Effective social media marketing requires a good digital marketing strategy. Here’s how to develop yours!
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What’s the secret of a good digital marketing strategy when it comes to social media?
You have to know you target audience
Your knowledge of your potential customers will significantly inform all your social media content. Finding out what they want, need and like – building a thorough knowledge base of your online community – means you can create content that resonates with them, that they will engage with.
Companies often have profiles or data about their customers and can help local branches by providing resources via an online platform.
Maxime, Marketing Manager at Hyperspread
Devise a content plan
You will need to be regularly active on social media, but it’s a good idea to come up with a content plan before you jump in feet first. This can help you organise what and when to market on a month-by-month basis, for example, and ensure your content is always structured and varied. You can even use a range and combination of formats like images, video, infographics and testimonials.
Thanks to our social network management solution, companies can create ready-made posts so that local branches can arrange their posting and publication schedule quickly and efficiently.
Maxime, Marketing Manager at Hyperspread
Use the right social media channels
As you know, each social media platform is different in its own way. When points of sale decide to create a social media presence, they also need to decide which social network will be the right fit for them and if they will reach their target audience. For example, Instagram is more suited to fashion, beauty and travel brands, while LinkedIn is designed for professionals and B2B companies. But this does not mean that they can’t complement each other; businesses just need to know where to focus their attention.
Head office is usually the one to have the final say over marketing strategies, such as which networks to target, but sometimes it’s the local branch acting as the driving force behind a campaign, particularly on the newer platforms such as Tik Tok (for the more mature outlets).
Maxime, Marketing Manager at Hyperspread
Be consistently consistent
A retail network’s social media activity can quickly run off in all different directions. To ensure that everyone is working in harmony with each other, a social media management tool is important. Not only is it an ideal storage location for marketing shared resources that the whole company can access, it also allows local outlets to plan, schedule and publish social media content.
Measure your results
It is essential to monitor the performance of your digital marketing strategy across your social media. Tracking key performance indicators such as reach, number of followers or engagement makes it much easier to adjust your strategy when you need to, and analysing those numbers will tell you when that is.
How does a retail network run a social media campaign?
Here are some tips for a successful social media strategy.
Create a page for every point of sale
As you can imagine, it’s better if each branch has its own page for conducting local marketing so that they can all develop their own online presence and improve local visibility.
If the brand itself has one, this is often spruced up. One trick to avoid losing access to the page is to appoint two admins for each one.
Maxime, Marketing Manager at Hyperspread
You need content for every point of sale
The value of having a local page is that its content is tailored to the local area, but head office can still prepare branded posts for your product. Followers just need more relevant information such as what the store looks like, who works there, etc.
Use geotags
Increasing the visibility of your posts means they will be seen across more platforms by more people. Local hashtags are ideal for targeting a specific catchment area and local outlets can showcase their content to local audiences.
Equip yourself with a platform to manage social media activity
For a digital marketing strategy to be effective across social media in this way, the network needs a shared area that employees can access. A collaborative solution will enable your company to boost its presence and track statistics for the entire network. It also makes it easier for local outlets to get started on social media because support can be offered and efforts pooled.
The multi-posting feature is the first to involve local outlets in social media. A company must have the capability of posting on behalf of its local branches in case they are unable to for some reason.
Maxime, Marketing Manager at Hyperspread
How can I motivate my retail network to be active on social media?
Motivating a sales network when it comes to social networks is not always an easy task. However, it’s key if you want to succeed.
Outlets need access to easily deployable resources
And the head office must provide them, for example templates for publishing posts, images and videos. The more resources local branches have, the more inspired they will be and they more brand-consistent they can make their content.
Training is also incredibly useful
If a company purchases a social network management solution, staff training sessions are always a good idea. In addition, the network can share its best practices and advice on the use of social networks so that individual points of sale can really appreciate the importance of social networks and feel at ease using them.
The culture of sharing and collaborating helps the mimicry effect
Sharing helps to inspire initiative across a network. Outlets are in the same boat, having the same experience and problems. So seeing what works for one can motivate others to try it out on their page. The company can also communicate internally about popular content on its page or other good practices for managing social media.
Transparency makes the project more credible
Nobody is forced to do anything, especially in a franchise network. Shop managers have their own jobs. A transparent relationship makes it easier to understand the advantages and difficulties of being active on social networks. It is good to set clear objectives, both for online visibility and community building, and to share them. By monitoring these KPIs, each establishment can measure the progress and potential of the project.
And every project has its ups and downs, but that does not make the initiative ineffective. On the contrary, authentic and transparent decision-making is usually more engaging and better appreciated.
Maxime, Marketing Manager at Hyperspread
3 key benefits of boosting social media activity
Better local visibility
Social media platforms are an excellent way to increase a e-commerce visibility. The business reaches a wider audience and gains more appeal.
Building a loyal community
Nowadays, shops can continue business online long after their customers have left the premises, and every post shared on the shop’s page invokes the memory of being there and the desire to return. Occasional news, updates or promotions strengthen the customer bond.
Improved listing for businesses
The Social Media Search is a strong trend within consumer search habits. More and more people are using Facebook or Instagram to find out about brands. Local SEO goes hand in hand with a dynamic presence on social networks.
Which social network to choose?
This will depend on a company’s objectives, its targets and the resources at its disposal. The most popular social networks within retail are Facebook and Instagram. In France, Linkedin is also seeing significant growth. However, this does not exclude other platforms such as Twitter, which is very popular for news or tech; Youtube, which allows long videos to be shared; or even Pinterest, if the brand is related to fashion, décor or cooking.
Market research can help you determine the most relevant social networks for a particular point of sale.
Maxime, Marketing Manager at Hyperspread