Marketing trends

6 Dos and Don’ts of using Social Media in Digital Marketing

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Image Credit = Campaign Asia

Millions of businesses around the world are using Social Media now more than ever to reach their target audiences, to connect with their customers and to promote their products/services. We can understand why, because in today’s time, Social Media is constantly evolving and is a massive part of our consumer’s lives. Therefore, a good online presence on Social Networks can quickly help businesses reach the maximum number of users possible whilst also open up different advertising opportunities.

There are thousands of platforms, each with different features and rules, but there are some basic tips and guidelines you can follow to develop a good use of social media in your digital marketing strategy. Even if you aren’t a business owner, if you have a passion for social media and are keen to understand and grow your knowledge of it, this will be a useful read to help you knuckle down on the basics.

We’ve rounded up a list of key do’s and don’ts when using social media as part of your digital marketing strategy and explained why they are important.

1. DO identify your brand voice:

Understanding how you want your brand to be perceived online is important and is determined by how formal or informal you want your online presence to be. This will largely depend on your target audience and what kind of language or tone they would expect. For instance, if you manage social media for a makeup brand which mainly aims to market their products towards younger demographics, then you may decide to use more informal language, fun emoticons and take part in viral trends. However, if you’re managing social media for engineering firm, you may decide to have more educational content and a more professional tone within your content.

2. DON’T use the same content across all social media networks:

Consistent branding and tone of voice across all social media networks is important. However, recycling the same content and using it across all of your brand’s social networks is bad practice. This is because each social media platform is different and as such will have different set of guidelines which are considered ‘best practice’. We suggest using original content and messaging for each platform but keeping a consistent theme throughout. For example, if you are promoting ‘50% off all Beauty lines’ then it could be a good idea to have different product images on your Instagram and Facebook with a slightly different caption.

3. DO capitalise on trends:

The best part about social media is that there is almost always a viral trend or conversation which could be relevant for your brand to join in on. It is important for all businesses to pay attention to trending content which appeals to the audience they’re trying to reach and to take part in it, if possible. Captalising on these trends is key and can help push your content to even more users than usual and prompt them to engage with it.

A good example of a brand capitalising on trends is the popular beauty brand – Fenty Beauty. As a makeup brand, the main aim of their social media strategy is to convince customers to purchase and try their products. A popular type of content on TikTok is tutorials. Fenty Beauty utilise TikTok to post makeup tutorials showcase new products and how they apply and wear throughout the day. This has proven to be an effective content strategy for the brand as they tend to see high levels of engagement and build up a lot of positivity around their products.

4. DON’T use poor spelling and grammar within your content:

Human error is normal. However, it is important to take precautions to avoid your brand putting out content or copy with grammar mistakes and spelling errors because it reduces your credibility and looks unprofessional. To avoid this, it is a good idea to create your social media updates offline first in a document or spreadsheet. That way, you are able to proofread them before posting online for your followers to see. There are numerous tools which could be helpful in automating this process and add that extra layer of protection. For example, Grammarly is a great content marketing tool because it also proofreads your copy but also allows you to set your writing goals based on the type of writing you do, making it a useful tool for copy.

5. DO set objectives:

Going viral on Instagram and TikTok is great for your brand. However, it is important you set out some key short term and long term objectives to understand what your business wants to achieve from your social media strategy. It is good to think ahead and be aware of what you want to do with the engagement you see from your followers.

For example, in terms of potential short term objectives for a clothing brand, you could be having a flash sale and as such, would want to focus on using social media to boost sales. In terms of longer term objectives, as part of your digital marketing strategy you may want to use social media to build up awareness and establish yourself as a credible brand with an engaging online presence.

6. DON’T excessively use Hashtags:

A common misconception about social media platforms, in particular Instagram, is that using a #hastag with each sentence will push your content out more. This could not be further from the truth. Excessive use of #Hashtags is one of the most unprofessional and irritating practices and its worth avoiding. Using appropriate hashtags connects your post to related posts but it should be used, within reason, for this purpose only. Instagram’s algorithm has changed over the years and posts with too many hashtags actually seem to be less favoured by the platform and by audiences.

This is where understanding each platform and what works is important. Research how many hashtags are appropriate to include in posts on different social media platforms and use this information to influence your decision. Opting for less but niche hashtags instead of several generic ones is that it will be more likely to help you reach your desired audience and will result in more exposure.

Conclusion:

To conclude, we hope this gave you some insight into 6 do’s and don’ts when using social media in digital marketing. Incorporating social media into your digital marketing strategy is key for a successful online presence and will help you boost this in a productive and effective way.

Pursuing a Digital Marketing Level 3 Apprenticeship would introduce you to the basics of using Social Media as part of a digital marketing strategy and also help you kick-start your career within the industry that is constantly growing.

More information on this apprenticeship can be found here. Alternatively, check out our range of useful articles and blog posts here to find a suitable Digital apprenticeship for you.

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The Future Of Digital Marketing Technology: How To Grow With It

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In a world where technology is constantly growing and evolving you can be at the centre of it all. Design, build and implement campaigns across a variety of platforms. Develop skills, learn new technologies and explore the Metaverse with a Level 3 Digital Marketing Apprenticeship.

Digital Marketing Technologies 

Marketers who adapt to newer technologies are able to personalise, engage, and connect with their audience. Developments in system technologies help marketers become better at targeting and predicting the behaviours of their industries consumers. During your apprenticeship you will be recommended technologies to learn and understand. Applying effective secure and appropriate solutions whilst using a wide variety of platforms and user interfaces to achieve marketing objectives. Interfaces mean by which the user and computer system interact. In accordance with the occupational brief the apprentice will be able to demonstrate the use of three digital technology tools over three different platforms or user interfaces to meet objectives.

