The Ultimate Social Media Marketing Guide

Set Your Social Media Goals

Before creating your social media strategy, it's essential to know which goals you're trying to achieve.

So, why do you need to set goals?

1. To focus on what's needed for the success of your marketing strategy.
2. To avoid exerting efforts in things that don't matter to your eCommerce business.
3. To make sure you're generating profits.

Goal-setting is an integral part of any digital marketing strategy. That's why you need to remember this when setting your goals.

Set A SMART Goal

I'm sure you've heard this tip multiple times, but let me remind you again about what it means.

To make it easier to digest, I'll include examples.

Specific

Don't set goals that are so broad. Be clear about what you want to achieve to avoid misdirection.

Example:

✅"I want to increase my followers on Instagram."

❌ "I want more followers."

Measurable

Make your goals measurable to see if you're achieving them.

Example:

✅ "I want to increase my followers by 50%."

❌ "I want to increase my followers."

Attainable

These are realistic goals that you can achieve.

Example:

✅ "I want to gain 1,000 followers in 2 months."

❌ "I want to gain 10,000 followers in 20 minutes!"

Relevant

Your goals should be relevant to your business. This will avoid making impractical choices.

Example:

✅ "I want to gain more Facebook followers." is a relevant goal because it can increase your brand awareness.

❌ "I want to decrease the bounce rate of my website." isn't really relevant because it goes beyond social media marketing. Maybe, you need a website optimization.

Time-bound

How long do you think it will take you to achieve your goal? Set a time.

Example:

✅"I want to reach 1,000 unique accounts on Instagram by the end of the month."

❌ "I want to reach 1,000 followers!"

Remember, in every goal you set... make sure they're SMART!

But if you have no idea yet what goals to set... I got you covered! 😉

What Are The Common Goals In Social Media Marketing?

Social Media Marketing has a lot of use. But as I said, you should be specific with your goals.

That's why I will show some social media goals you can set when planning your social media marketing strategy.

So, what are the examples of these?

1. Generate Leads

Lead generation is one of the most usual digital marketing strategies.

And social media can also help you with that. You can create content that indicates the benefits of your products or services, then urge them to sign up for your offers.

But don't forget... not everyone who visits your social media page the first time will immediately sign up.

There are different stages of a buyer's journey. You need to create a social media content strategy based on that, which I will tell you about later.

2. Gain Followers

Followers show how many people "subscribe" or "follow" your page to see your content.

And having a ton of followers makes it look like you have a reputable eCommerce brand on social media.

You should consider it as social proof.

If others see that thousands of people follow your social media platforms, they won't want to miss out and follow you, too!

So, make sure to include increasing followers on your social media goals.

3. Increase Brand Awareness

Brand awareness is not easy on social media, but definitely doable!

Sure, you need to strategize the best content to help you get discovered by more social media users. But due to the popularity of social media, it's easier to connect with other people.

That's why it's one of the goals you should set when creating your social media strategy.

4. Community Management

And as I mentioned above, social media makes it easier to connect with your existing customers.

But wait...

What's community management?

It means nurturing your relationship with your customers. And remember, you should start cultivating the relationship at the beginning of their buyer's journey.

Fostering a community can help you with customer loyalty.

5. Drive Website Traffic

Driving website traffic is an essential metric of digital marketing.

Because the moment people visit your website, it means they're already aware of your eCommerce brand.

And social media is one way to get website traffic because you can drive your followers to your eCommerce site.

Already have ideas which goals to set?

That's great! Don't forget that goal-setting is a vital part of creating your social media strategy because that will determine which direction you're going to take.

And another important thing you should do is know your audience.

Research Your Target Audience

"If you're talking to everyone, you're talking to no one." - Seth Godin.

When I first read this quote, I wasn't sure what it meant. But as I dived more profoundly, I realized it was the truth.

So, what does it mean?

It's about talking to the RIGHT people.

If you're trying to talk to a broad audience, no one will receive your messages well because they're not sure if you're talking to them.

For example, you're trying to sell a diet coaching service. But you're posting content on social media that doesn't really communicate to people who need your service.

It might end up to the wrong audience. Hence, you won't achieve your desired results.

To avoid this, it's important to research your target audience.

But how?

Create Buyer Personas

What are buyer personas?

