Social Media Marketing isn\u2019t new, but everybody makes it sound like it\u2019s the coolest thing since the internet. It probably is, judging by how much of the budget goes to it and how much of the collective effort is devoted to perfecting it. No one can or ever will, but it doesn\u2019t mean you shouldn\u2019t try. One of the people whose calling card shouts social media marketing expert shares some valuable insights to us. Here\u2019s Mike Allton of The Social Media Hat.
\n\n\n\nThe Savvy Marketer: You’re one of the most influential thought leaders in Social Media Marketing. Tell me, how do you create and maintain a vibrant online community?
\n\n\n\nMike Allton: Creating a vibrant online community is not easy. In fact, I’ll be the first to point out that there are many who are far more adept than I am at community building (i.e. Martin Shervington). But, what I tend to do well is to create helpful content and make sure that it’s distributed to all of my channels in ideal ways.
\n\n\n\nThat means, first, understanding my audience’s needs and creating articles that fit that need. And then, when sharing to social, making sure that I do so in the best way possible for each network – use hashtags, formatting, etc.
\n\n\n\nWhile I certainly share new content (and evergreen articles) to all of my major networks, I tend to rotate which network I’m actually focused on and spending additional time on so that they all get equal coverage. Most businesses should, instead, focus on just one or two primary networks (as a social media marketer, I feel obliged to be familiar with them all).
\n\n\n\nTSM: No matter how prolific and efficient you are on social media, if it can\u2019t be measured, it\u2019s almost an exercise in futility. What are the most important sales-centric social media metrics we should track?
\n\n\n\nMA: Businesses need to measure:
\n\n\n\nRelated: You Can\u2019t Hit Two Birds with One Stone: Creating Content for Demand Gen & Lead Gen
\n\n\n\nTSM: How can we organically grow our Twitter followers/Facebook friends, etc?
\n\n\n\nMA: Organic growth of any particular social channel is done through a variety of methods:
\n\n\n\nTSM: What are the biggest social media trends to prepare for in the next couple of years?
\n\n\n\nMA: The biggest trend currently in social media is video, specifically, live video. Businesses need to consider how they can leverage what is currently an insatiable appetite for video.
\n\n\n\nWhether it’s live video or pre-recorded. Whether you’re interviewing experts or demonstrating your own expertise. Whether you’re showing off a product or answering questions – video can be a tremendous asset to any business.
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