Social Media Strategy Archives | Sprout Social Sprout Social offers a suite of <a href="/features/" class="fw-bold">social media solutions</a> that supports organizations and agencies in extending their reach, amplifying their brands and creating real connections with their audiences. Thu, 16 Nov 2023 20:57:33 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://media.sproutsocial.com/uploads/2020/06/cropped-Sprout-Leaf-32x32.png Social Media Strategy Archives | Sprout Social 32 32 Begin, Budget & Build Your Influencer Strategy with Andrea Casanova https://sproutsocial.com/insights/webinars/begin-budget-build-your-influencer-strategy-with-andrea-casanova/ Thu, 16 Nov 2023 20:57:33 +0000 https://sproutsocial.com/insights/?post_type=webinars&p=179505 Master the essential steps to kickstart your influencer marketing strategy with Creator and Content Strategist, Andrea Casanova. Learn ways to find the influencers that Read more...

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]]> Master the essential steps to kickstart your influencer marketing strategy with Creator and Content Strategist, Andrea Casanova. Learn ways to find the influencers that align with your brand’s values and goals, uncover the strategies of budget allocation and decode the metrics that matter to your brand. This webinar is your roadmap to influencer marketing success, equipping you with the knowledge and tools needed to make impactful, data-driven decisions for your brand.

Your Speakers:

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]]> Making Dollars and Sense out of the Creator Economy with Lia Haberman https://sproutsocial.com/insights/webinars/making-dollars-and-sense-out-of-the-creator-economy/ Tue, 14 Nov 2023 21:45:50 +0000 https://sproutsocial.com/insights/?post_type=webinars&p=179433 Lia Haberman, Insider’s “Top Creator Economy Expert,” will delve into the dynamic world of influencer marketing and its evolving digital terrain. You’ll walk away Read more...

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]]> Lia Haberman, Insider’s “Top Creator Economy Expert,” will delve into the dynamic world of influencer marketing and its evolving digital terrain. You’ll walk away from this event with a powerful understanding of the influencer landscape, where it’s headed and questions your brand should consider as it begins or scales its influencer strategy.

Your Speakers:

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]]> Mastering Instagram influencer marketing: strategies for success https://sproutsocial.com/insights/instagram-influencer-marketing/ Tue, 14 Nov 2023 16:54:41 +0000 https://sproutsocial.com/insights/?p=162183/ The influencer space has ballooned into a multi-billion dollar phenomenon, meaning influencer marketing has made its name as a key marketing strategy. Brands of Read more...

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]]> The influencer space has ballooned into a multi-billion dollar phenomenon, meaning influencer marketing has made its name as a key marketing strategy. Brands of all shapes and sizes are eager to find ways to feature creators in their campaigns.

Instagram is quickly becoming the go-to network for influencers, with recent stats saying that carousels, Reels and Stories are among the most popular content types for creators.

As creators continue to dominate the platform, brands need to know how Instagram influencer marketing works. In this post, we’ll break down the basics.

What is Instagram influencer marketing?

Instagram influencer marketing is a promotional strategy based on partnerships between brands and social media creators (“influencers”) on Instagram.

The concept is simple enough. Brands partner with creators to promote products on their Instagram profiles and then compensate those creators for their efforts. And while influencer marketing is popular on many platforms (like TikTok and Facebook), 86% of social marketers cite Instagram as the top platform for their influencer marketing strategy.

What makes someone an Instagram influencer, though?

The term refers to the level of influence that these social media creators have on their audiences. That’s because everyday consumers look to influencers for product recommendations.

In short, influencers are users that influence purchasing decisions. One-third of people on Instagram have been inspired to buy something based on an influencer’s post.

Most Instagram influencers don’t actually refer to themselves by the term, though. Creator or content creator is more common these days. Although influencer used to be synonymous with celebrity, times have changed.

You don’t need millions of followers to be considered an Instagram influencer. There are different levels of influencer, which can be broken down into the categories below:

And while 70% of social marketers see the biggest impact from macro-influencers, 43% also see a huge impact from micro-influencers.

What are some examples of Instagram influencer marketing?

Chances are you’ve encountered your fair share of Instagram influencers in the wild. Below are a few examples of influencer content in action.

Sponsored content (#ad or #gifted posts)

Sponsored posts are disclosed by creators with a tag such as #ad or #gifted if they were given the product for free. Through gifting, brands provide creators with free products in exchange for a post. Sometimes additional compensation is also offered.

Below is an example from BoxyCharm. Frequent sponsored and gifting campaigns makes their beauty products practically can’t-miss on Instagram.

Screenshot of Instagram influencer marketing gifted products example by hashtag.

Affiliate links

Many brands boast affiliate programs on Instagram. When someone clicks on an influencer’s affiliate link, that interaction is tracked. The affiliate is compensated if the person that clicked converts.

If you’ve ever seen the phrase “link in bio” when referring to a product, you’re likely looking at an affiliate post. Many influencers will also have static affiliate links in their bios through Instagram tools like Linkt.ree.

Screenshot of Instagram influencer marketing linktree example.

Reposting Instagram influencer content

Brands will often supplement their own Instagram content strategy with posts from influencers.

For example, a company might reshare an influencer’s photo shouting a product to their stories feed. Mixed with organic content and customer tags, the influencers’ posts fit in seamlessly.

What are the benefits of Instagram influencer marketing?

So, why are influencer relationships worth the time and effort? Below we highlight the key benefits for brands.

Greater reach and exposure

Brand accounts have been hit hard by the Instagram algorithm when it comes to reach and engagement.

On the flip side, creator accounts are thriving. Influencers often boast some of the most engaged-with posts you can find on Instagram.

But beyond that, also consider that influencers can boost the exposure of brands by introducing them to a larger audience. For example, check out Hero Cosmetics’ 104,000 followers…

 

Screenshot of an Instagram brand bio example.

…and the creator they partnered with that currently has an audience three times that size.

Screenshot of an Instagram influencer marketing bio example.

See how that works? Especially for up-and-coming brands, influencers serve as an alternative to Instagram ads.

Increase social sales

Again, Instagram influencers represent an advertising channel for brands beyond traditional paid posts.

Collaborations, ambassadorships and product gifting can be more cost-effective than conversion-based campaigns.

There are tons of question marks around paid ad targeting. Through Instagram influencers, brands can estimate their promotions’ reach beforehand. This is based on factors like the creators’ audience size and engagement rate.

Consider that 43% of people already follow influencers on Instagram. There’s no denying the correlation between social sales and brand awareness. That’s why featuring creators as part of your funnel supports your sales efforts.

Show off your products in action

If you want to bring your products to life, influencers can make it happen.

This is where the “create” aspect of “content creator” comes into play. For example, skilled influencers understand:

  • Relevant scenarios and applications of your product(s)
  • The real-world struggles, challenges and pain points of your audience
  • How to highlight your brand’s value proposition

Look no further than the beauty industry that’s brimming with talented influencers. From skincare hacks to makeup challenges and beyond, beauty influencers know how to flex their creativity.

Tapping into an influencer’s skillset, you can uncover totally new ways to sell your products.

Humanize your brand

Done right, Instagram influencer marketing can quite literally give your brand a face.

The importance of delivering authenticity can’t be overstated when competition is so fierce on social media. Breaking through the noise means having real people promote your brand and tell your story.

That’s because creators highlight the human element of your business. Again, influencers that reflect your audience know the struggles your customers are facing.

This highlights the popularity of brand ambassador programs right now. After all, who better to speak on your brand’s behalf than someone that legitimately loves your products?

Earn valuable influencer-generated content

Note how user-generated content can be repurposed throughout your marketing funnel. Well, the same applies to influencer-generated content. This includes:

  • Featuring influencer content and reviews on product pages
  • Promoting influencers throughout your content marketing strategy (think: social media, email)
  • Use your influencer content as the basis for an ad campaign

According to Instagram, ads featuring influencers result in higher conversions and brand awareness.

Translation? The value of influencer content goes far beyond a creator’s initial post.

How much does Instagram influencer marketing cost?