Buyer personas are in-depth research of your customers or target audience. These will help you understand their needs because you will analyze them on a deeper level.

Creating a buyer persona includes this information:

1. Name
2. Age
3. Gender
4. Location
5. Profession
6. Interests
7. Hobbies
8. Problems
9. Challenges
10. Behavior

This is an example of what it looks like.

Yep, it's fictional. But what you're going to put in there is based on research. Not purely imagination and creativity.

They are your potential customers. So, you need to identify the possible problems they're facing to give solutions.

And in the context of social media marketing, you'd know what types of content you can post to reach your target audience.

Another way to research your target audience is...

Analyze Your Competitors Platforms

To strengthen your audience research, you can visit your competitors' social media pages.

If they have established platforms already, you can check the types of people interacting with their content and their followers.

This will help you identify which social media sites have the most engaged followers. And you can use your findings to kickstart your social media marketing strategy.

I will discuss conducting a competitive analysis later, so stay tuned!

But here's another way...

Conduct Research On The Platforms

When you're choosing which social media platforms you need first, it's best to conduct research on each of them.

Then based on your buyer persona or target audience in mind, you can analyze which might work best for your ecommerce brand.

Here are the questions you need to answer:

1. Who are the most active users on this platform?
2. Where is my target audience hanging out on the internet?
3. Is my target audience interested in the types of content this platform has?

To explain the third point clearly... you need to know if they're going to enjoy the kind of content a specific platform has.

For example, Youtube. You want to create a Youtube channel, but are you sure they like long-form videos? What if they enjoy short-form, entertaining ones?

That's the point of researching your target audience.

You can avoid making wrong choices for your ecommerce brand's social media accounts.

Oh, and by the way. Let's dive deeper into competitor analysis!

Conduct A Competitor Analysis

Do you want your target market to come to your competitors' eCommerce site instead of yours?

I'm sure it's a no!

So, Competitor Analysis is a vital part of making your social media marketing strategy because it allows you to dive deeper into your competitors' performance.

But why would you even go through that effort?

The Benefits Of Conducting A Competitor Analysis

Competitor Analysis is beneficial to your eCommerce brand. Not only can it help your social media platforms, but your overall eCommerce website, too.

So, why do you need it?

1. To outshine their social media strategies.
2. To identify the gaps and turn them into opportunities.
3. To improve your social media marketing.

But when conducting a competitive analysis, you should know the questions you need to ask and how to interpret your findings.

Wondering which areas and questions you should look for?

What To Look For In A Competitor Analysis On Social Media?

As I mentioned above, you need to answer the right questions to get valuable information from conducting a competitor analysis.

What are these questions?

1. What's their average engagement rate?
2. What's working on their social media accounts?
3. What's not working?
4. What are the types of content they're posting?
5. What social media platforms are they utilizing?

If you notice that Post A is getting a lot of traction compared to Post B, why do you think that's the matter?

You should answer these questions because you can use them when creating your social media marketing strategy.

Once you find the answers, you'd know what strategies to try and avoid.

And now, you're probably wondering...

Who Are The Competitors You Should Analyze?

Hmm... Do you really need to analyze each one of them?

Later on, you'll know whether or not you need to analyze each one of them.

For now, let me share the different types of competitors so you better understand each.

Let's start with...

Direct Competitors

You and your direct competitors solve the same problems using the exact solutions.

For example, you're selling scented candles. Your direct competitors are the eCommerce stores that sell scented candles to the same target market.

Indirect Competitors

These are competitors that solve the same problems through different products.

Again... let's say you're selling scented candles for relaxation. Your competitor could be selling other types of candles or oils for relaxation to the same target market.

Potential Competitors

Potential competitors sell the same products and services. You also have the same target market.

But here's the catch.

They're not yet selling to your market area.

For example, you can only deliver your scented in your state. But your potential competitors can't deliver to yours.

So... do you need to analyze them all?

It's best to focus on analyzing your direct competitors thoroughly. But that doesn't mean you couldn't get ideas from the other types of competitors.

Now you're done with competitor research, let's get to the juicy part of this guide!

Create Your Social Media Strategy

This is probably the part you've been waiting for.

Because after meticulous research, it's time to create the social media strategy that will help your ecommerce store!

The first thing you need to do is...

