emphasis on managing and maximizing the impact of these reviews to promote your business’s growth. And to some degree, they influence search engine rankings, too.

That means tactfully adding product reviews to product pages, email marketing campaigns, and throughout your homepage.

Actively managing customer reviews should be a cornerstone of your marketing strategy to improve a brand’s reputation, foster consumer trust, and sway purchasing decisions. It entails actively looking for, gathering, and marketing positive reviews from clients who have previously used your product or service.

How to Build a Review Marketing Program

Developing a review marketing strategy entails targeting channels where prospects discover and compare your product or service. Considering each review as a venue to build trust and credibility in your brand is crucial. 

If you’re building a review marketing program from scratch, there are several tips to keep in mind.

1. Create a dedicated channel for reviews

Make it as easy as possible for your customers to leave reviews. Whether it’s a specific section on your website, a social media page, a third-party review site, or all of the above, ensure that your customers know where they can share their experiences.

Ideally, invite customer feedback through a review management tool or customer survey. From there, you can dedicate personalized customer support to helping those in need. 

2. Encourage reviews

Don’t shy away from asking your customers for reviews. You can do this through follow-up emails after a sale or even with in-store signage reminding customers to leave a review.

Give it some time. It’s best to reach out several days after the sale to ensure customers are fully satisfied and have a perspective to share in an online review.

3. Respond to reviews

Acknowledging positive and negative reviews with a personal response is standard practice. Thank your customers for their positive feedback and address any issues brought up in negative reviews. 

People have taken the time to leave their feedback — make sure you acknowledge their efforts since both types of reviews can help in the long run.

Related: How To Respond To Positive Reviews: Tips, Strategies, & Templates

4. Get permission

User-generated content (UGC) isn’t just something you can use without telling customers. It could upset an otherwise happy customer or potentially invite additional legal exposure.

If you intend to use a customer’s review or photo for marketing and sales purposes, you should get their consent first. This is where a photo release agreement can help. Here’s a free template to try — but check with your legal counsel first.

Additionally, don’t change the contents of their review in a material way unless they say it’s okay. Doing so could fall outside of the FTC’s Endorsement Guidelines.

This point isn’t to scare you — it’s to protect you so you can continue to use your customer reviews throughout your digital marketing.

5. Use reviews in your marketing efforts 

Highlight positive reviews in your marketing materials. This reinforces your brand’s quality and shows potential customers you value feedback.

Consider the tactic of highlighting an unjust negative review. For instance, someone complaining about Shelby GT’s fuel economy could resonate with the company’s ideal customer. 

Clever ways to use reviews for marketing: 

  • Display ads
  • Lobby signage
  • Landing pages
  • Email signatures
  • Customer case studies
  • Demo thank-you pages
  • Drip marketing sequences
  • Paid social media campaign

6. Act on review sentiment

A core function of a review marketing strategy is to act on all customer feedback, whether positive or negative reviews. Reviews are a goldmine of information and messaging; be sure to use them to improve your products, services, and customer experiences. 

With that said, it’s impossible to satisfy everyone. Unfit customers are a part of doing business. Never fear. How you handle negative reviews can still positively impact how people view your brand. 

Related: Review Management: A Comprehensive Guide to Maximizing Your Online Reputation

More Ways to Elevate Brand Trust

Make it easy to find you

Ensure your brand’s presence on top review websites like Yelp, Google, TripAdvisor, Amazon, and Facebook. Claim your business online and describe your products, services, and what new customers need to know. 

Most importantly, keep your business profile consistent and updated across all platforms. Use reviews to optimize your SEO strategy and online reputation.

Feature raving fans on social media

Consider sharing your strongest testimonials across social media in creative and compelling campaigns. 

We recommend gaining permission to use a customer’s name and likeness for marketing purposes. Their enthusiasm and authenticity will help your business stand out. These assets also make for excellent creative images in social media marketing campaigns. 

Use a professional review management tool

It’s incredibly time-consuming to check and follow up on a half dozen review sites. Plus, each review acts as a customer request of some kind that needs human intervention. 

example of Nextiva's review management tool in action

review management tool like Nextiva streamlines the workflow for your team. 

Should positive reviews go to a marketing member to personally thank clients and send them a $10 gift card? Maybe you want to instantly alert your contact center management team when a bad review gets posted. 