The amount you need to budget for Instagram influencer marketing depends on the type of influencers you plan to work with. As you can imagine, nano-influencers and micro-influencers charge less than macro-influencers. The more followers an influencer has, the more they are typically able to charge.

Common rates we see are as follows:

  • Nano-influencers: $10-100 per post
  • Micro-influencers: $100-5,000 per post
  • Macro-influencers: $5,000-10,000 per post

Celebrity influencers can even be seen charging hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars per post. Cristiano Ronaldo, the most followed Instagram user, charges over $3M per sponsored post.

Your required budget will depend on (a) how many influencers you want to work with and (b) what level of influencer you want to partner with. And with 73% of social marketers stating that their influencer marketing budget is shared with their overall social budget, it’s important to make sure that every dollar counts.

How to build an Instagram influencer marketing strategy

Does influencer marketing still work?”

The answer is a resounding “yes!”

But it’s not as simple as getting products into influencers’ hands and expecting results.

There’s a lot of legwork that goes into putting together an influencer marketing campaign. Below are the big-picture basics of what goes into working with influencers on Instagram.

1. Figure out your campaign goals

As it goes with any social media campaign, you need to start by pinpointing your goals. What are you hoping to achieve through your influencer marketing strategy?

Common influencer marketing goals include:

  • Increasing brand awareness
  • Generating sales
  • Improving your brand’s reputation
  • Diving into a new market
  • Increase social media follower count
  • Retaining existing customers
  • Build a library of user-generated content
  • Create social proof
  • Engage your online community

Your influencer marketing campaign can be built to achieve multiple goals. But in order to know who you want to work with, how long you want your campaign to run and what types of content you want your influencers to create, you need to pinpoint your goals.

For example, whether to choose between influencers already in your market vs. influencers in a niche you want to break into, or micro-influencers for higher engagement vs. macro-influencers for a wider reach.

2. Promote products that make sense for Instagram

Reality check: not every product is perfect for Instagram influencer marketing.

The products that tend to pop off are visually striking. There’s a reason why beauty, fashion and fitness brands are crushing it on Instagram. These industries have flashy products that lend themselves to tutorials and showcases.

Recent data also notes that the effectiveness of influencer campaigns is largely tied to demographics. In fact, 75% of users aged 18-24 and 67% of users aged 25-44 follow at least one influencer.. Keep all of the above in mind before going all-in on influencers.

3. Empower your influencers to maximize engagement

Just because someone is an “influencer” doesn’t mean engagement is guaranteed.

It’s really easy to ignore spammy and low-effort influencer posts. The 2022 Sprout Social Index™ says people will overwhelmingly unfollow influencers if they’re too promotional.

This speaks to the importance of vetting creators. Likewise, brands have to provide briefs and instructions that empower them.

It’s a balancing act as you also don’t want to sacrifice your influencers’ creative freedom. Providing a product that your influencers’ audience is actually interested in is perhaps the best thing you can do.

How to measure the ROI of Instagram influencer marketing

Your ROI, or return on investment, is going to differ greatly depending on the goals you set for yourself when you started your campaign. Popular metrics to track include:

  • Views
  • Comments
  • Shares
  • Clicks
  • Sales/conversions
  • Revenue
  • Promo codes used
  • Followers
  • Reach

If you’re looking to generate sales, then conversions, revenue or promo codes used might be your best bet. If you want to improve brand awareness, views, shares and reach will be your go-to metrics.

While it’s always difficult to pin views and reach against overall costs, try to find out how much a new follower or a single engagement tends to be worth to your brand. Do this by looking at your typical engagement rate vs. average social media budget, then put those numbers next to the increase in engagement and the amount you spent on influencer marketing.

How to work with Instagram influencers

You know how to get started on your Instagram influencer marketing strategy. Let’s talk more about how to work with those influencers.

1. Find the right Instagram influencers

As the definition of influencer evolves to include smaller creators, there’s more talent out there than ever before.

This is both a blessing and a curse for brands. There’s a non-zero chance there are relevant influencers that’d be perfect to promote your product. The search can be daunting, though.

So, how do you find the right influencers? A few options include:

  • Manual outreach through DMs and email. Ideally, you can find influencers that already know you and your product. Ask for their influencer media kit and read through it to make sure they’re a good match.
  • Invest in an influencer database or matchmaking service. These third-party tools match your brands with influencers. Most of these platforms are reserved for brands that work with creators on a large scale.
  • Hire a marketing agency. No huge surprises here. There are plenty of agencies that specialize in either reaching out to influencers or tapping into their own network of creators.
  • Use an influencer marketing platform. Tools like Tagger can help with every step of your influencer marketing campaign, from building out a strategy to finding the right influencers. Recently acquired by Sprout, we can help you get started with influencer marketing the right way.

2. Plan a campaign with Instagram influencers

Start working with your influencers to plan out your campaign! This is the fun part—you get to talk creative assets and figure out how you want the posts to go. Or, if you’re busy and prefer not to handle this step, you can always outsource to a full-service influencer marketing agency.

Your plan needs to include information like:

  • Specific products to promote (you should have planned these out in advance so you can provide your influencers with free samples)
  • Timeline for promotion
  • The number of posts (and types of posts—on Instagram, they could go with stories, posts or reels)
  • Overall voice and messaging

You can choose to let your influencer partners have as much or as little freedom with their content as you want; however, make sure their voice still shines through so it sounds authentic. And most importantly, make sure they include a disclaimer that each post is sponsored by your brand to abide by FTC guidelines.

3. Track your results

Like with any other type of campaign, your social media metrics and KPIs matter.

As we mentioned, influencer marketing is often criticized due to its lack of concrete ROI. The reality, though? There’s plenty of data to track on behalf of your influencers. Not to mention KPIs relevant to your business goals. This includes:

  • Engagement rate (ratio of followers to interactions) to gauge your influencers’ level of reach
  • Followers and audience growth
  • Conversions and link clicks (for affiliate campaigns)
  • Reach to understand how many people see your promotions
  • Traffic to see how on-site visitors from influencers behave

And that only scratches the surface!

Tracking all of the above requires coordinating with influencers and keeping a close eye on your own data.

That’s the upside of using an influencer marketing platform like Sprout Social. For example, Sprout’s platform makes it a cinch to monitor engagement metrics and keep a better pulse on campaign performance.

Screenshot of Sprout Social Instagram profile stats and performance.

Does Instagram influencer marketing make sense for your business?

The business impact of influencers on Instagram is clear. Having influencers show off your products and shout you out can build awareness fast. Much quicker than what’s possible organically, anyway.

But there’s no denying the legwork that goes into any given campaign. Brands need to weigh their options when seeking creators to work with.

Want to learn more about what working with creators is like? Make sure to check out our comprehensive guide to Instagram influencers if you haven’t already!

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]]> Authentic marketing myths and tips for getting it right https://sproutsocial.com/insights/authentic-marketing/ Tue, 14 Nov 2023 15:36:33 +0000 https://sproutsocial.com/insights/?p=179146 “Authenticity”—there’s no question that it’s one of the biggest social media buzzwords. But don’t be fooled—authentic marketing is only becoming more important. According to Read more...

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]]> “Authenticity”—there’s no question that it’s one of the biggest social media buzzwords. But don’t be fooled—authentic marketing is only becoming more important.

According to this year’s Sprout Social Index™, the number one reason consumers follow brands on social is to stay informed about products and services. But at the same time, the Index also found that authentic, non-promotional content is the number one thing consumers don’t see enough from brands.

These two things may seem at odds but they are not mutually exclusive—in fact, they go together like peanut butter and jelly. There are many ways to keep your audience up-to-date on product offerings through authentic content, and brands who get this right have much to gain.

In this article, you’ll find authentic marketing examples, tips for getting it right and what brand authenticity really means. Let’s get into it.

What is authentic marketing?

Brand authenticity on social media refers to whether brands come off as genuine, tapped into their customers on social and true to their values. It’s partly achieved by creating customer-centric, genuine content that feels relatable and aligns with the company’s voice and values. And it’s a key ingredient to building trust and loyalty with consumers, and marketing to Gen Z.