Choose The Platform You'll Focus On

As I said, you don't have to create multiple social media accounts at once. This will avoid exerting so much time and energy on the wrong platforms.

And by choosing the right social media platform, you can easily create a brand message and convey them to the right people.

That's why you need to use the platforms where your target audience is.

So, to help you figure it out... let's analyze a few popular social media giants.

1. Facebook

Facebook had 2.91 billion active users in the third quarter of 2021.

It has 56% users who are male and 44% female.

Facebook's largest demographic is between 25 to 35 years old.

It's still proven to be one of the biggest social media platforms, despite the rise of other sites, such as TikTok.

Facebook also has tools to guide you in Facebook Marketing, like Facebook Ads Manager, Business Suite, and Creator Studio.

There are also different types of content, such as text posts, images, videos, stories, and more. It also has a lot of communities through Facebook Groups.

Facebook can be beneficial in social media marketing.

You can create content that will spark conversation and entice your audience to interact with your eCommerce brand.

2. Instagram

Facebook owns Instagram. It used to be a photo-centric social media app until it expanded to videos.

It has 2.35 billion monthly active users. And the countries with the most extensive user bases are India (229.6 million), the United States (143.4 million), and Brazil (113.5 million).

17.9% of its global active users are men between 18 and 24 years old. And most of its global users are 34 years or younger.

Instagram can also be a great social media platform for your marketing strategy.

Since Instagram is not just focusing on photos, you can do different things to connect with your audience.

You can host a Live, shoot an IGTV, upload short-form videos on Reels, or utilize the Shopping feature. It just keeps on improving!

Instagram is workable, so you can rock this and achieve your social media goals!

3. LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a career-centric social media platform.

It's used to find jobs and connect with other professionals worldwide. And for me, I see it as a community.

LinkedIn has 930 million members in more than 200 countries worldwide.

If you're a business-to-business eCommerce brand, LinkedIn might be an incredible platform for you. Because you can directly connect and engage with businesses and their employees.

4. TikTok

TikTok is a short-form video platform by ByteDance.

It has 50 million daily active users (DAU) with mobile devices... in the United States alone. And it has also been downloaded 3 billion times!

With this massive popularity, it's safe to say that TikTok is not going anywhere soon.

That's why if you think your target audience will enjoy short-form videos... join the club! You can create entertaining content while showcasing your products!

5. Twitter

Twitter is a microblogging platform where users can create short text posts or "tweets."

It has 396.5 million users. It was also downloaded over 6 million times in the last quarter of 2020 in the United States from the App Store!

That's huge!

Due to its nature, Twitter is the best for real-time updates. That's why more and more people hop on to Twitter to see what is "trending."

Big and reputable brands use it to connect with their audience. Be it through addressing their concerns or posting funny tweets.

While Twitter doesn't have as many features as the other platforms, it's scaling more than ever. In fact, you can now access Spaces, where people can talk live with each other.

There's also Twitter for Professionals and a monetization feature.

Such a great platform, right?

Knowing the users of each social media platform can help you tailor your content based on their likings and demographics.

By choosing the right platform, you can be sure that you're talking to the right people! 😉

And speaking of which...

Set Your Tone Of Voice

Another tip to ensure you can convey your message correctly is choosing the right tone of voice.

So, what is a tone of voice?

It's about HOW you talk to your audience with your social media posts.

That's why I'll repeat it... it's crucial to conduct thorough audience research.

Because if you don't know how to talk to your audience correctly, they might not receive your brand messages well.

Before you choose which kind of voice you're going to use, let me tell you some quick tips first:

1. Talk to your audience in their language. Talk HOW they talk. Is your audience more of the professional type? Or they're the type of people who can quickly get puns?
2. Think of your brand identity. Does your eCommerce brand look "premium" or "luxurious?" Then your tone of voice should suit your branding.
3. What are your values? Your tone of voice should reflect your eCommerce brand's mission and values.

And I know you're waiting for this... here are some tone of voice examples.

1. Friendly
2. Funny
3. Casual
4. Formal
5. Quirky
6. Respectful
7. Irreverent
8. Honest
9. Authoritative
10. Humble

Once you find the best tone of voice that suits your eCommerce brand and target audience, you also need to...

Determine Your Brand Positioning

What is brand positioning?

