Another great guest post from Mary Aspen Richardson.

Social media marketing is a crucial aspect of any business these days. If you ignore it, you risk losing a lot of profit and growth. However, there is a lot of misinformation about what social media can or cannot do for you. So, we will talk about social media marketing myths you should stop believing.

1. You Can’t Adequately Assess Social Media Marketing

It is usual for folks new to social media marketing to get lost in the data. This is because there is just too much data, and it is hard to go through it all. However, while it may be hard to find, it is there; you just need to know where to look. And if you don’t know where to look, or you’re just new to social media marketing, the best approach would be to hire professional digital marketers or a social media manager. They will know what to look for to measure your marketing accurately.

However, you must be careful who you hire to help you assess your social media marketing. Another reason this social media marketing myth exists is that inexperienced marketing companies often mislead their clients because they don’t know what they’re doing. Also, if you don’t want to work with professionals at all, there are several digital tools available to assist you in tracking your marketing. 

2. The Audience Will Come To You

We’d all love to be able to go on any social media platform and gain new customers solely on the strength of our products or services. That, however, is impossible. You can’t simply target the platform with advertisements and hope for new customers. Social media marketing relies on a mix of organic and paid advertisements, and for that to work, you must follow your target audience. Instead of choosing a platform just because it has the most users, you should do some preliminary research. Determine which platform your customers use and where they spend the most time. Then, you can create an account and attempt to establish a social media presence.

Furthermore, different social networks will employ different methods to offer advertisements to consumers. For this reason, you need to examine your customers’ interest in the platform and how they engage with it. This is the only way you’ll be able to create a compelling social media marketing campaign and boost your following. Not only that, but knowing your core customer is essential if you want to work on your numbers and attract more followers.

3. You Must Be Present on All Social Media Networks

You may have heard that you must have a social media presence on all major platforms to succeed. That is, however, not the case. Trying to be on all major platforms at once can even hurt you. Managing your social media accounts can be time-consuming and frustrating, and it may end up costing you more than it’s worth. You can’t be everywhere at once, just as in real life. Consider concentrating on one or two platforms if you’re just starting a social media strategy. Make sure that you are giving those platforms all of your attention. Only once you believe you’ve saturated one platform should you move on to another. For most businesses, reaching all of their potential customers on a single platform takes years. Therefore, take your time with just a couple and see where it goes.

4. Only Certain Brands Can Benefit From Social Media Marketing

Many wrongly believe that only companies selling distinctive goods (like clothing, shoes, and jewelry) can benefit from social media marketing. But that is not true. Almost any company can gain from incorporating social media marketing strategies. All you need to do is devise an effective social media marketing strategy. Dental care, property, employment, and decorative items are all regularly promoted on people’s social media feeds. It’s important to stress that virtually any company can benefit from implementing a social media marketing strategy. It doesn’t matter what it is that they’re selling. The only necessary thing is to zero in on your target customer. Everything else will take care of itself.

5. Social Media Advertising Is Expensive

Some people would let you believe that social media marketing is only effective if you spend a lot of money. However, social media can be incredibly affordable if you do it the right way. With some planning, your business can thrive on social media without putting a massive dent in your budget. The amount of money you will need to spend on social media marketing is going to depend on three factors:

• How large is the target area of your ad? Are you looking for local customers or international ones?
• How much money do you want to spend on one day of advertising?
• How many days do you wish your ad to run for?

Caption: Social media ads can be inexpensive if you know what you’re doing. So stop believing such social media marketing myths.

6. Quantity Over Quality

You’ve undoubtedly heard that you must post regularly to operate an effective social media marketing strategy. While this isn’t precisely a social media marketing myth, since quantity is vital, taking that phrase as an absolute may force you to concentrate on the wrong things. Striving for more posts is counterproductive if you ignore the quality of your posts. We’ve seen far too many businesses read a social media marketing guide and then approach it as if it were a quota to fulfill.

