The number of users using SNS is increasing year by year, and the sales and number of customers for companies that are strong in SNS marketing are also increasing. However, even if you are thinking about actually using SNS, many people may wonder which SNS they should use to post and why they need to do so in the first place.
Therefore, in this article, we will explain the importance of engaging in SNS marketing, as well as explain strategic design such as account design and competitor research. Furthermore, we will introduce specific ways to utilize SNS marketing.
Why you need to engage in SNS marketing
First, I will explain why you should engage in SNS marketing and its importance.
Increasing number of SNS users, mainly Generation Z. Corporate branding becomes possible.
I will explain each in turn.
Increase in SNS users, mainly among Generation Z
Generation Z refers to people born after the mid-1990s. In recent years, users, mainly Generation Z, collect information through SNS rather than search engines such as Google and Yahoo!.
There are various platforms that users use to gather information, such as Instagram for information on beauty, cosmetics, travel, etc., and Facebook and Twitter for forming business-related connections.
In other words, by sending out messages on these platforms through SNS marketing, you will be able to contact many users. As a result, they will become potential customers for your company or contact you if there is a product they are interested in.
Corporate branding becomes possible
Corporate branding is also possible by utilizing SNS marketing. Corporate branding is the process of spreading awareness about a specific industry or product to a large number of users, such as “If you think of XX industry, that company is the one.”
In addition, because SNS brings you closer to users, there is a high possibility that users will become your company’s fans.
For example, “
SHARP
”, which is famous in the home appliance industry, actively retweets quotes from users and replies to replies. As a result, users will gradually become fans and will likely purchase SHARP’s home appliances.
In this way, having many points of contact with nearby SNS users makes it easier to brand your company, which can be said to be an important reason for disseminating information on SNS.
SNS operation design
We have explained the two importance of working on SNS marketing, but from now on, we will explain the specific SNS operation design. The operational design will proceed in the following five steps.
- Decide on a marketing platform
- Perform account design and competitor research
- Define KPIs
- Decide on the operating system
- Decide on a posting schedule
Let’s look at each step in turn.
Decide on a marketing platform
First, decide on a marketing platform. Since user attributes and content differ depending on the platform, we will explain the characteristics of the four platforms below. Please understand the characteristics of each and use it as a reference when deciding which platform to use for your company.
- YouTube
Twitter
Twitter is an SNS with over 45 million monthly active users in Japan. You can post text, videos, and photos of up to 140 characters, and your posts will appear on your followers’ timelines in real time.
In addition, Twitter is characterized by the higher the engagement rate (response rate) such as “likes” and “retweets”, the higher it will continue to be displayed on the timeline. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the attributes of your followers and develop techniques for tweeting that are likely to be responded to by those users.
Related article:
Are Twitter campaigns effective for business growth? / What information do users want most from companies?
Facebook
Facebook is a SNS with the largest number of users in the world. Unlike Twitter’s timeline function mentioned above, it uses a feed called “Edge Rank” that is posted.
Additionally, followers often increase based on business connections or offline connections, so it is not a platform for acquiring a wide range of new users.
However, as a general rule, Facebook requires real name registration, and detailed user information such as educational background, company history, and place of residence must be entered. Therefore, it can be said that the value of using it for the purpose of distributing advertisements is extremely high, as targeted advertisement distribution can be expected to produce outstanding effects.
Related article:
You can use it now! How to maximize the effectiveness of Facebook ads
Instagram
Instagram is an SNS with over 33 million monthly active users in Japan. It has exploded in popularity, especially among women, and posts related to beauty, cosmetics, travel, and food and drink tend to have high engagement.
Another feature is that posts that appeal to the five senses, with a focus on photos and videos, are more likely to grow. Furthermore, since Instagram is a business operated by Facebook, it is possible to distribute advertisements based on detailed user data from Facebook.
YouTube
YouTube is a SNS with over 65 million monthly users in Japan. There are YouTube channels for almost every genre, and you can create one with just one Google account.
Additionally, data shows that every user who uses the Internet to watch videos also uses YouTube. In other words, there is no doubt that YouTube is the SNS that can reach the largest number of users.