A green graphic with a question mark at the top and a headline that says, what is authentic marketing? The definition below says, Brand authenticity on social media refers to whether brands come off as genuine, tapped into their customers on social and true to their values.

Personally, I call it “foot-in-the-door” marketing. Content that’s interesting, relatable or valuable to your audience gets your foot in the door. Then you can follow up with sales messaging—but you must continually build interest and trust, too.

Consumers have grown wary of inauthentic posts and brands treating them like dollar signs. And we’ve seen a unique pushback from audiences and creators alike. Look at how audiences have embraced lo-fi content over highly-polished posts, or the rise of deinfluencing.

The rise of creators has also put new pressure on brands to feature real, trusted faces and customers on their channels. And call-out culture has rightfully made brands think twice about posting topical messages if they can’t take action.

While authenticity in marketing is associated with social content, it’s an omnichannel concept. You should apply it to all of the tactics your brand uses to engage audiences—on social, through creator partnerships, in ads and traditional broadcasts, and beyond.

3 authentic marketing misconceptions

As we mentioned, authenticity is more than just an overused buzzword. In fact, it should be added to your list of social media best practices.

Before we dive into how to bring authenticity into your content and strategy, let’s debunk three of the biggest authentic marketing misconceptions out there.

Authentic marketing can only come directly from the brand

Not all of your content has to be created by you. Featuring real people—from creators to customers—is one of the best ways to achieve more authentic digital marketing.

Nearly 40% of consumers say they like to see customer testimonials or real customer demos on social media, according to The 2022 Sprout Social Index™. Featuring real people enjoying or even creating tutorials with your products on your channels is a solid form of building trust and social proof.

Kodak, for example, features photos taken by people who use their film and products.

Reposting user-generated content (UGC) created by your customers is one of the most authentic marketing tactics you can use. It’s organic, genuine and can even serve as a visual “review” of your product.

Creating an authentic influencer marketing strategy brings trusted voices into your content, too. In fact, according to a Q3 2023 Sprout Pulse Survey, 47% of marketers say enhancing brand authenticity and trust is the most valuable opportunity with influencer marketing.

AI poses a threat to authentic marketing

Social teams are no strangers to AI—and the fears around it. But as marketers bring these tools into their workflow, the conversation around AI has shifted from “will it replace me?” to “will it make my brand sound inauthentic?”

A LinkedIn poll that asks the audience, "What is your main concern when it comes to AI? (Esp. for social teams!)" In the poll, 14% of respondents said "it's going to take my job," 71% of respondents said "Inauthentic social copy," 7% said "not sure how to use it" and 7% said "something else."

It’s a valid fear. Marketers and consumers alike have started calling out brands who respond with AI-created, impersonal messages.

But AI only poses a threat to authentic marketing if you let it. The key is using AI copy and creative tools as a starting point—not a final product. Edit AI-generated materials, like post and comment copy, to keep your content authentic, true to your brand voice and personalized.

AI tools are becoming an essential tool in marketers’ toolkits. According to the Index, 81% of marketers say AI has already had a positive impact on their work. When you use these tools right, and with discretion, they speed you up without taking away your authentic voice.

Authentic marketing means always taking a stand on issues

A few years ago, brands were expected to take a stand on tough issues—it was non-negotiable.

But there’s been a shift. According to The 2023 Sprout Social Index™, today only a quarter of consumers think brands must speak out on causes that align with their values to be memorable.

Consumers have grown skeptical of brands taking a stand, and are wary of performative activism. Over the past few years, we’ve seen many brands called out for putting out empty, inauthentic statements.

This doesn’t mean your brand should never take a stand on issues. But when you do speak out, make it count. And in your day-to-day, there are other areas to prioritize to build regular authenticity and trust—more on all of this later.

How to get authentic marketing right

We all know what authentic marketing means, and even what it looks like. But bringing it into your strategy can be challenging.

Let’s get into six key tips and authentic marketing examples to see how you can get it right in your strategy.

Go behind the scenes

Part of authentic marketing is removing the “curated” barrier between your brand and audience. Posting behind-the-scenes content (BTS) is a fun, engaging way to give audiences a peek behind the curtain.

BTS content can be lighthearted, fun and as simple as showcasing your team. Think: using lo-fi content for a “meet the team” social series, showing your workspace, or jumping on a trend and recruiting your coworkers to step in as social video talent—like this Grammarly video.

@grammarlyofficial

We’re starstruck from running into all these Barbies and Kens. 🤩 #HiBarbie #BarbieMovie #WorkHumor #OfficeHumor #OfficeLife #CorporateHumor #Grammarly

♬ Hi Barbie Hi Ken Barbie Movie Only In Theaters – Barbie Movie

But BTS content can go even deeper to build trust. For example, the Index found that consumers don’t think they see brands post enough transparency about business practices and information about how products are made.

Featuring how your products are made and sourced, who makes them, the start-to-finish process, etc. provides this level of transparency—like Nisolo does with content about their sustainability report cards.

@nisoloshoes

We all value people. We all value the planet. It’s time for our clothes to do the same. #SustainabilityFactsLabel #peopleandplanet

♬ original sound – Nisolo

Be selective about taking a stand

We already mentioned the shift in consumer skepticism and expectations around brands taking a stand. This doesn’t mean you can never take a stand on an issue.

But to stay authentic, your brand should only do so when the issue directly aligns with and reinforces your company values. And, ideally, your statement should always be backed up with action.

Sometimes that action comes in the form of a donation or direct support. Or, the brand talks the talk and walks the walk in more unique ways.

Take L.L.Bean’s social pause. Their “Off the Grid” campaign for Mental Health Awareness Month went beyond a simple post. Their social team took a month-long break from their brand’s social channels to embody their company values and get outside. On top of this, they also donated to relevant mental health-related causes.

The result? Their channels were not negatively affected, and their bold move was celebrated. L.L.Bean’s pause was backed up with action in the form of a social media break that demonstrated commitment to their values; authentic marketing at its best.

Put customers in the spotlight

People trust real people and stories—not just brands alone. Turning to your customers for content is more than just a social calendar filler; it builds trust.

Customer testimonials, repurposing reviews into campaign and ad content, reposting effective UGC—all of this brings your customer into your strategy and social feeds.

UGC can be as simple as customer-posted photos featuring your product or service. But remember: consumers are content creators, too. From “try-on hauls” to how-to tutorials and decorating, there are so many ways customers use lo-fi content and authentic posts to feature your product…and hopefully get featured on your account.

@aerie

Which new arrivals are your fave, Aerie fam? @grace weldon #AerieNewArrivals #NewArrivals #AerieOutfits #AerieTryOnHaul

♬ original sound – aerie

To find UGC more easily, encourage your audience to tag you in their content and use a branded hashtag, like Aerie’s “#AerieReal.”

Using a social media management tool makes tracking this content easier. With Sprout Social, track specific hashtags, and find all your tagged content across your social networks in one streamlined feed, saving yourself search time.

A screenshot of the Sprout Social Smart Inbox where several messages are displayed in a single feed from Instagram, Facebook and a post from X (formerly Twitter.)

Find the right partners

When building an authentic influencer marketing strategy, it pays to be choosy. You already know you shouldn’t just partner with any creator. You need to find partners with an audience that is either similar to yours, or that you want to reach.

With over half of marketers saying 26-75% of their marketing budget goes toward influencer marketing in a Q3 2023 Sprout Pulse Survey, it’s no secret that brands should ramp up their creator partnerships. But that same survey found that finding the right influencers for campaigns is a primary challenge for brands.

To offset this, over half of brands reported using dedicated influencer marketing programs. If you’re struggling to find influencers and creators, adopting a platform like Tagger to find and manage these partnerships is a great option.

But sometimes, you need to look no further than your audience to source partnerships. According to that same survey, half of marketers hire influencers who are already genuine fans of their product—a key way to ensure authentic influencer marketing partners.

One way to find influencers in your audience or industry is by using social listening. Social listening enables you to uncover conversations about your brand and products even when you’re not tagged. Using Sprout’s Social Listening solution, you can find your biggest influencers in the conversation—or even poach influencers in your competitor base.

