We all know how critical social media marketing has become, but brands still struggle to leverage networks optimally. Only around 45 percent of marketers believe their Facebook campaigns are effective, for example. One way to boost ROI on social is to find out what’s working for others and how you can incorporate those lessons into your own channels. Here’s a look at three brands and their successful social strategies.
GE and the Volcano Sensor Videos
Known for innovation and technology, GE brings its key strengths to content marketing efforts. The brand recently scored big across social media channels by integrating its own products, high-quality videography and an interesting story. The result is a web video series that follows a team as they descend into an active volcano to install GE sensors; the sensors are designed to capture data science hasn’t been able to record from the volcano in question before. The videos are engagement gold on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.
Lesson: Find interesting, dramatic or surprising ways to integrate your products into social content. Make products a key element, but not necessary the focus, of all the content. Natural beverage company Califia Farms does a good job incorporating its award-winning packaging into an Instagram feed without making every post about the drinks, for example.
The #FollowMeTo Instagram Campaign
A husband-and-wife Instagram team has found digital fame by capturing their adventures via a simple pose. The motif, which appears throughout their channel, positions Natalia in front, one hand trailing behind her, touching or clasping husband Murad’s had – Murad, who takes the now iconic pictures, is only seen when the couple shares behind-the-scene shots. On top of a recognizable motif, the couple leverages creativity and stunning editing to make their images pop. #FollowMeTo has almost half a million followers as of June 2017 with less than 500 posts on the page.
Lesson: Create unique branded elements for your social media marketing campaign that can repeat as motifs across your channel, and back those components with professional content, design and editing. The goal is for users to recognize your content immediately.
State Bicycle Company’s Commitment to Consistency
On first glance, the Facebook page for State Bicycle Company is akin to any comparable brand: it’s sleek, professional and on-topic for the bicycle manufacturer and cycling enthusiasm brand. What sets State Bicycle Company apart is consistency: it posts more than 80 items every month, ensuring some of those posts are engagement-inducing challenges for the target audience. The brand publishes a weekly theme and invites followers to send in photos related to the theme, boosting the amount of visual appeal on the profile without increasing work. Consistency has paid off: the brand’s follower number is close to half a million as of June 2017.
Lesson: Consistently post relevant, quality content, and ensure you’re posting within the right time slots and at the right frequencies, so all followers are likely to see your content.
Simply slapping daily posts up on social media isn’t enough to ensure social media marketing ROI. Instead, brands should work on integrating products in engaging ways, developing recognizable elements that resonate with audiences and being consistent.