It means how you want your target audience to perceive your brand. And when thinking of your brand positioning, your target audience should also be on top of your mind.

And it's how you set your eCommerce brand apart from your competitors.

Let me give you an example.

Let's say you're selling high-quality leather cardholders. They are kind of pricey to people outside your target audience.

So, you might already have competitors trying to beat each other in terms of price.

But your positioning is different. Instead of focusing on how affordable your products are, you can focus on how prime the quality of your cardholders is.

You can position your eCommerce brand as "exclusive." Why? Because you're marketing to a specific target demographic, who can buy your products.

And that's what makes you different from your competitors. You make your customers feel special through the "exclusivity" you offer.

That's the importance of brand positioning.

When creating your social media strategy, make sure to include how you want your eCommerce brand to be seen.

And this leads us to our next tip.

Select Your Content Categories

So, based on your research and planning... you need to think of content categories that will help you communicate your message.

And when thinking of your content marketing strategy, here are some things you should take note of:

1. Is this serving my target audience's needs?
2. Does this work well on this platform?
3. Will this spark conversation and curiosity?

There are different content categories, but let me give you five for now.

1. Promotional

Promotional content aims to promote your products or services.

But it's not limited to that. Because you can also promote any materials that have something to do with your eCommerce business. Like promoting a blog, for example.

2. Educational

Educational content focuses on teaching your audience some knowledge about your products or industry.

For example, you're selling healthy desserts. You can share health tips and how you believe your products can help them achieve their health goals.

3. Entertaining

Entertaining content wants to entertain the audience.

It can be through funny images or unique videos. It can also be through sharing a relatable meme that your audience can resonate with and enjoy.

4. Engaging

Engaging content is for your customers to interact with your brand.

You can create interactive content, such as quizzes, games, questions.

5. Community

Community-building posts are for fostering your community or current customer base.

You can create social media posts asking them what's their favorite product of yours. Or, you can take them with you behind the scenes.

It's up to you how many content categories you want to use, but don't overwhelm your audience.

After analyzing the results, you can trim it down to three categories, which I will tell you about later! 🤫

But for now, let's talk about planning your content.

Create A Content Calendar

Consistency is essential in social media marketing. Inconsistency is a major turn-off.

And luckily... a content calendar is beneficial to keep you on track with your social media posts. You can plan in advance and make sure you're on schedule.

So, how to create a content calendar?

1. Use any tools. Tools that you're comfortable with. It can be an Excel sheet, Google sheet, or any other scheduling tool, like Trello or Monday.com. Here's a handy guide that covers the different features Trello and Monday.com offer. 
2. Plan a month's worth of content. Always create a month's worth of content in advance to consistently post on your social media accounts.
3. Include the necessary categories. Don't overwhelm your calendar with unnecessary sorts. Just use the most important ones, like date and time of publication, image, status, caption, and channel.

But it doesn't end at creating a content calendar.

Because let's face it... social media marketing needs time to succeed. You wouldn't achieve your goals with just one post. Or two.

You need to analyze your posts to fine-tune your strategy.

Analyze And Optimize

The game doesn't stop at creating your social media strategy and publishing your posts.

You need to know which areas you need to improve by analyzing your insights.

And the first step to optimize is to...

Understand The Analytics

Each social media account has different sets of analytics.

But these are the usual analytics most social media channels are using:

1. Impressions. These are how many people viewed your post.
2. Reach. This indicates how many unique users you reached through your post.
3. Follows. This shows how many people started following you in a specific time frame.
4. Profile Visits. These are how many people visited your profile within a particular time frame.
5. Website Clicks. This shows how many people you drove to your website. It can be through a post or within a specific time frame, depending on how the insights work per platform.
6. Email taps. This usually appears on Instagram and shows many people tapped your email based on your posts.
7. Shares. How many people shared your post with their followers and friends?
8. Likes. How many people liked your post?
9. Comments. How many people commented on your posts?
10. Views. How many people watched your Instagram Stories or videos?

These insights are primarily for organic social media marketing. Of course, there are different insights for Facebook Advertising or any other social media ads you launch.

Now, what are you going to do with these data?

Optimize Your Content Strategy

No type of content works well 100% of the time.

So, depending on your previous posts' results, check which areas you can improve on.

But remember... it has to be aligned with your goals.