A screenshot showing the Messages tab of Sprout's social listening solution. The tab displays messages mentioning the brand or topic. Next to the message, you can see the number of followers the message creator has, which is a great way to find new influencers.

Don’t be afraid to skip trends

Authentic digital marketing is as much about the trends you skip as the trends you jump on.

Trends can help when they’re natural. But they can hurt you when forced. Audiences can spot a brand trying to jump on a trend that doesn’t fit their brand a mile away—and will call you out for it.

Using relevant trends is a great way to ride a popularity wave and reach new audiences. But trends aren’t everything. 38% of consumers say the most memorable brands on social prioritize original content over following trending topics, according to the Index.

A green data visualization graphic from The Sprout Social Index™ that reads, 38% of consumers say the most memorable brands on social prioritize original content over following trending topics.

For example, makeup brand Glossier leaned on trends to build their TikTok account. But they’ve since shifted focus to more original content—read more about their short-form video strategy.

Before you jump on a trend, step back and ask yourself if it fits your brand and feels authentic.

Ensure you’re responsive

If you truly want to build trust and an authentic connection with your audience, be responsive. According to the Index, over half of consumers say the most memorable brands on social are those that respond.

The Index also found that 70% of consumers expect a company to provide personalized responses to customer service needs. And directly engaging with your audience and prioritizing one-to-one customer care will make you more memorable.

You can’t have authenticity in marketing if you ghost your audience. This is your sign to prioritize social media customer care every single day, and to provide extra social media customer care training to align your customer service and social efforts.

Create content that feels native to each social platform

Hear me out on this one. We’ve all seen a Reel with a TikTok logo on it—and there’s something inherently inauthentic when you can tell that a brand is simply copy/pasting content from one platform into another.

Sometimes, this is necessary and even warranted. But part of authentic marketing is creating content that feels true to the platform consumers are consuming it in.

As much as you can, create Reels and TikTok videos that feel native to those platforms by using the fonts or text-to-speech voices each platform provides.

Let’s get real: Enhance your authentic marketing strategy

New platforms will come and go. Content format preferences will ebb and flow. But the need for authentic marketing will persist through every evolution of social media.

Use the tips and tricks in this article to bring more authenticity into your marketing strategy—your audience, and leadership team, will thank you.

Part of authentic marketing is understanding what consumers want, and the latest overall trends in the social media environment. Download The 2023 Sprout Social Index™ to keep your team and strategy one step ahead.

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]]> The complete guide to TikTok influencer marketing https://sproutsocial.com/insights/tiktok-influencer-marketing/ Thu, 09 Nov 2023 15:00:03 +0000 https://sproutsocial.com/insights/?p=178418 There are over 100,000 TikTok influencers in the United States across a number of different niches. This means that no matter what your business Read more...

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]]> There are over 100,000 TikTok influencers in the United States across a number of different niches. This means that no matter what your business is promoting, there’s likely a slew of influencers available to work with and get your brand name out there.

And why would you want to work with TikTok influencers? Influencer marketing is a powerful marketing strategy that helps you increase brand awareness, build trust in your audience and generate more sales.

Throughout this article, we’re going to discuss how the TikTok platform can be incorporated into your influencer marketing strategy. Let’s dig in.

Table of contents:

Looking to accelerate revenue and grow your brand faster with TikTok influencer marketing? Tagger and Sprout Social together creates true value for you through the alignment and unification of AI-powered influencer marketing and social media management. 

What is TikTok influencer marketing?

TikTok influencer marketing is the act of working with influencers to promote your products and/or services on TikTok. Working with TikTok influencers can help you build your brand and reach an even wider audience.

With TikTok influencer marketing, your influencer partners are the ones creating and sharing the content. This differs widely from traditional TikTok marketing strategies as those revolve around your brand and social media team creating and sharing its own content on your brand account.

While many brands do share the influencer videos on their own accounts as well, the goal of influencer marketing on TikTok is to spread the word about your brand by introducing it to your influencer partners’ audiences.

Why use TikTok influencer marketing?

Why should you incorporate influencer marketing into your TikTok strategy? Working with influencers can get expensive and it takes a lot of time to coordinate. But the influencer marketing ROI can be worth it. Here are three reasons to consider TikTok influencer marketing.

Improve brand engagement on TikTok

Influencers tend to have a much more engaged audience than brands do. It’s the nature of the beast when someone feels like they’re interacting with a person instead of a logo.

However, if an influencer is talking about your product, their followers are likely to start talking about your product in the comments. This can then lead to them finding your brand on TikTok and interacting with your brand’s content—and of course, hopefully making a purchase. Which leads us to our next point.

Increase sales

Influencer marketing can also increase sales. Influencer marketing is a form of social proof, showing potential customers that other people use and enjoy your product. This increases the likelihood that people will be interested in your product, due to a sort of mob mentality.

Plus, TikTok and TikTok Shop make it easy for influencers to lead customers to purchase your products. And with #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt being such a popular meme, TikTok users expect to be influenced. Their wallets are already partially open every time they scroll. And seeing your product on one of their favorite influencers’ feeds can be just the push they need to buy it.

Boost your brand’s authenticity on TikTok

Brand authenticity refers to how genuine or authentic customers believe your brand is. And the influencers you partner with and the content they create surrounding your product or service can help boost your brand’s own authenticity.

Brand authenticity helps potential customers feel closer to a brand, fueling loyalty and retention. Keep this in mind when choosing your influencer partners so that you work with people whose messaging aligns with your brand mission.

How to find the right TikTok influencers for your brand

We just mentioned how important it is to find the right influencers for brand authenticity—but it matters for more than that, too. You need to work with influencers whose audience matches yours and who make sense to promote your brand.

Here are a few ways to help you discover the right TikTok influencers for your brand.

Determine your niche

What niche or industry is your business in? Determining your niche will be a major factor in finding the right influencers. But on TikTok, it comes down to more than that—you also need to determine your subculture.

Subcultures are a major TikTok trend and help users find content they’re interested in. Subcultures tend to have their own hashtag and niche content, like #BookTok (for book lovers), #FoodTok (for recipe creators), #FitTok (for fitness enthusiasts) or #MomsofTikTok (for parents).

If your business fits into one of those, peruse those hashtags and look for influencers within those subcultures. They could be the perfect people to consider working with.

Search for specific topics using keywords

For Gen Z, TikTok doubles as a search engine. In fact, 51% of Gen Z women head to TikTok over Google to make a search. TikTok’s search feature is that sophisticated. Easily input keywords or topics into TikTok’s search to find videos, users, sounds, TikTok Shops, live videos, places and hashtags related to those keywords.

Look at the videos and users that pop up to see if you can find any new influencers. Add them to your list to reach out to.

Review trending hashtags

TikTok hashtags can also be a great way to discover trends. Discover popular hashtags to find influencers hopping on those trends. There are a few different ways to discover new hashtags.

First, keep an eye on your For You page. This is the best place to discover new content. Take a look at the hashtags that are being used and pay attention to recurring tags. Click on them to view even more content using those hashtags.

You can also tap the Search icon in your TikTok app. Find it at the top right corner of your screen. This is where you can search for your keywords we mentioned in the last point, but it’s also where you can see some trending topics.

A screenshot showing the search interface in the TikTok app

Click on different topics under the “You may like” heading to see what types of videos are posted, the hashtags they’re using and if any influencers related to your business are talking about those topics.

Another option is to check out the TikTok Ads Creative Center. Here, you can head to Trends > Hashtags to see the top trending hashtags in your area, or globally.

A screenshot of the TikTok Ads Creative Center

Get info like the number of posts that have been made using that hashtag, the number of views the hashtag has gotten and a simple line chart showing how the hashtag is trending.

Use an influencer marketing tool

Influencer marketing tools can be extremely helpful for finding, reaching out to and partnering with influencers. Upfluence and Collabstr are two influencer marketplaces designed to help brands find the best influencers to work with. Many such marketplaces also offer additional features that enable companies to reach out to these influencers, pay them and set up campaigns all through their marketplace.

