Social media has become widely called a necessity for every brand. It is true, but does having social media equate to the successful marketing of your brand?
I’d strongly say no.
The reason is — social media is extremely crowded and becoming successful on Instagram, Facebook, or even TikTok, has become tremendously hard.
Did you know that there are over 500 million tweets sent out every day? It is super noisy out there! How do you ensure that your tweets reach your audience?
Your brand can still achieve great results without investing yourself 100% into social media.
Here are a few alternative tips that will help you market your brand.
Own Your Audience
No surprise here — your audience (your followers) on Instagram or Facebook don’t belong to you. They belong to that particular social media platform.
What does it mean?
It means that if Instagram decides to change its algorithm, your posts may end up unseen by your followers. This can become very damaging to your business.
This is why, from day one, you should strive to build your own audience. Having a landing page (or a website) where people can subscribe to your newsletter is something that will consistently have more value to your brand than any amount of followers on social media.
If people subscribe to your newsletter, they are genuinely welcoming you into their inbox. And their inbox is actually a very private and personal space.
However, getting new followers on Facebook is much easier than actually gaining new subscribers to your newsletter. This is a sad truth. You’ll have to put a lot of effort to entice people to subscribe.
It takes a lot of time and effort to grow a website, however, it is definitely possible. All you need is enticing, unique content, some knowledge in SEO, and persistence.
Try using the authority that your brand has on social media and drive people to subscribe to your newsletter. Offer convenient and unique insights that will motivate them to become exclusive with you.
The major difference between social media and email marketing is personalization. Your email content will have to be personalized.
Produce Thought-Leadership Content
The internet is full of advice, tips, and hacks. Therefore, competing in such a space with your genuine ideas is becoming more and more difficult.
Producing written or video content can help your company become a thought-leader in the industry, where people will be interested to discover your content without a social media boost.
This content should be included in your website and serve a deeper purpose — help your website’s SEO for years to come, as well as engage your audience in a discussion, and make them interact with your brand.
Being a thought leader will have a positive impact on your product as well, as by discovering your content, people will also learn more about your solutions.
Long gone are the days where people bought services or products based on advertising. Today, people are educated to purchase one and not another product. Think about it. Would you buy a new phone just because you’ve seen an appealing ad? Or would you rather buy it because the company that produced it educated you on why you need it — great camera, long-lasting battery, etc.?
Thought leaders also tend to share a lot of content that’s evergreen, which means it doesn’t have an expiry date. They tend to share experiences and tips from their professional angle.
Digital Advertising (Cost-Per-Click Ads)
Digital advertising isn’t synonymous with social media advertising. On the contrary, it’s a much more comprehensive form of advertising, including search engines and remarketing.
Google Ads is probably the most important advertising on digital space that you should explore. Why?
Well, simply because people use Google when they need something. We rarely search for things on Facebook or Instagram. If I want to find a great hair salon within my vicinity, I’ll turn to Google. If I want to take my partner for dinner, I will also search on Google.
That’s why advertising on search engines, such as Google, is crucial.
Even though social media advertising is also popular and can be relatively cheap, the leads generated from social media campaigns are often not as qualified as those from search-based marketing.
The reason — intent. When people need something, they Google it. It’s great if you have an ad and it ranks in the top three.
You should also tap into remarketing (especially if you sell something directly from your website). It’s a great way to remind your potential customers that they have viewed and potentially intended to buy something from your website.
Bottom Line
Social media is important, but it is a very crowded space. I would avoid spending too much money there, and would actually put more effort and attention to alternative marketing channels — email marketing, high-quality thought-leadership content, and digital advertising.
Social media also changes very rapidly. A year or so ago, nobody knew about TikTok, and today it’s the latest trend. However, many brands don’t know how to tap into their benefits yet. Who knows, when they learn how to benefit from TikTok, perhaps there will be another emerging platform.
I’d recommend keeping a social media presence, but also allocating more energy and resources to alternative channels.
Other popular posts:
5 Savvy Ways to Spend Leftover Marketing Budget
How to Build a Successful Instagram Marketing Strategy
Tips for Creating Evergreen Content
Never miss a post
Subscribe to Substack to get the latest posts delivered to your inbox!