Related article:
Utilization of YouTube ads – Digital shift in advertising as seen in the case of Chocola BB
Perform account design and competitor research
Once you have decided on a platform for your company to broadcast from among the four SNS mentioned above, the next step is to design an account and conduct competitive research. Some accounts start posting without doing any competitive research, but this is not desirable.
This is because accounts that only promote your own products or posts that are similar to those of your competitors can lead to a loss of trust from users.
Therefore, it is a good idea to at least check what your competitors in the same industry are posting, how often they post, and how many followers they have.
Define KPIs
Next, define KPIs after starting the call. The period of KPIs varies depending on the account, but we recommend that you start by considering a 3-month span, such as 3 months after the start of operation, or 6 months after the start of operation.
The important thing when setting KPIs is to set “realistic numbers.” Even if you set a goal of reaching 100,000 followers in three months, there will be a disconnect with reality, and there is no point in setting KPIs.
Related article:
What is KPI? How to correctly understand the KPIs and KFS that are essential for business growth and master the “winning path”
Decide on the operating system
Once you have defined your KPIs, the next step is to set up an operational system to achieve them. Please note that personnel costs are required for operation, so it is necessary to decide on an operation system while taking the budget into consideration.
However, even considering personnel costs, it is not desirable to operate the system with only one person in charge. This is because there is a risk of an accidental outbreak if you do not double check.
Therefore, let’s set up an operational system to achieve the KPIs, assuming a minimum of two people.
Decide on a posting schedule
Finally, decide on a posting schedule. When deciding on a posting schedule, please refer to the competing accounts mentioned above.
If a competing account posts once a day, your company could post twice a day, or once every two days. Consider this based on your operational structure.
We recommend that you do not post too frequently. This is because the primary purpose of SNS is to have contact with users, and the less frequently you post, the fewer opportunities you have to have contact with users.
If you follow the five steps introduced above, you will have an operational system in place and will be able to continue disseminating information efficiently.
How to use SNS marketing and measure its effectiveness
Analyzing your posts is essential to increasing your number of followers efficiently. From here, we will introduce how to utilize SNS marketing and how to measure the effectiveness of posts.
Disseminate content that is useful to users
First, before measuring effectiveness, be sure to send out content that is useful to users. Posts that only promote your own products or criticize specific companies may make users uncomfortable. It may also lead to a decline in your company’s credibility and brand power.
Therefore, we recommend that you operate your site with the understanding that by providing information that is useful and informative to users, your number of followers will increase as a result.
Deliver advertisements depending on the situation
Next, if your follower growth is slowing down or you are having trouble acquiring new followers, consider running ads. I explained that Facebook has detailed data, but if you are distributing advertisements to increase your followers, there is no problem in distributing them on the platform where you are distributing them.
In addition, when distributing advertisements, we recommend that you continue distributing advertisements for 3 to 6 months, rather than just for a short period of time such as one month. This is because data cannot be collected in just one month, and some users continually watch advertisements to decide whether to follow them or not.
Therefore, let’s create an advertising budget based on the assumption that the advertisement will be distributed for about 3 to 6 months.
Measure effectiveness
Finally, measure the effectiveness of your posts. The analysis tools available for each SNS platform are listed below.
Twitter:
Twitter Analytics
Facebook: Facebook Analytics (ending on June 30, 2021)
Instagram: Instagram Insights (smartphone only)
YouTube:
YouTube Studio
Although the tools used are different, one thing that should be analyzed in common is “engagement.” For Twitter, this includes likes and retweets, and for YouTube, it includes viewer retention rate and number of views.
The higher the engagement, the better the response rate from users, which leads to them becoming more likely to become your company’s fans and increasing your follower count.
If your engagement is poor compared to the previous month, consider making improvements such as reviewing your posting frequency and posting time, or increasing the number of users your company follows.
Summary: Take advantage of SNS marketing
We explained how to utilize SNS marketing and how to design an account. SNS marketing is one of the important measures that cannot be ignored in recent years as the number of users has increased.
However, instead of just promoting your products in order to force them to lead to business deals for your company, be sure to maintain contact with users and try to get them to become your fans and potential customers.
First of all, why not start thinking about the operational design of SNS introduced in this article?