If you really want to revolutionize your influencer marketing with data-powered social intelligence, check out Tagger by Sprout Social. Tagger by Sprout Social empowers marketers to drive impactful influencer marketing strategies, enabling you to grow brand presence authentically, engage with new targeted audiences and generate revenue faster.

Check out influencers your competitors are partnering with

Look at the influencers who are working with your competitors. Do this by searching their brand name in the TikTok search feature and checking out the videos that appear in search results.

While you might not want to work with the exact same influencers—unless it’s clear the partnership is over—this can still give you a good idea of the type of influencer who would work well for your campaign.

Work with an agency

Finally, consider working with an agency. TikTok influencer marketing agencies can fully take over the entire process, finding the best influencers (because they’ve worked with them before), drawing up a contract that works for both parties, handling asset creative and campaign details and putting together the final report with campaign results.

Examples of brands using TikTok influencer marketing

Now that you know how to find the right influencers, let’s go over a few real-life TikTok influencer marketing examples. These can show you the type of end video you should expect from working with your influencers.

1. Aerie

Aerie is a clothing brand focusing on undergarments, loungewear and activewear. But their biggest focus is on inclusivity, ensuring people of all shapes and sizes have access to comfortable and well-fitting clothes.

Even clothes that are possible to put on one-handed, as we see in this influencer video below. Influencer Gemma Adby created a video showcasing how easy it is to put on this Aerie-designed bra with just one hand.

TikTok influencer promotes for Liberare

This particular video was actually created specifically for Aerie’s TikTok page. And while that’s one way to manage your influencer marketing, you may also want your influencers to share the content on their page to reach their own audiences.

2. Supergoop

Supergoop is an SPF/sunscreen-based skincare brand. This video below shows an influencer using one of their products while she gets ready.

TikTok influencer promotes supergoop

And yes, while this does also live on the Supergoop website (why not turn your influencer content into user-generated content?), it originated on the influencer’s profile.

3. BEHR

Here’s a more traditional example of an influencer post from paint company BEHR. TikTok influencer Laura Whaley creates skits detailing the different people and personalities that work in a corporate office setting. Because that’s the kind of content that her audience expects from her, it makes sense to work an influencer post in with the same type of skit.

Here, we have a conversation between two of the characters in Laura’s skits where one character tells another the details about a BEHR sweepstakes, causing the other character to envision herself painting her house—using BEHR paint, of course.

Screenshot from TikTok of influencer promoting Behr paint.

This video fits seamlessly in with Laura’s regularly scheduled content, making it a great example of influencer content.

4. Lulus

Lulus is an online clothing company that worked with TikTok influencer Madison Humphrey to create a humorous video about going out. Lulus typically sells dresses and other more formal wear for events or nights out, so this piece of content fits perfectly.

Screenshot of TikTok influencer promoting Lulus.

Plus, they’ve also turned this video into an ad to reach an even wider audience on the platform.

5. Pair Eyewear

Pair Eyewear is an innovative glasses company that have created a pair of magnetic glasses so customers can easily snap on different glasses designs and change up their look. If you’re on TikTok, you likely have heard of Pair Eyewear, because their influencer marketing and advertising campaigns are extensive.

Here’s an example of a humorous video from one of their influencers, Dad Chats.

Screenshot of TikTok influencer promoting Pair Eyewear.

Pair Eyewear relies on both entertaining organic content from their influencers as well as promotional videos they can turn into ads.

Get started with TikTok influencer marketing

Want to get more out of your TikTok influencer marketing? Request a demo and learn more about how you can use Tagger by Sprout Social to make your influencer marketing campaigns come to life.

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]]> SEO and social media: How to use search to boost your social marketing https://sproutsocial.com/insights/seo-and-social-media/ https://sproutsocial.com/insights/seo-and-social-media/#comments Wed, 01 Nov 2023 16:30:04 +0000 http://sproutsocial.com/insights/?p=76122 Is there a link between search engine optimization (SEO) and social media? Depends on who you ask. Regardless, businesses today are eager to stand Read more...

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]]> Is there a link between search engine optimization (SEO) and social media? Depends on who you ask. Regardless, businesses today are eager to stand out in the search engine results pages (SERPs) and social space alike. And just like you can’t ignore social media these days, the same rings true for SEO.

That’s because both channels are absolutely critical when it comes to product discovery, research and helping people make purchase decisions. Rather than treating these marketing channels as a matter of either-or, it makes sense to find common threads between them. SEO can be an important pillar within your social media marketing strategy.

In this guide, we’ll highlight the basics of SEO and social media, including lower lift ways to boost your social media efforts via SEO (and vice versa).

Table of contents:

What is social SEO?

Social SEO involves optimizing your social channels and content to expand your reach in search results. It helps enhance the visibility of your content among the people searching for businesses similar to yours. For example, social SEO can help you rank higher in YouTube search results. Best practices vary across platforms, but it can involve adding captions, alt-text, subtitles and keyword research.

SEO and social media management strategies can complement each other because they are both channels for discovery. People are seeking the help of both search engines and social media platforms to uncover information. The lines between search engines and social media are blurring. For example, people use TikTok and Pinterest to discover new recipes, life hacks and more. And YouTube isn’t just a video platform anymore—it’s one of the most popular search engines in the world.

Is SEO needed for social media?

Discourse aside, SEO and social media have a complementary relationship. Companies can use SEO for social and it’s an important component of developing a mature marketing strategy.

What is the connection between SEO and social media?

The connection between SEO and social media—particularly if social links and shares have a significant impact on traditional search rankings—has been debated for over a decade now. Some argue that misinformation on social media has led people astray when it comes to SEO strategy.

A thread on X (formerly known as Twitter) between several professionals discussing SEO strategies. The final comment notes SEO professionals are using strategy effectively, but misinformation on social media has led many marketers astray.

Some SEO experts will tell you outright that Google doesn’t take social media performance into account when it comes to rankings. However, other SEO aficionados speak to the importance of using social media for business.

A Post on X from a marketing professional introducing a thread on why social media is more important than SEO.

Search engines do not use social signals as a ranking factor, but some professionals agree they are an indirect SEO booster that can help with traffic and rankings.

A Post on X from an SEO professional listing three reasons why social signals matter. The reasons include: build a strong social presence, it's an indirect SEO booster, and engage with your audience to encourage social sharing.

A Post on X from a SEO professional encouraging people to add social profiles to their Google Business Profile to earn more social signals and increase rankings in local maps.

Others say social media marketing is actually more effective than SEO, depending on the industry.

A thread from a user on X explaining why social media marketing is more effective for freight companies than SEO.

Even though the verdict is still out on the exact relationship between SEO and social media, there’s still a connection worth exploring when it comes to increasing your brand’s visibility.

Below is a brief breakdown of how social media impacts search traffic:

Social media profiles consistently rank among top search results

Particularly for branded keywords, social media profiles are often front-and-center, immediately following any given brand’s website result. On Google, social media channels are listed on the results pages and the knowledge panel, the box located on the right side of the platform that features specific information about the query.

Poshmark's search results page on Google. The company's social profiles are listed in the knowledge panel on the right side of the screen.

The SERP also includes previews of the brand’s most recent posts on X (formerly known as Twitter), further highlighting a relationship between SEO and social media.

Poshmark's X previews on Google search results page.

Meanwhile, Facebook represents a potential SEO goldmine for local businesses as it serves as an aggregator of positive reviews and potential bookings.

Mary Mac's Team Room Facebook page for Atlanta, GA on Google search results page.

Google Analytics highlights social media as a significant traffic source

Because social is a significant source of traffic for organizations, it’s treated as a unique entity in Google Analytics.

Using Google Analytics for social media can help you learn about social media efforts, target audience and search optimization alike. This includes:

  • Does social traffic engage better (or worse) than traffic from other channels?
  • How does your volume of social traffic compare to other sources like organic, email, etc.?
  • Which social networks drive the most traffic?
A Google analytics dashboard featuring various metrics for social media and SEO such as bounce rate, sessions and average session duration.

