It doesn’t matter if you or your brand have been campaigning on social media since the first 8 days, or if you are new to the game, there is important inventory to take before investing single money on social media marketing.
As important as the quality of yo0ur campaign content is, choosing the right social channel to serve your influencer or other marketing campaigns is even more important. Posting the “right” content on the wrong social network is just as frustrating for users who will see it as it is for the brand or company that publishes it. Content from a big influencer is not so “great” if it feels out of place and leads to a negative reaction from users of a social network.
Facebook is the biggest on the market and has many built-in tools to provide campaign analytics. If you want to track app installs or purchases, Facebook is the best channel. With an advanced news feed algorithm, Facebook is also a good choice if a brand wants to target its message to a very specific demographic group. Location, age, gender, language, interests, behavior… if there’s a group at the intersection of the Venn diagram you’re trying to reach, Facebook can help.
Content that works well on Instagram probably works well on Facebook as well, especially if you give it a chance to put a targeted boost behind it (eg, buy ads). In short, Instagram can be used as a test to see which content stands out on Facebook.
Professional Tips
Keep the copy of the promoted post short and use visual content to draw users to your full post. A long subtitle may be cut off after a “Read more” fold, but an image/video is always visible.
Keep an eye out for new native tools and use them in advance – Facebook’s algorithm tends to put posts with newly released tools at the top of users’ timelines, like when Facebook Live was launched.
If you’re looking for highly talented creatives posting quality content, look no further than Instagram. The purpose of Instagram content is to be a “finger blocker” – content so good that it catches the user’s attention and stops scrolling through the feed.
Instagram influencers created followers based on the quality of their content and would give the same impetus to a brand’s campaign, delivering content that their followers will love while conveying the brand’s message.
In addition to posting them to your campaign, activating Instagram influencers is a great way to build a bank of quality content that you can use on any number of your channels, from billboards to tweets.
Professional advice
More engagement with a post means you’ll be favored by Instagram’s algorithm and seen by more users. By default, Instagram preloads videos as users scroll through their feeds. Use a native tool like Boomerang to create a short looped video that plays as users scroll, catches their attention, increases engagement, and posts more often to other users’ feeds.
With a user base made up of 68% women and an average household income of over $100,000, it’s no surprise that Pinterest is the most buyable network covered here. Beauty, home, fashion, cuisine, and food brands would do well to spend time and money on a Pinterest campaign.
Like all social media, Pinterest has its stars, with a large following, that should definitely be included in a branded marketing campaign. In addition, Pinterest has recently added the ability to promote pins, which can be used in the same way a brand can use Facebook to promote content that works well.
Professional advice
Pinterest users love content that teaches or inspires, and they love to replicate that content, potentially spreading your brand’s message to you. Focus on empowering Pinterest influencers who are known for creating content like recipes, homemade projects, and inspiration boards.
Snapchat
Are you an established brand looking to change the perception of your product or attract a younger audience? Big brands that already have an identity in the collective consciousness of the public have to turn to Snapchat to campaign and this, in turn, can be seen as an outdated image.
They can use Snapchat influencers or native Snapchat features, such as brand filters, to reach younger consumers who may not know the brand.
Who is Snapchat not ideal for? Beginners. Currently, Snapchat cannot track downloads or subscriptions, and companies cannot connect outside of the app. Maintaining the “always-on” nature of a Snapchat presence can also quickly become a burden for a small team.
Professional advice
Create a custom Snapchat geofilter linked to a popular cultural/community event that makes sense for your brand. If the filter is creative and engaging enough, you’ll have an integrated audience ready to share memories of events that contain your brand message. If influencers also participate and promote the geofilter at the event, it will add value to your marketing investment.
YouTube
For cosmetics, food, and lifestyle brands, YouTube is the perfect place to put products in the hands of YouTube influencers – for a makeup tutorial, transport videos, recipes, etc.
Extraordinary YouTubers have a dedicated, knowledgeable audience that craves videos from everyday influencers and trusts their knowledge and advice. That’s why it’s especially important to only work with YouTubers who have honest and trustworthy connections with your brand and product…because hell doesn’t rage like a despicable YouTube commentator.
Professional advice
If the main objective of a campaign is to build a positive relationship with the brand with a large audience, remember that YouTube comments are also one of the platform’s drawbacks; they can get ugly quickly out of nowhere.
There is no set video duration for your YouTube influencer marketing campaign. Combine some short videos with longer formats so you can get everyone’s attention (and stream shorter videos on other networks).
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The most important things to keep in mind when planning a social media campaign are “who” your brand is and what your goals are. This is the only way to successfully combine your campaign with the social platform to run it. For example:
- Although Snapchat can be used in all commercial publications, you will only be frustrated if you spend all your budget and time on a Snapchat campaign, but want to use more downloads for your new app.
- If you’re a big brand looking to reintroduce teenagers, Facebook may not be the best first step for you.
Set your goals and determine which social network can deliver the measurable results you want. You’ll get likes, replays, and comments quickly.