Here's an example...

Let's say the goal of your post is to increase your reach. That's why you posted entertaining content on TikTok.

And, of course, it got many likes and shares. You reached hundreds of thousands of users...

But people didn't visit your profile or website.

You got what you needed because shares can help increase your reach. And the next time you need to boost it again, you can opt for an entertaining post because it was already proven to work.

But what would you do about the profile visits? Analyze the video and see what's lacking.

Do you have no call to action? Did you promote your products? Check out the details and see how to improve them.

Another example is...

Suppose you posted educational content. Your posts got many saves, and more people followed your social media account. No conversions.

But the goal of that post is to increase your sales.

So, you need to optimize your next educational post to make sure you insert your brand because they might not know your product could solve their problem.

You have to dive deeper into every aspect to achieve your goals in your next posts.

Analyzing and optimizing works hand in hand. As they say, you can't optimize if you don't analyze.

Optimizing is about achieving your goal one step at a time because there is no overnight success in social media marketing.

But there are resources to help you get one step closer to your goals. ?

Use Resources That Will Help You Achieve Your Social Media Goals

If you're not yet ready to hire a social media professional, it's better to start learning on your own.

But don't worry... you don't need to get a lot of certification to start social media marketing.

You just need to use resources to help run your eCommerce brand's social media accounts uncomplicated.

So, what are these?

Check Out Blogs

If you want to keep up with the latest social media marketing trends, you can check out blogs posting about social media or digital marketing as a whole.

Reading at least an article a day would keep your mind fresh. And you can apply what you learn every day as you manage your social media accounts.

You can also check out Debutify's blog for your daily dose of digital marketing knowledge!

Try Using Canva

Content creation for your social media channel shouldn't be time-consuming. That includes designing your images.

So, to minimize the time you'll spend designing, it's best to use editing platforms with templates... like this:

Canva is a popular online photo editor. You can design your social media posts using their templates to make them less time-consuming.

But remember... always incorporate your brand identity.

Don't forget that social media can be an excellent way to build a social media presence and stand out online. Don't use templates that hundreds of people are already using.

Pro tip: To further enhance your Instagram presence, you can add your Instagram Feed through Debutify's Instagram Feed Add-On!

This way, you can showcase your fantastic Instagram feed to your website visitors.

Scheduling Tools For Facebook and Instagram

You don't need to create an alarm and remind yourself to post... because you can use a Facebook and Instagram scheduling tool from Meta itself.

You can go to Creator Studio and log in to your Instagram account to get started.

And here's how to schedule a post on Facebook using Meta Business Suite.

1. Go to Meta Business Suite.
2. Select the page you'd want to create a post for on the left corner.
3. Click on Create post.
4. Write the text, add the photos or videos, and customize the settings.
5. Select Schedule post on the bottom right.

And you've now scheduled your post! Time to focus on the other essential things in your business to achieve more goals. 😉

Use Stock Photos If Needed

What are stock photos?

These are images from photographers for specific uses. Under different licenses, stock photos are free for commercial and non-commercial use.

Here are some great photos for resources:

1. Unsplash
2. Pexels
3. Pixabay

But I don't recommend replacing actual product photos and testimonials with stock photos.

Maybe you can use these as backgrounds or designs on your social media posts. But don't mislead your customers.

Competitor Analysis Tools

If you found the competitor analysis labor-intensive... it's best to use tools to get actual data or numbers. It might cost you a bit, but this will also save you some time.

So, what are these tools?

1. Sprout Social

You can compare and measure performance of your social media to your competitors using Sprout Social. You'll get competitive reports on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

This is useful and time-saving!

2. Phlanx

Phlanx is an Instagram Engagement calculator, which is pretty easy to use. Just insert the Instagram username, and you'll see the average engagement rate.

3. Vaizle

Vaizle is another analytics tool for social media. You can insert the links to your competitor pages and compare them to yours.

The best part is it's not just for Twitter. You can analyze Youtube, Facebook, Facebook Ads, Instagram, and there's also an ROI or Return On Investment Calculator!

See how these tools are so helpful? These can totally help you achieve your social media goals and make data-driven decisions.

Not only that, but they would lessen the time you need to spend on social media and focus on enhancing your eCommerce business.

Now that you're armed with resources and social media marketing knowledge...