Social media links serve as a traffic funnel

Although concepts like social sites passing on link equity, also known as “link juice” have been debunked, consider the potential snowball effect of increased social shares resulting in more traffic.

Do social shares have a significant effect in the SERPs? Perhaps not. However, using social accounts to promote new individual pieces of content can be a significant driver of new visitors.

A Flipboard post on X sharing an article about their new podcast. Sharing links on social media profiles can help with SEO link building.

Brands that are active on social have the potential to build more backlinks either actively or passively. Consistently publishing content means more visibility and that visibility can result in links or brand advocates who enjoy sharing your content.

Social search optimization matters for social networks

Marketing organizations are using SEO best practices on social platforms like YouTube to increase views and promote their channel. YouTube videos and features like chapter titles show up in Google search results so marketers can optimize. For example, you can use target keywords in titles and descriptions. Adding captions will also send a positive signal to the YouTube algorithm.

How to optimize your social profiles for SEO

We’re going to focus on actionable optimizations that’ll increase your social channels’ visibility in the SERPs. The good news is that doing so doesn’t mean overhauling your presence or making any major changes. Here are the basics of social media SEO:

Fill out your social profiles with as many details as possible

Some platforms have much more real estate than others to fill in your details (think: Facebook’s generous “About” section(s) versus a minimalist Instagram’s bio). Either way, don’t let these spaces go to waste. Make a point to include industry and brand keywords, location and relevant links.

Buckhead Village District's Instagram profile. The shopping district includes information about their location and a link in bio.

Integrate keywords into your profile(s) and posts

Speaking of keywords, consider that social media at large is becoming more and more search-oriented. Performing keyword research is a good idea just for the sake of finding potential topics to post about and likewise optimizing your content for visibility. You don’t have to (nor should you) optimize every single caption or description that you write.

However, there are plenty of opportunities to integrate keywords into your posts naturally if you’re aware of them. This is especially true on platforms like YouTube, LinkedIn or Pinterest where you have plenty of characters to work with.

A pin from Trader Joe's on Pinterest featuring a recipe for maple marshmallow popcorn bars.

Point links back to your site

Chances are you’re probably doing this already. Although your own links shouldn’t be the sole source of your social content, they should definitely factor in if you’re hungry for more traffic.

From blog posts and promotions to downloadables and beyond, make sure you’re taking advantage of link tracking to assess what’s getting the most clicks and how visitors behave once they’re on your site. Doing so also clues you in at a glance at what your most popular links are via social. Here’s what the process looks like through Sprout Social’s URL shortener:

Video visual of creating a UTM link within Sprout Social

Share on-site content and encourage others to do the same

Perhaps one of the most effective ways to get shares beyond your brand account is through employee advocacy. Now a staple of B2B social media, encouraging colleagues and coworkers to share content through an established employee advocacy program is a much more measurable and scalable way to increase visibility.

Publish content that’s worthy of backlinks

Posting linkable assets on social media is a no-brainer, but which sorts of posts are prime for links?

When in doubt, infographics and original reports are safe bets. These posts are typically among the highest-performing on social since they’re unique and share statistics in a way that’s easy to digest. Likewise, original research often represents a primary source that hasn’t been linked elsewhere.

Sprout's post on X promoting The Sprout Social Index™. The post explains we surveyed over 1.2k consumers and 900 marketers and includes a bitly link to the report.

How to optimize your social posts for social search

Here’s a quick overview of some best practices to optimize content for social search:

  • Use relevant keywords and hashtags in captions, titles and descriptions
  • Use alt-text to make visual content more accessible
  • Use subtitles in video content on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok
  • Tag your location so your content can appear in social search results
  • Say your main keyword out loud on YouTube and TikTok
  • Incorporate SEO into your file management process by using keywords and key phrases in the video file name
  • Aim to use high quality photo and video assets to benefit from visual search
  • Be conscious of overstuffing keywords

4 quick social media tips to support your SEO efforts

To wrap things up, let’s look at some other tactics that combine SEO and social to get more out of your investment in both channels.

Make your website content easy to share

Social sharing buttons are staples on blogs and websites. Quick copy links and single-click sharing should be integrated into your site in some way, such as including buttons on blog posts to make sharing easy.

Bonus points if you don’t have to make your readers dig for your sharing buttons. Below is a good example from Grammarly, showcasing social share buttons that follow visitors as they scroll through a post.

Example of using social sharing buttons on websites and blog posts.

Translate your social data into content ideas

If you’re strapped for fresh content ideas, look no further than your social feed. From potential blog topics to the latest trends and keywords, there’s arguably no better place than social media to find them. Social conversations are timely and you can assess trends instantly rather than wait for traffic to roll in to figure them out.

This is where a tool like Sprout Social really comes in handy. With our platform’s Social Listening features, you can quickly hone in on topics and trends without having to do a bunch of guesswork. Social listening is also a useful tool for making sure your marketing messaging lands and you speak your audience’s language.

An example of keyword tracking using social listening in Sprout. Related keywords and hashtags appear.

Fine-tune your publishing frequency

Establishing a consistent content calendar produces better traffic results than posting at random.

Familiarize yourself with the best times to post on social media and make sure links to your site are part of your social content strategy. As a side note, don’t be afraid to publish and recycle links to blog posts. Given the legwork required to put together any given post, they deserve to be shared multiple times. If you don’t want to repeat yourself, consider repurposing your content for social distribution.

Foster relationships with your audience and influencers

We’re all about building customer relationships at Sprout. Building an engaged community means you’re more likely to score clicks and attract meaningful traffic to your site. Those same folks can also give your content a much-needed boost when prompted. You can use social media as an avenue for developing and nurturing relationships with your target audience, including influencers. Influencers can help support content visibility. If an influencer reshares your content, you amplify your brand’s reach.

Create a strategy for SEO and social media

Whether search or social is your primary focus, consider how both channels complement each other because doing so means getting more out of your marketing efforts. Likewise, you can uncover a ton of customer insights and content ideas in the process.

Our social marketing guide breaks down even more ways to create top-tier content and grow an audience.

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]]> https://sproutsocial.com/insights/seo-and-social-media/feed/ 2 A 6-point framework for maximizing influencer marketing ROI https://sproutsocial.com/insights/influencer-marketing-roi/ Tue, 31 Oct 2023 20:37:07 +0000 https://sproutsocial.com/insights/?p=178514 Building brand reputation and loyalty is the top business priority for leaders in the current economic climate, according to the 2023 State of Social Read more...

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]]> Building brand reputation and loyalty is the top business priority for leaders in the current economic climate, according to the 2023 State of Social Media report. Influencers play a growing role here—these digital trendsetters help brands establish credibility with target audiences while extending their reach.

I spoke with Peter Kennedy, Founder and General Manager, Influencer Marketing for Tagger by Sprout Social, to discuss how leaders can measure and maximize their influencer marketing return on investment (ROI) at each customer journey stage.

Why influencer marketing ROI matters

Nearly half (47%) of social marketers say measuring the effectiveness of campaigns is one of their top influencer marketing challenges, according to our Q3 2023 Pulse Survey. ROI is a critical proxy for gauging effectiveness, not to mention a jumping-off point for future budget asks.

Let’s cover three reasons why influencer marketing ROI matters:

1. Influencer marketing encompasses the entire customer journey

Kennedy says people often think about ROI as it relates to sales, but influencer marketing has changed the game. He explains ROI is often confined to bottom-funnel metrics like downloads or conversions, but influencer marketing drives returns across the customer journey.

“When you start to use influencer content across the entire journey, sales are definitely part of [your results]. But what’s the ROI of the awareness you’re building and the consideration?” he says.

In our LinkedIn influencer marketing roundtable, Kennedy emphasized how influencer content often fuels higher engagement than branded content. Our Q3 Pulse Survey also found that 79% of marketers describe influencer content as necessary for their customers’ experiences, and 81% describe influencer marketing as an essential part of their social media strategy.

“We’re getting better awareness, engagement, purchase, retention and advocacy because the content resonates more with people,” he says.

