Depending on your social media goals, the approach you take in creating posts may differ slightly. It’s important to consider what you hope to achieve through your online presence. Are you aiming to build a personal brand or promote a business? Do you want to engage with a specific audience or reach a wider demographic? By defining your objectives, you can tailor your content strategy to effectively connect with your intended audience and achieve your desired outcomes.
Objective: Use every post as a means to promote my company.
A lot of brands opt for this choice as they intend to leverage social media as a cost-effective advertising channel for promoting their products or services. In this option, the content will include links to your website, products, or blog in every post they create, facilitating the promotion of your offerings.
Example: Suppose your company specializes in fitness equipment. On Monday, you could create a post showcasing your newest line of treadmills, on Tuesday, a post featuring a satisfied customer with their before-and-after transformation story, on Wednesday, a post announcing an upcoming sale event at your store, and so on.
Upside: Placing your products or services at the forefront of your social media strategy can result in increased sales through organic means.
Downside: As promotional content typically lacks the variety offered by non-promotional content, such as informative blog posts from external sources, your social media following may not experience significant growth.
Objective: Focus on delivering value to the audience and not solely on promoting my company.
The most suggested method for achieving a faster and organic increase in social media followers is to offer a balance of content. While showcasing your products is important, it’s not the only aspect your audience wants to see, particularly on image-based platforms like Instagram. Adhering to the 80/20 principle, we recommend limiting promotional content to only 20% of your overall content, with the rest dedicated to providing valuable and diverse content.
Example: Let’s say you are promoting your line of eco-friendly running shoes. Your followers may be interested in learning about the latest running trends, proper running form, injury prevention techniques, and the best running apps to track their progress. If you’re not covering these topics on your blog, your competitor probably will. In such cases, we recommend sharing informative posts on your social media channels.
Upside: By offering valuable content through your posts, you are likely to attract more followers and increase the likelihood of receiving likes and shares.
Downside: As your promotion frequency decreases, your organic website traffic may not experience rapid growth, but having a well-crafted bio can aid in this aspect!
Objective: Generate more leads for sales or purchases through the website.
That’s the goal for most brands! In this approach, the priority is to discuss the products or services, while also including a call-to-action (CTA) to promote your brand, even if the link in the post leads to someone else’s blog.
Example: Suppose you run an online store for pet supplies. On Monday, your post could include a link to a blog post that explains how to select the right food for your pet’s dietary needs, while mentioning one of your top-selling pet foods available in your online store. On Tuesday, you could link to an article that provides tips on how to train your dog to fetch and suggest checking out your collection of dog toys available for purchase. This strategy allows you to combine valuable content with promoting your products, thereby maximizing engagement and sales opportunities.
Upside: By implementing this approach, you can organically increase both your website traffic and social media following, essentially achieving two goals with one strategy.
Downside: Including too many CTAs in your posts can be confusing and overwhelming for your audience. They might wonder whether to click on the article link, visit your website, or simply admire the image before scrolling down.
