How strategic work transforms social media presence

While printed brochures, TV spots, or website design are part of marketing routine, social media is often afforded little importance. Yet, a company's own social media channels can contribute concretely to business success – but only if they follow a strategic line and are not operated as an end in themselves.

Expensive mistakes in working with social media

When brands do not understand which users they want to address with which content, at what time, in which funnel step, with what language, and at which location, content is created that:

• does not contribute to company goals
• is not developed according to the needs of the target audience
• does not suit the respective channel
• becomes unusable, irrelevant, and superfluous
• is forgotten and only contributes to information overload
• costs employees more resources than necessary

The result: Bad content. And that can become expensive. Because we know that unsuitable content can be damaging to a brand – and this on several levels. For instance, a study from 2018 states that 65% of all consumers cancel their online purchases if the site's content (format, design, text, content, tone) does not appeal to them. This massively endangers the value of a brand and its offering.

According to the 2019 Meaningful Brands study, 60% of German consumers also lack a sense of meaning behind the content they see. They are also annoyed by content that is poorly written (39%), poorly designed (28%), and outdated (23%). This shows that people are indeed critical of the content consumed on social media and that content and its framing have an effect on behaviour, trust, brand loyalty, purchase decisions, and the like. This effect extends from the design of a single post to the area of social media advertising.

Is social media still a secondary matter?

Let's be honest: in (too) many companies, social media is still a secondary matter. Something subordinate that is quickly cobbled together afterwards. This is argued with outdated points of criticism: “The return on investment is not traceable” or “Working on the platforms is arduous, detailed, and unimportant.”

Yet platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, or TikTok have meanwhile become indispensable in marketing. And above all: correctly handled, they are even incredibly valuable! Where else can a conversion be so clearly assigned to a promotional measure? Where else can it be so precisely controlled who should see which advertisement, when, and on which platform? Where else can it be given such precise insight into who has interacted, clicked, or bought when?

In order to exhaust the full potential of the platforms, good and precise groundwork must be done: we must learn to understand the needs and behavioural patterns of users much better. Where else should we address people if not where they spend a large part of their leisure time? If we know that content possesses a brand-defining function, this must therefore absolutely be considered with every publication on every channel. Because content must be first-class at every single touchpoint. Especially on social media!

Social media done right?

Marketing must always be oriented towards the needs of the target audience as well as company goals. It requires an understanding of the sweet spot, i.e., the area where one's own offering meets the customers' wishes. Channels and formats must be thoroughly considered and used correctly. It requires planning, strategy, implementation, control, adaptation, and improvement. And all this preferably in a continuous loop.

Thus, a company must always consider at the beginning who, where, how, and when it should be reached. And above all: Why! The target audience must be clearly determined, journeys and touchpoints considered in advance. In the end, every individual measure must be aligned with it accordingly.

Content must be relevant, have a clear message, and absolutely fit the brand presence (design, brand values, brand language, theme...). The goal behind it should always be to inform, entertain, inspire, or stimulate. Because only then is it also relevant.

Social media advertising: Do vs. Don’t

Example 1:

User Tommi is shown an advertisement for dog food. To be seen is a coloured background with an isolated dog bowl, next to it the food packaging and the product name including the price. Tommi does not own any pets and is not a particularly big animal lover either. Upon a quick check of why he is being shown this advertisement, the info comes: “Brand XY wants to reach all people between 18-60 years in Austria.” The result: Tommi is confused and visibly annoyed. He hates being confronted with even more irrelevant advertising than is already the case anyway. The brand becomes a nuisance factor in his private Facebook feed. All advertisements from the brand are hidden. And from now on, he also pays more attention to whose advertising he actually gets to see.

Approach:
The said brand takes its poster motif and publishes this on Facebook (portrait format, no link, no appealing text). The post wants to encourage users to buy, but contains no further information (link to the website, product tagging). The needs of the consumer or benefits of the product are not addressed. The advertising is shown to everyone. Payment is made per reached user, regardless of whether this user is also moved to an action.

Example 2:

User Marie is shown an advertisement on Instagram for an apprenticeship campaign. The sender is a large energy corporation located in her immediate vicinity. The Story Ad is very minimalist in its presentation and shows a young woman with the quote “Had enough of 'Hotel Mum'?”. Marie feels immediately addressed, is amused, and interested at the same time. After all, she is currently looking for an apprenticeship in her area. She clicks on the provided link and reaches a clear page with information material. The next day she sees a sponsored invitation to the company's next open house day. Marie is glad not to have to search for positions for much longer and clicks on “Accept”.

Approach:
The company considers in advance whom it wants to address with the advertising and which messages the said target audience is interested in. Target audience 1 is apprentices between 15-19 years, target audience 2 is parents of the apprentices (interest targeting “parents of teenagers”). Different advertising materials are produced for the two target groups, adapted to Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. Multiple campaigns are set up (goal: reach, clicks, conversions, event responses), target group data is collected (Custom Audiences), and retargeting is used. After a very short time, the event has multiple acceptances and several applications have been received.

The difference between these two examples is the strategy. In the first case, only the “how” was considered (format and platform) and no attention was paid to advertising strategy. In the second example, it was considered in detail who, how, when, where, and why should be addressed.

Conclusion: Social media first, not last!

Brands require high-quality, individual, expressive, and convincing content – be it textual or visual. The correct use of platforms and formats as well as target-group-appropriate addressing contribute to the strengthening of trust, preference, and loyalty towards a brand. Qualitatively inferior content can, on the other hand, harm the brand – especially on high-reach social media channels.

In this sense, the rule applies: First comes the strategy, then the implementation. Then learning, adapting, and making it better is the order of the day. Whoever observes that can use social media appearances as efficient marketing channels and not just as a PR channel whose impact cannot be measured.

Checklist: Social media advertising done right

You would no longer like to treat social media as an afterthought and tackle the topic correctly? Then we have prepared a list of control questions for future social media campaigns for you, which should help you with strategy and implementation. And if that is not enough, we are happy to assist with our know-how.

Control questions:

• Which target audience do I want to reach with my advertising?
• Why do I want to reach this target audience?
• Which action should the target person take?
• What is the goal of my advertising? What should happen?
• What is the added value of my offer?
• What does the target person get out of my advertising or offer?
• On which platform is my target audience active?
• How do they use this platform?
• Which restrictions or special features are to be considered for the respective platform?
• Which funnel steps must I consider? How can I address different target groups based on funnel steps? (Custom Audiences, Lookalike Audiences, interest targeting, page fans, friends of fans…)
• Do I already have suitable material that I can sensibly adapt or do I need new material for the respective platform?
• How can I support my goal visually and textually?
• Does the content fit the rest of my brand presence?
• How can I design my content consistently?
• Who has resources for adaptation, implementation, and control?
• How do we measure whether the advertising was suitable and brought success?

Conclusion