2. Influencers can help balance brand and performance marketing

The push and pull between brand and performance marketing is a common experience among chief marketing officers. Leaders often view performance marketing as a safer bet because it can be measured clearly and held more accountable for business results, making it easier to see how a company’s marketing dollars connect to revenue. But today’s consumers are savvy and recognize when brands only see them as dollar signs—so balancing brand and demand efforts becomes even more important.

Kennedy agrees and notes that, historically, performance marketers haven’t tapped into influencer marketing—but the landscape is changing:

“With A/B testing, they’re finding that influencer content converts faster and gets better click-through rates than branded content.”

3. Marketers must measure ROI to earn more buy-in

ROI is the key to commanding a larger influencer marketing budget. Even though the majority of marketers say influencer marketing is vital to their social strategy, only 34% have a dedicated budget for influencer marketing.

Influencers can help marketers reach their goals and earn more buy-in for future collaborations. Our data reveals social marketers rate influencer marketing as having a significant impact on their brand’s efforts including brand awareness (89%), increased brand reputation (87%) and customer loyalty (87%).

How to measure influencer marketing’s ROI: The 5 W’s + H of influencer strategy

Kennedy explains that calculating influencer marketing ROI is tricky because there isn’t a simple equation.

“You can’t just say, ‘We spent X on influencer marketing, we got this many sales and our ROI is Y.’ There are a lot more variables that need to go into that.”

Instead of searching for a formula to calculate success, consider several factors that impact a brand’s ROI. Kennedy organizes most of these into the Five W’s of influencer strategies (who, what, when, where and why)—and advises how leaders need each to better understand audience interest, behavior and preferences, which can further inform your influencer selections and campaign execution.

The who: Influencer identification

Our Pulse Survey data shows finding the right influencers is the top influencer marketing challenge. This is where the first of the Five W’s comes into play.

The “who” includes your target audience, their demographics, interests and affinities. Kennedy underscores the importance of hiring influencers based on audience fit and historic performance. He recommends looking at influencers who talk about your industry and whose content outperforms when they mention your topic or product.

Many marketers will start by searching a database to find influencers for their campaigns. They search based on audience demographics, location or topics the influencers discuss.

“Before I can even think about the influencer I need to hire, I need to consider what my channel strategy is,” he says. “I want these influencers to be authentic when they talk about certain themes or products.”

He says you must understand your product category or industry to help determine the most important channel(s) and which influencers to hire based on their social presence. Then he recommends filtering down to the target demographics and geolocation. Historical performance is another essential metric to track to ensure the influencer maps to their goals.

Another integral piece of the influencer identification process is checking their audience’s affinity. He points to an example of a health food company.

“The company may want to work with a particular influencer. But when you view their audience, their followers care about candy bars. That’s not the right audience because they’re not necessarily looking for healthy products, even if the influencer is on board,” he says.

“If the influencer’s audience makes sense, the influencer makes sense because they both talk about these [topics or interests]. Two plus two can equal eight with influencer marketing. So historical performance and audience alignment within your category are most important,” he says.

The influencer identification process is a manual journey that can take a lot of time and effort, but with Sprout, you can use People View to discover and organize profiles that interact with your brand.

Sprout's People View. Several VIPs are listed on screen.

This view ensures that you can authentically interact with the people who engage with your brand the most. People View can help foster connections with influencers, manage your VIP lists and view conversation history. This feature helps expedite the influencer identification process because you can see your most active audience members.

The where

Where you activate your influencer campaigns is equally important as the content. If your brand’s community is more active on one network versus another, that can help narrow down which influencers your brand should partner with to capture share of voice.

Kennedy explains when he asks brands why they are running a campaign on one platform, it’s widely based on assumption. But they’re often better suited to another platform because of their industry and audience. The engagement they are looking for is happening on entirely different channels.

The what

The “what” refers to the content types that will resonate with your target audience. For example, a 30-second makeup tutorial on TikTok may see higher engagement for people under 25, but longer videos may resonate with older audiences.

The content type you choose will depend on your brand’s audience, but our Pulse Survey shows giveaways (65%), product collaborations (62%) and influencer-led advertisements (57%) are the most common.

Each phase of the customer journey has different goals and KPIs. To maximize influencer marketing ROI, Kennedy advises brands to incorporate influencer content across all of them.

When most people think of influencer marketing, they think of content within the purchase stage like product reviews, tutorials and Live shopping experiences that support sales KPIs, but there are opportunities at every stage.

For example, in the awareness stage, the goal is to boost brand or product visibility. KPIs may include impressions, reach and views. This is when you could leverage posts on an influencer’s profile and repurpose influencer content for paid media.

In the retention stage, you’re aiming for repeat purchases and to increase KPIs like retention rate and customer lifetime value. You could leverage influencers in exclusive memberships or customer appreciation content. For advocacy purposes, influencers can support referral programs.

The why: Influencer marketing business goals

The “why” refers to your business goals. The driving force behind influencer campaigns is often one of two reasons: your competitors are spending a ton in this space, and you need to level up, or there are benefits to your products that you must highlight. For example, let’s say you want to understand the current landscape of influencer content about pickup trucks in the U.S.

“You may discover that towing capabilities are a popular topic. But when you review existing influencer content, another brand is being talked about most regarding towing capability. Although your product may have the best functionality, you’re actually being talked about the least. But now you’ve identified the white space in your industry and can start building a content strategy.”

Our survey shows two-thirds of marketers use social media engagements such as likes, shares and comments to measure the effectiveness of their campaigns. Social engagement data and conversion rates (in terms of sales, signups or downloads) rank as the two most important metrics to secure buy-in for influencer marketing campaigns.

The when

Campaign timing can make or break your influencer marketing results and effectiveness. Time can be broken down into multiple increments in terms of year, day of the week, or even the hour of the day that will yield the highest engagement.

Kennedy points to the example of content for a yoga company. The holiday season isn’t an ideal time for investment because people prioritize time with family and friends or travel for vacation. But after the holidays, you’ll see a spike in interest because people often focus on renewing their health and wellness rituals in the new year. Spring would be an ideal time as well.

“Understanding those time periods and the seasonality of your industry will be important. We’re going to get better engagement during the times of the year when people care about your industry and product,” he says.

The how: Influencer management overhead

Along with identifying the right partnerships, leaders have to consider influencer management overhead. From contracting to creative collaboration, there’s a lot that goes into daily influencer management. It can be an expensive undertaking if teams lack a transparent process for working with influencer management. Our survey reflects that 64% of markets manage influencer campaigns by working directly with their agents or reps.

Kennedy advises brands to consider local influencers to minimize travel and accommodation expenses. He also stressed considering the “when” of influencer management overhead to get the most out of your spend. “Even if you’re doing an earned campaign where I’m handing the influencer a product, we still incur manufacturing and shipping costs. It’s still paid media,” he says.

With Tagger by Sprout Social, you can integrate influencer marketing with your brand’s social strategy by harnessing data and analytics. With tools like Sprout’s publishing calendar and Tagger Projects, marketers can manage social campaigns and content, streamline influencer workflows, collaborate with talent and provide influencer compensation through a dedicated workspace.

Proving influencer marketing ROI with data insights

Illustrating influencer marketing ROI is a nuanced process. But by considering the Five W’s of influencer marketing strategy and weaving your content across the buyer journey, you’ll be able to prove your marketing dollars are well spent.

To learn more about using Tagger to shape the best path forward for your brand’s influencer marketing strategy, complete our inquiry form.

The post A 6-point framework for maximizing influencer marketing ROI appeared first on Sprout Social.

]]> Everything you need to know about social media algorithms https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-algorithms/ https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-algorithms/#comments Mon, 30 Oct 2023 15:11:27 +0000 http://sproutsocial.com/insights/?p=99740/ Social media algorithms can be a powerful ally in growing one’s online audience. Think of it as a virtual matchmaker designed to match users Read more...

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]]> Social media algorithms can be a powerful ally in growing one’s online audience. Think of it as a virtual matchmaker designed to match users with content that suits their interests. Just as matchmakers strive to make meaningful connections, algorithms analyze user behavior, interactions and interests to understand their content preferences and deliver personalized content.

