4 Marketing Strategies You Can Learn from Social Media Rock Stars

Following the biggest names on social media can be fun, but you can also learn marketing strategies from these social media rock stars, including what to do…and what not to do.

Here’s the scoop.

1. Be social. It’s called social media for a reason, right? The biggest stars—be it Kim Kardashian, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, and so forth—all have one thing in common: they use social media. A lot. And they don’t make it all about themselves, either. They’ll respond to fans. They’ll repost, retweet, share, and like. In other words, they interact with people.

Takeaway for small business owners: One of the reasons social media is so popular is because it’s social. As a business owner, you likely use social media to achieve certain strategic initiatives. Let’s just say that “having fun” and “being social” should be among those initiatives. This means your posts shouldn’t all be about your company or even your industry. Instead, go ahead and comment on the television premiere everyone’s talking about or share the cute cat video that makes you smile.

2. Be active. Again, the biggest social stars tend to be incredibly active on their platform (or platforms) of choice. Yes, it’s true that celebrities favor certain platforms over others—and this doesn’t hurt them in the least.

Takeaway for small business owners: You don’t need to be on every platform in order to interact effectively with your audience. If you prefer (or only have time for) two platforms, then work those two like a social media rock star.

3. Be mindful of what will happen if you decide to take a stand. Social media provides an incredible pulpit from which you can broadcast your views. Just know that if your views venture into controversial areas, you’ll likely experience backlash. Even some of the biggest social media darlings have had to learn this lesson the hard way.

Takeaway for small business owners: We typically recommend that small business owners avoid weighing in on controversial and polarizing topics. However, if you decide to weigh in—for whatever reason—make sure you’re ready to handle whatever might happen next. A good public relations professional can go a long way in helping you navigate a PR crisis.

4. Be aware of engagement. Now, we highly doubt that the biggest social media stars study things like “reach” and all the other tidbits that good analytics can reveal. But they don’t really need to. Their audiences are usually so massive that a quick glance of their user profiles and recent activity can provide a snapshot of how engaged fans and followers are. But the rest of us mere mortals do need to pay attention to the numbers.

Takeaway for small business owners: You shouldn’t be doing social media in a vacuum. Yes, you should have fun and be social. No, you shouldn’t overly stress about numbers, either. But, at the same time, you do need to be mindful of what the analytics are telling you so that you can…

• Determine whether the time you’re putting into social media is paying off (e.g. new leads, new sales, etc.)
• Discover what content is most effective with your audience (so that you can deliver more of the stuff they like and less of what they don’t)
• Learn the times of day your content gets the most engagement (again, so that you can be strategic about when you schedule posts)
• Uncover the platforms that aren’t working or that need more help (which might involve outsourcing to a social media consultant)

What other marketing strategies can we learn from social media rock stars? Share your ideas in the comments.