Frequently Asked Questions on Social Media Marketing (Updated)

Here are 12 questions I often receive from existing or potential clients about social media marketing. I hope you find it of some value.

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How many people are on social media?

According to Statista, in 2020, over 3.6 billion people were using social media worldwide, a number projected to increase to almost 4.41 billion in 2025. These numbers show how people use social media to connect, engage with news content, share information and entertain themselves.

What is the most popular social media platform?

According to Statista, Facebook, YouTube, and WhatsApp are the most popular social networks worldwide, each with at least two billion active users.

Other popular social media platforms include Instagram, Weixin/WeChat, TikTok, QQ, Douyin, Seina Weibo, Telegram, etc.
Rather than just posting memes, cat pictures, and other funny content, it's best to have a website or blog and drive traffic from your social media channels to your website or blog. Click To Tweet

How long does the average person spend on social media per day?

The same source mentioned above says that, on average, internet users spend 144 minutes daily on social media and messaging apps, an increase of more than half an hour since 2015. On average, internet users in Latin America had the highest average time spent per day on social media.

What is the fastest growing social media platform?

According to this article, that honour goes to TikTok, with an enormous 300 million growth in reported active users since January 2019, leaping an astounding 37.50% since Jan 2019.

What’s the best time to post on social media to reach my target audience?

This is a common question. According to Sprout Social, if you’re trying to create this share-worthy content, it’s no surprise that the most reliable engagement occurs during the workweek, Tuesday through Friday, 8 a.m.–2 p.m. engagement drops off outside of working hours, every day before 4 a.m. and after 8 p.m. However, I advise business owners to research what time works best for their audience on social platforms.

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How often should businesses post on social media?

Here is another social media marketing question I receive often. This article notes that most studies agree that once per day is optimal, with a maximum of two daily posts. HubSpot found that pages under 10,000 fans experienced a 50% drop in engagement per post if they posted more than once daily. At a minimum, post to your Facebook Pages three times per week.

As with the previous answer, the simple answer varies according to your content strategy. And it would be best if you did your research to determine the times your fans and followers engage with posts on your social media profile.

You need to post more often for some social networks, and for some, you need to post less. And the same thing goes with what is the best time to post on social media.

I’ve sampled several tools that claim to schedule your posts to reach your audiences at the ‘best time’. But the best time to post for brand A is not the best for brand B for several reasons, such as geographical differences, business goals, social media tools, social media goals, and types of content.

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How to measure the success of my social media strategy?

You don’t need to be a social media specialist to know how to measure the success of your social media activity. According to this article, here is how to measure social media effectiveness:

• Increase in the Number of Followers: A rise in your follower base means you are marketing your business right.
• Reactions on your Post: The likes, comments, and how users react to your post signify your success.
• Find out Reach: The more people you reach on social media, the better your campaigns are.
• Referral Traffic: Consider referral traffic when measuring your campaign’s success.
• Examine Click-Through Rate: The higher your click-through rate, the more visitors will be drawn to your website.

The number of fans and followers your post reaches, and so on, are vanity metrics that many social media experts like to talk about. While they are interesting to note, they don’t tell the actual story. Instead, focus on the amount of traffic your social channel drives to your website and whether this traffic converts into leads and customers. These are better metrics for businesses to measure the success or otherwise of their social media efforts.

Where should I direct my social media traffic?

Rather than just sharing social media posts like memes, cat pictures, and other funny content, it’s best to have a website or blog and drive traffic from your social media channels to your website or blog. Having a website is key to your digital marketing campaigns. Then you will be better positioned to convert the traffic from social media advertising into leads and customers and measure your performance with tools like Google Analytics.

How should I grow my followers on social media?

According to this article, the following tips will help you get more social media followers:

Follow Legitimate, Relevant Accounts.

Following good, active accounts in your business vertical will give you a base of people with whom to interact, which, as we’ll see below, has value in several ways for follower growth and potential customers. Search for published lists of recommended accounts for your areas of interest.

Have Something to Show & Share.

Your best followers will be people who take the time to check out your social media account and overall social media presence before following you. They’ll want to see that there’s something worth pursuing. Ensure your feed/timeline always shows recently shared, valuable content.
Your social media strategy will help you determine the right mix of sites and social media management tools you need to use to achieve your goals. Click To Tweet

Be Active & Engaged.

Being active in others’ social media user threads, especially influencers, also exposes your value to new people and can gain followers.

Post Opinions, Data, News & Trends.

As an excellent social media marketing strategy, if you can become an excellent source for breaking news important to your industry and other relevant content, people will want to follow you to not miss out on what’s happening.

Post Frequently, But Appropriately.

No matter how popular you become, people will forget you in no time if you stop content creation, posting and engaging. You’ve got to maintain a regular presence to become a social media success. This is where a social media calendar is necessary because you don’t want to overdo it.