Examples technologies and tool:

  • Social Media – Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok etc. As well as social media management tools. Examples include Sprout, Hootsuite and Later.
  • Design Tools – Creating content for advertising using platforms such as Canva, Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator.
  • Email Marketing Tools – Using written communication skills in the form of newsletters to encourage brand engagement. Common tools include Mailchimp, Sender and Iterable.

The Importance Of Research 

Market research goes hand in hand with digital marketing. Gathering consumer preferences, identifying trends, brand research and social listening. This can help your business eliminate the risk of targeting the wrong audience. This can save your company thousands of pounds when creating paid advertisements. During your apprenticeship you will take and interpret given topics both short and long term and make recommendations and report on the summary of findings to create a strategy. Throughout you will be conducting research sometimes without even realising you are! You will develop technical understanding of the following principles:

  • Search Marketing
  • SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
  • Metrics
  • Pay-Per-Click

Analysing Data

Digital analytics measures and evaluates the success of digital marketing activities. You will analyse digital data from various sources like websites, mobile apps, and social media to provide a vision of how customers are behaving in relation to your company. Through analytics you will obtain an insight into the areas where there may need to be improvement. In line with the occupational brief the apprentice must be able to analyse data and create reports by selecting three appropriate tools. This can include:

  • Website Data – this identifies who is coming to the company’s site and their activity while they’re there. This can be obtained through Google analytics. Google analytics lets you explore your audience such as demographics, location, retention, and the device in which the user searched on.
  • Social Media analytics – Data gathered from social channels measures the performance of actioned based decisions through social media. Companies with business accounts have access to information such as accounts reached, accounts engaged, impressions and profile activity. Tools such as Hootsuite, Sprout and Later can also be used to gather data.
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Digital Marketer Assessment

Technical knowledge and understanding are formally assessed at relevant times during your apprenticeship. The EPA (End Point Assessment) includes an assessment of all requirements of the standard. The following assessment methods are summative portfolio, synoptic project, employer reference and an interview. This displays all the knowledge, behaviours, and technical competencies you have learnt through your apprenticeship. 

Conclusion

As you can see, the Level 3 Digital Marketer apprenticeship includes various technical aspects. With technology constantly evolving it has the power to predict your consumer’s next move. I hope this blog gives you an insight into the technologies you will learn during the apprenticeship including analytics, research, and social media tools.  

3 Ways to Keep Up with Marketing Trends

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Header image reading “3 Ways to Keep Up with Marketing Trends”

Interest in the world of Digital Marketing is growing, and as a Digital Marketing Apprentice, you will be expected to interpret and follow the latest developments in technologies and trends. Staying at the forefront of the developments in your industry will be vital for your business. It will also help you to be at your creative best when contributing ideas to marketing strategies for campaigns. Not to mention, it’s one of the key skills you’ll need to be able to demonstrate as part of your apprenticeship. But, with so much information out there nowadays, where’s the best place to start?

Dedicate Time to Reading / Listening to Your Favourite Publications

How you decide to organise your time is up to you. However, as someone who has also completed a Digital Marketing Apprenticeship, dedicating fifteen minutes each morning to reading an article from a marketing magazine or listening to a podcast really helped me broaden my knowledge. Some of the publications I enjoyed for staying up to date with current trends were Marketing Week, The Drum, and the Shopify Masters podcast.

If you’re specifically looking for UK-based publications, these include:

Although, if your role involves looking after territories beyond the UK, such as EMEA or the US, I highly encourage you to explore some of the publications dedicated to serving those areas.

Attend Industry Events

You might be lucky enough to have this one sorted for you by your employer. Whether it’s listening talks from industry professionals; going to workshops or seminars held by your company’s partners; or getting to attend industry festivals; there’s a wealth of opportunities out there for you to improve your marketing knowledge.

As someone who’s in the early stages of their career, you’re more likely to have time dedicated to your personal development. Therefore, you’ll have more time to explore events like these. They are a great way to get under the skin of the marketing industry as well as potentially contribute towards some of the Off-The-Job time that you need to log as a Digital Marketing Apprentice. Not to mention, it’s a great way to get networking outside of your organisation.

There is no better way to interrogate the methods of your competitors than listening to them talk about their own marketing strategies. If you don’t like the idea of going to in-person events, then Figaro Digital host some really insightful virtual seminars.

A bright office meeting room. A group of people sitting around a board room table with smiles on their faces.
Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash

Encourage Knowledge-Sharing Sessions Within Your Organisation

It’s incredibly easy to get caught up in your day-to-day work and the work of your team. In fact, sometimes we’re so focused on what we’re working on as individuals that we might not even know what other people in your team are working on.

Suggest to your Line Manager that you’d like to carve out 5 minutes of a team meeting to discuss campaigns that the team have seen and enjoyed this week; or things people have read that they found interesting. It can operate as an open forum or people can come with pre-organised topics. It’s up to you decide which format best works for your team. You might be surprised at some of the ideas sparked by simply talking about things. Bring on the brilliant campaigns of the future!

If you work in a department that does a lot of testing, why not set up a forum to share your work with the wider business. Or if you get an invite to a presentation being held by another team, go! You never know what nugget of knowledge another team might have. And it’s very likely that it could lead to the breakthrough you’ve been looking for, for your own strategy or creative brief.

These are just some of the ways that you can make staying on top of marketing trends easier for yourself as you go through your Digital Marketing apprenticeship. Give these tips a try and see what else you can find along the way.