Companies will begin spamming empty and hollow posts that do not connect with their audience to meet the required quantity of posts. Many businesses get caught up in the rat race and lose sight of what makes them unique. The best approach to standing out on social media is to be loyal to yourself and concentrate on quality. And with that said, hopefully, now you how what social media marketing myths you should stop believing.

Meta description: If you want to improve your marketing on social media, here are a few social media marketing myths you should stop believing in.

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Another great article from Mary Aspen Richardson

Source: https://pixabay.com/photos/chalkboard-story-blogging-believe-620316/

We all love a good story. Since the age of campfires, we almost seem hard-wired to recognize narrative patterns and relate with benevolent underdog protagonists. We value storytellers themselves as the vessels of the stories they tell – especially if they’re protagonists. Is it surprising, then, that storytelling offers an excellent marketing opportunity? For many, it’s probably not. Indeed, storytelling can inspire trust, foster bonds, and do so much more that marketers crave as outcomes. To illustrate this, let us explore how to use brand storytelling to grow your business.

What is brand storytelling?

First and foremost, let’s establish what exactly brand storytelling is. At its core, it’s a simple enough concept; your brand’s stories elicit specific positive emotions. But that’s just its fundamental function – how it does so is rather complex, albeit specific:

Source: https://blog.flipsnack.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/01-steps-to-create-a-good-brand-story-v3.jpg.webp

So first, your story needs to be good. This fundamental quality will allow it to entice audiences and incite engagement. Then, it needs to specifically address your audiences’ problems, i.e., pain points in marketing terms. Finally, it needs to remain consistent and foster long-term relationships to best leverage the positive emotions it elicits.

Of course, what makes a good story is a vast subject in itself, which we can’t afford to dive into here thoroughly. Still, if you’d like to know more about these fundamentals, you may also consult our article on why brands need stories, to begin with.

Ways to use brand storytelling to grow your business

Having a good story is only the first half of the proverbial battle. The second, perhaps even more crucial, half is leveraging it effectively. We all know the common saying about trees falling in the forest; it also applies here.

In brief, you may leverage brand storytelling through virtually every marketing channel. Among others, consider the three key examples that follow.

#1 Content marketing

First, no matter which marketing channels you prefer, you most likely have a content marketing strategy in place. Growing your brand almost necessitates one, and you can use content to your advantage in various ways toward this end. As Bill Gates famously asserted in the distant 90s, “content is king” indeed.

To illustrate this, consider the most common goals of content marketing:

Source: https://visme.co/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/13-1.jpg

As you can see, brand awareness predictably reigns supreme. Audience education and building trust come second and third, respectively, and “pure” marketing goals only follow this trio.

Luckily, brand storytelling explicitly seeks to achieve these exact goals as well. Put differently – you will most often use brand storytelling to grow your business. You can thus use it confidently to enrich your content marketing strategies – and reap some Search Engine Optimization (SEO) benefits through higher authority and more engagement.

#2 Social media

Second, your marketing channels most likely include some social media platforms. It’s hard to argue against it; consider TikTok’s unique path to purchase and stellar marketing results. Marketers can’t afford to overlook social media marketing nowadays or the vast potential audiences it offers.

In addition, visual content like the infographic above remains remarkably effective as a form of content. Social media platforms also thrive on such content – especially visually-focused ones like Instagram and Pinterest. Not-so-coincidentally, storytelling does so as well, making this nothing short of the perfect match. With increasingly more features on “stories,” your brand story has a natural home in social media.

#3 Email

Finally, email most likely won’t be absent from your arsenal either. The king of marketing for many, email boasts up to a dazzling 4,200% Return On Investment (ROI) – if done correctly. And as modern audiences increasingly seek value and personalization, “correctly” often overlaps with “using effective stories.” So, why not use brand storytelling to grow your business through your newsletter and email outreach?

Indeed, consider typical trust signals that facilitate higher email open rates, your mission statement, which audiences increasingly value as an indicator of moral alignment, or even clean, compelling copy, which will convince them that your solution suits them best. These elements, which email marketing hinges on, require brand storytelling to shine through.