Rally Your Subscribers.

Include your primary social media links in your newsletters if you have an email list you regularly send content. And every so often, appeal for people to follow you there. People who think enough of you and your content to open your emails will probably gladly follow you on social media.

Use Hashtags.

Always look before you leap with a new hashtag as a social strategy. Search for it via search engines and on various social networks, and ensure it isn’t used for something you don’t want your brand associated with.

Get Speaking Gigs & Interviews.

Speaking at conferences and meetups, or being interviewed on a video show or podcast, can be good for your career, but they are also great ways to get exposed to new people. The people at conferences and meetups will likely apply to your business. They just got an excellent taste of your value, so they’re highly motivated to follow you on social media. Include your Twitter handle at the bottom of your presentation slide decks, as long as the conference allows it.

Build Partnership Campaigns.

Building relationships with non-competing companies relevant to your business area and pitch ideas for joint content and social media campaigns. These work best when each partner has something to bring to the table. Because each partner will promote the content to its audience, each gains new followers from the other.

Social media is not about growing the number of followers. Social media is about building a community and engaging with that community. Like I always say, it’s better to have 100 fans that engage with your posts on social media than 10,000 fans that don’t interact with your content. Please resist the temptation to buy followers from shady persons who claim they can supply your followers at a low cost. These so-called followers sometimes are fake accounts. Sometimes, they are followers that will have no interest at all in your brand. You will just be throwing money down the drain.

Instead, focus on building a thriving community on all your social media channels. Learn to provide them with valuable content they can engage with and share with their friends. Learn to give to your online communities expecting nothing in return. Community members will be more likely to patronise your product or service when they see your sincere interest in their progress.
So it would help if you had a mindset that social media marketing is now a pay-to-play affair. Click To Tweet

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What type of content should businesses post on their social media channels?

According to MailChimp in this article, these are the top 12 Types of social media content to create

• Written posts, blogs, articles, guides, and more.
• Electronic books (eBooks)
• Links to external content.
• Images.
• Videos.
• Video Stories.
• Live Videos.
• Infographics.
• Testimonials and reviews
• Announcements
• Contests
• Holidays

This question is exciting. People always ask. The answer depends on the social network you are using and for what purpose you use it (e.g., customer service). It also depends on the content your target audience likes to engage. Thus, I have highlighted the content that, from my experience, works best with my or my client’s followers. As digital marketers, you will need to research your individual social media channels to determine the content that resonates with your target audience and makes the best impact on your online presence.

My findings are based on each social network and in no particular order.

• Twitter: Text/image quotes, memes, blog posts, interesting articles, videos, company updates, industry updates and breaking news.
• Facebook Pages: Live videos, videos, photos, quotes, interesting articles and blog posts.
• LinkedIn: Job postings, industry news or quotes, blog posts, newsletters, and announcements.
• Instagram: Behind-the-scenes photos and videos, quotes.
• Pinterest: Infographics, quotes, tips, videos and curated content on design, cuisine, and fashion.

As mentioned above, you need to conduct your research to discover the content that resonates with your audiences.

Should I have an account on all social networks?

The simple answer is NO. It would help if you were on social networks where your customers are. Therefore, you need a social media strategy. If your brand is a B2B brand, you need to be on a business-oriented platform like LinkedIn, Xing, etc. If your brand is a B2C brand, you must be on Facebook, Instagram, etc. It is important to note that platforms like Facebook, which have billions of active users, are a must for your brand since you will probably have some of your customers that use it. Your social media strategy will help you determine the right mix of sites and social media management tools you need to achieve your goals.

Does social media marketing cost?

Many brands focused on growing followers on various social networks because they saw it as a free channel to reach their customers. But these days, social networks like Facebook, Twitter etc., are trying to monetise their platforms through paid adverts. Thus, there are no more free rides for brands and social media marketers. In other words, to ensure that your content reaches your fans and followers, pay! Paying for adverts on social media sites must be a prominent part of your social media strategy. Therefore, it would help if you had a mindset that social media marketing is now a pay-to-play affair.

Conclusion

Social media marketing is dynamic. Some platforms that existed some years ago are not inexistent today. Therefore, you need to be on the lookout for which social media network your existing and potential clients are using and try to be on that network. Do you have questions about social media marketing that I have not answered in this post? Please schedule a consultation to get answers. If you have found this post to be of some value, please share it with your friends or social media managers using any of the buttons below. See you next time.

Related Article(s)

• Digital Marketing Questions and Answers
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• 42 Ways of Engaging Your Audience on Social Media
• 5 Social Media Marketing Tips for Small Businesses
• 5 Steps to Creating an Effective Social Media Campaign

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