Let’s talk about social media; By now, every association is using it to market to audiences. But is every association doing it right? The last time we checked in on social media marketing for associations, things were thriving. Social Media Examiner reported 97% of marketers were currently participating in social media marketing, and by now with the power social media has we can only assume that number is at a full 100%.
Social media has properly taken over the marketing world, but that doesn’t mean sticking to your old tricks will produce new results for your organization. With technology and social media constantly changing, it’s important that your association steps up its marketing tactics time and time again. There are always new tricks you can try with members and your target audience that could win them over and increase social media engagement more than you may expect. Updating your social media marketing strategy can be made easy with the right guidance. So, we’d like to show you 3 updates you can make to your association’s social media content that can catch some new eyes and retain already engaged consumers.
1. Keep it up with live video
Is your association doing its part in the world of live video sharing? Great- keep it up!
Live video sharing on social media isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, so don’t push it to the backburner when brainstorming ways to keep things moving in media marketing. According to Sprout Social, 45% of consumers are looking to see more live video from the brands and organizations they care about. On top of that, 63% of social media marketing experts believe live video will be increasingly more important to overall marketing within the upcoming year.
This means your association should keep it up with the video content it’s creating. Set up more time to go live on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter in order to interact with your audiences. Brainstorm more live video concepts to get the ball rolling in the right direction. Instagram is a great platform to test out live video ideas and archive those videos for audiences to check out even after the stream ends. With their new “IGTV” feature, you can create episodic video content and host it on your page. This allows you to spread your wings creatively while keeping up with the demand for video.
2. Start a community group
When people join an association, they’re looking for both the inclusivity of a tight knit group that works towards goals they believe in and the exclusivity of being apart of that group. By using social media the right way, you can give audiences a taste of both worlds before they make the decision to engage with your association further.
Through the use of private chat rooms and community building via social media, your association has the power to market and exclusive feature to interested audiences. When given the option, 46% of consumers join private groups and communities specifically with the intention of communicating with that brand in mind.
Starting up a community group on your association’s Facebook is a great way to create that communication and exclusivity that audiences are looking for. You can invite your members to join you in this group and host topics that relate directly to your association and member needs. You can also market this community group to non-members to give them a taste of what their support could give them. For those looking for extra industry resources, this will be quite the sell.
3. Social listening- it’s a real thing
Wouldn’t it be great if your association could figure out what your audiences wanted just from social media? Well, it can. Social listening could be the answer to your marketing needs. If you aren’t already aware of the term, social listening is the act of analyzing the conversations and posts that are circling your association’s brand. What are people talking about when they mention you? What’s being referenced? With social listening, you’re seeing what’s being spoken about and trying to answer the question of why it’s being addressed in order to better understand your target audience.
Social listening is going to be a big part of marketing within the upcoming years. In fact, 63% of social media marketers believe listening is going to increase in importance with marketing strategy. Using social listening can take your audience’s social media posts and turn them into insightful data with actionable plans to follow. Update the way you analyze audience behavior by using this neat trick.
These are just a few ways your association can update its social media marketing strategy, so don’t be afraid to try more new things in the future. Seeing what you can do to keep up with the social media world is great for keeping your association “in the know” and popular with its audience!