Either way, you can automate the handling and care in a scalable, warm manner. 

Screenshot showing how Nextiva's review management tool auto-responds to customer reviews

Reviews are influential in customers’ decision-making process. Track metrics such as reviews’ number, quality, and sentiment to refine your strategies. Use analytics to identify trends in feedback and optimize your marketing campaigns. The goal is to create a feedback loop that improves your brand’s reputation and sales.

Related: What Is a Contact Center? Definition, Features, and Uses

Leverage the Voice of the Customer to Grow Faster

No marketing plan should leave out review marketing. It’s a transformative approach to boosting your brand’s reputation and strengthening your content marketing effectiveness. 

Likewise, reputation management requires a consistent effort to understand your audience, adapt to their needs, and deliver value across all marketing channels.

With reviews, you can build authentic relationships with your customers. Social proof boosts conversion rates and customer retention. Remember that building brand trust and increasing sales is an ongoing optimization process that works alongside your other digital marketing efforts. 

Not all tactics will be equally effective for every business, so monitoring your results and adjusting your strategy is important.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Joe Manna

Joe Manna was a senior content marketing manager at Nextiva. He blends his marketing acumen and deep technical background to improve people's lives with technology. His expertise helps companies large and small serve more customers. He enjoys a rich iced latte and a non-fiction business book when he's not pressing words.

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  • Nextiva and Simplify360 are joining forces to help businesses cut down on apps, boost team productivity, and deliver amazing experiences for their customers.
  • Simplify360’s technology will help Nextiva bring its “one workspace” vision to market faster.
  • The acquisition expands Nextiva’s core offerings to include social media, reputation management, live chat, and helpdesk CRM.

Managing all the conversations that fuel your business just got easier! Nextiva has acquired Simplify360, an AI customer experience platform based in India. Simplify360 uses AI and automation to help over 5,000 global businesses seamlessly deliver world-class customer support across multiple channels, including email, live chat, social media, online reviews, and e-commerce. 

Amazing support across online channels is now table stakes: it’s a deciding factor for customers when engaging with a brand and expectations are only growing. But businesses are having a hard time keeping up. Teams are juggling multiple applications, conversations are in silos, and the customer journey is fragmented. This leads to frustrated teams and unhappy customers. 

From day one, Nextiva’s vision has been to bring together all your conversations and collaboration tools in one place, from voice, text, email, team chat, and meetings, and the single applications associated with all your files and contacts. Nextiva has developed the future of simplified business communications: one platform, one workspace, zero friction. 

With the addition of Simplify360’s social media, reputation management, live chat, and helpdesk CRM, Nextiva aims to become the most robust end-to-end business communications platform that enables teams to do more and deliver amazing experiences for customers along the way. 

Starting today, Nextiva customers will gain access to Simplify360’s offerings, including: 

  • Social media – All-in-one social suite for publishing, listening & more
  • Reputation management – End-to-end review management in one place
  • Live chat –  Provide real-time support to your customers 
  • Helpdesk CRM  – Streamline customer support with an organized and efficient system for managing requests and issues 

And the best part? Customers can look forward to a full integration of these features into Nextiva’s platform in the near future.

Nextiva CEO, Tomas Gorny and S360 CEO, Rohit Gupta
Nextiva CEO, Tomas Gorny and S360 CEO, Rohit Gupta.

“Our mission is to level the playing field so businesses of all sizes can compete with the big tech companies, and deliver amazing experiences for their customers and teams,” said Tomas Gorny, Co-founder and CEO of Nextiva. “No more time wasted toggling between multiple applications – Nextiva keeps teams productive and connected with customers, colleagues and vendors from wherever they are in the world.” 

The acquisition also opens the door for Nextiva to expand into the Asia-Pacific market, as we continue to grow and support more businesses globally. 

One place to manage it all.

Easily manage, monitor, engage, and analyze all social media channels in ONE PLACE.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lindsay Lapchuk

Lindsay is the Director of Public Relations at Nextiva. She tells illuminating stories about the fast-evolving world of business communications, and the people and technology on the frontlines of this change. Before Nextiva, Lindsay led Communications at FreshBooks, and has consulted for several successful start-ups and founders.

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