Leveraging brand storytelling

Now, how exactly you do so will ultimately depend on you; the stories you have to share, the channels you use, your unique audiences, etc. Still, leveraging storytelling does require some universal principles, which we may cover here.

#1 Craft a compelling story

Before all else, you will need a compelling story to spearhead your efforts. Remember the “three Es” brand storytelling calls for:

Source: https://stonecreate.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Brand-Storytelling-V2-01-2560×1301-1-768×390.png

You cannot entice audiences or have them engage with subpar stories. You most certainly cannot enthrall them with them either. So, to use brand storytelling to grow your business, you may start with the key components of any good story:

• A relatable protagonist. Who are you, and who are the people behind your brand? When and how did you get started? Brand humanization is critical here.
• Adversity. Similarly, why did your brand come to be? Which persistent problems in your field called you to action? What problems did you face along the way, and how did you overcome them?
• A positive outcome. With challenges behind you, what lies ahead? How does your brand seek to help your audiences, and why are they now your focal point?

As you do, remember to keep it a story; few people will care for business loans and mergers. Your brand will need to sound human in relatable terms for people to relate to you.

#2 Center on the customer

Next, your story needs to use said humanization to bring your audience into the spotlight. It’s their journey that you can make more pleasant, and it’s their problems you can solve. In this sense, the customer is the ultimate protagonist – and you’re there to help. Embracing this philosophy may be the best way to use brand storytelling to grow your business.

To do so, among other approaches, you may:

• Have them identify with you. Focus on your shared love for the field; you should come off as their peer with a shared journey.
• Focus on their pain points. Lean into their concerns, and highlight exactly how your brand’s story crafted the ideal solutions.
• Encourage engagement. Ask for engagement, comments, shares, and so on. The more they hear from you, the more confident they will feel in your genuine willingness to help.

All the better if you can do so through social media polls and activity.

#3 Focus on long-term connections

Finally, the ultimate goal of this approach is, of course, to forge meaningful, long-lasting connections. This is an almost inherent goal from a storytelling perspective, but it’s also one of deep marketing value. Consider the sheer value of customer retention as LinkedIn illustrates it:

Source: https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C5612AQGjeev_4-8JJQ/article-inline_image-shrink_1500_2232/0/1520141138069?e=1657152000&v=beta&t=oU98XKa4BlXb9sb5WUjR3SF2Fnn1XuMKc1CiGxltG8M

For an age when the Edelman Trust Barometer identifies a “cycle of mistrust,” connections weaved through stories may be the best remedy. In this sense, you won’t just use brand storytelling to grow your business but also sustain it through deep-rooted trust. Your storytelling will substantially inform your perceived trustworthiness from your mission statement to humanization through influencer marketing and everything in-between. 

To strive for this goal, you may consider the approach that best fits your story. For some basic examples:

• Do you persistently champion a noble cause?
• Does your social media marketing activity thrive on constant engagement?
• Perhaps you require your audiences’ support as an underdog against your field’s status quo?

In all such cases, centering on loyalty through engagement, customer support, and loyalty programs should frame your storytelling.

Conclusion

There are as many ways to use brand storytelling to grow your business as there are brand stories. You may leverage it through any marketing channels you engage in and to any extent your audiences allow. In all cases, however, brand storytelling requires a good story that humanizes your brand. It calls for a keen focus on the customer’s needs and an authentic willingness to forge long-lasting connections. Finding exactly how to manifest these qualities will often present a challenge, as different storytelling techniques resonate with different audiences. Still, it’s almost imperative that you do so for brand awareness and customer retention. While brief, this article hopefully offered some inspiration for fueling your brand’s growth through its unique, enticing story.

Do you want to pursue a career in social media marketing? Are you looking to hire a social media manager to upscale your business’ marketing growth?

Regardless of your goal, you need to understand what it truly takes to be an exceptional social media manager.