As algorithms continuously evolve and become more complex, social media marketers must embrace change, adapt swiftly and navigate these algorithmic shifts. The best strategy is to stay updated on trends and optimize your social strategy to maximize engagement.

This guide covers everything about social media algorithms, including important factors to watch out for and how to adapt your social media marketing strategies accordingly.

What is a social media algorithm?

An algorithm is a series of instructions designed to solve specific problems, perform tasks or make decisions. In computer programming, algorithms direct the computer’s actions, such as sorting elements, locating data or identifying objects.

In social media, algorithms are rules, signals and data that govern the platform’s operation. These algorithms determine how content is filtered, ranked, selected and recommended to users. In some ways, algorithms influence our choices and what we see on social media.

Why are social media algorithms important?

Every social media platform comprises a mix of users with different preferences. Without a filtering system, users must navigate through a flood of posts, which can be overwhelming.

This is where algorithms come into play. Social media platforms employ sophisticated algorithms as intelligent guides, carefully sorting and matching content to audiences with similar preferences. Understanding the ins and outs of algorithms and why they are important is essential for any social media marketing strategy:

Filter out the content noise

When a new TikTok video or a Facebook post is published, it joins millions of other content pieces online. Algorithms function as librarians, sorting and connecting users with their preferences. This prevents overwhelming users with endless content and helps them find what they like faster. Algorithms enable users to uncover valuable posts, connect with like-minded individuals and explore their interests.

Show users more of what they’re interested in

Social media platforms use sophisticated algorithms to prolong user engagement. These algorithms control content visibility, sequence and recommendations based on user data like actions, behaviors and interests. For instance, if you interact with gadget-related posts, you’ll see more of such content. This personalization improves user engagement and in turn, creates a positive user experience.

Personalize user experience

Today, users have greater control over their content experience. Algorithms leverage data to personalize content recommendations. On platforms like Instagram, you can customize your feed by hiding posts, filtering comments, or selecting “Not interested” to curate your content.

Maximize organic reach

Understanding social media algorithms can boost your online social presence. As more users find your content, the algorithm becomes better at targeting users with similar interests. Creators and marketers can optimize their content for algorithms to leverage its distribution potential. When a post gains high engagement, the algorithm promotes it to a wider audience.

Understanding how social media algorithms work

Understanding how social media algorithms work is like unraveling the intricate threads that govern the digital tapestry of user experiences. These algorithms, like invisible guides, determine the content on our feeds. Let’s explore how social media algorithms function and how social teams can take advantage of it.

Algorithms search for relevant and valuable content

Algorithmic-driven content curation systems such as the Facebook News Feed and Instagram Feed monitor user behavior, interests and actions to recommend relevant content. For instance, if you engage with basketball content, you’ll likely see more of it.

These algorithms aim to refine content suggestions by adapting and learning from user interactions, ensuring content remains relevant.

Signals and important factors social algorithms consider

Algorithms collect user signals to match them with relevant content. Key signals include:

  • User engagement: Likes, shares and comments indicate that users find the content interesting and relevant.
  • Relevance: Keywords and hashtags give content context and improve its visibility.
  • Timing and frequency: Posting consistently and at the right time when your audience is active can boost visibility.
  • Recency: Newer posts are prioritized over older ones.
  • User interactions: Accounts followed, interactions and click-through rates on links signals relevance and content quality.
  • Profile authority: Follower count, consistency and engagement impact organic reach.
  • Location: Algorithms take into account the location and demographics of users when curating content. Content may be promoted to users in similar locations.
  • Content type: Different content types, like videos, images and text, are treated based on user interaction. Many platforms favor videos because they’re more engaging.
  • Virality: Content gaining popularity and shares signals relevance to the algorithm.
  • Watch time: This is the duration users spends watching videos (IG Reel, YouTube Shorts)

Social media algorithm example

If you use any social media platforms, there’s a huge chance that you’ve come in contact with the algorithm in play. Here are some examples you might have missed.

  1. Twitter shows content based on the keywords users follow. For example, I follow the “SEO” keyword, and X (formerly known as Twitter) recommends posts with the keyword on my Explore page.
    Screenshot of a Tweet that shows a recommend post on the Explore page with a keyword tag.
  2. LinkedIn’s algorithm shows content that my 1st-degree connections are engaging with. In this post, for example, over 313 of my 1st-degree connections follow this account, so LinkedIn prioritizes the sponsored post on my Feed.
    Screenshot of a LinkedIn post that is recommended to a user because many 1st-degree connections follow the page.
  3. LinkedIn suggests content for users with similar keywords. I love reading about social media and content marketing on LinkedIn, so it’s no surprise they push this content type my way.
    Screenshot of a LinkedIn post that is suggested to a user.
  4. Twitter suggests accounts to follow based on the content they post and what you’ve liked.
    Screenshot of a list of suggested Creators for a Twitter user.

Social media algorithms by platform

Every social media platform has its unique algorithm for content curation and display. These platforms look for specific ranking signals to discern user preferences. Let’s explore some social media platforms and their platform-specific rank signals to keep in mind.

Twitter algorithm

The Twitter algorithm is an AI-powered algorithm designed to curate content based on the user’s interests, preferences and past interactions rather than chronologically. According to Twitter, their algorithm looks through about 500 million daily Tweets to display only relevant ones on your timeline.

In 2023, the updated Twitter algorithm considers:

  • Location and language: Twitter shows you content based on your location, especially in their “Trends for You” section.
  • User interactions: Content is recommended based on your activity, including who you follow and interact with.
  • Engagement level: Tweet popularity is determined by user engagement metrics such as likes, Retweets and replies.
  • Relevancy: The relevance of a Tweet is based on the keywords used, the user’s interests and previous interactions.
  • Recency: Recent Tweets hold importance, especially in the “Trending Topics” and “What’s Happening” sections.
  • Profile Reputation Score: Active profiles engaging with others gain higher visibility; Twitter also uses TweetCred, a PageRank algorithm, to rate a profile’s credibility based on its followers, past activities, safety status and device usage.
  • Similar accounts: Profiles are categorized based on the niche or topic discussed.

Facebook algorithm

With over 2 billion active users, Facebook is the largest social media platform yet. To moderate content on the platform, Facebook employs several algorithms to determine what content users will find interesting. The updated algorithm considers:

  • Timing: Facebook’s algorithm prioritizes timing as a key signal for ranking content in user’s feeds.
  • Demographics: The user’s location, language and gender can help predict their content preferences.
  • Account credibility: The algorithm ranks accounts with credibility, a strong following, and engaging content.
  • Content type: Facebook’s algorithm prioritizes the type of posts users engage with most. So, users who watch more videos will get more video content.
  • Relevance: Posts with similar keywords or hashtags are recommended to users with shared interests.
  • Engagement levels: High engagement, including comments, shares and likes, indicates quality content and since Facebook is all about creating meaningful posts, it ranks it higher.
  • Facebook connections: Content from the accounts you follow is prioritized over those you don’t follow.

Facebook’s algorithm combines these signals to give the post a relevancy score, which predicts how likely a user is to interact with a post.

Instagram algorithm

Instagram’s algorithm is one of the most diverse social media platforms. According to Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri, Instagram is divided into 5 sections: Feed, Stories, Explore, Reels, Search. Each section uses algorithms, classifiers and processes to tailor content recommendations based on user behavior.

Instagram Feed

Your Instagram feed is a mix of content from accounts you follow, similar profiles you’re likely to enjoy and personalized ads. In the feed, posts are ranked based on several signals:

  • Post recency: Recent posts from accounts take priority, appearing before older ones.
    Screenshot of an in-feed Instagram post by Krispy Kreme Nigeria that was posted "15 minutes ago."
  • People you follow: Posts from those you follow appear organically on your feed. For creators, this means having more followers increases your visibility.
  • User activity: Posts you’ve liked, shared, saved or commented on convey your content preferences.
  • Content type: Users who prefer photos will see more photos. The same goes for videos and carousels.
    [IMAGE]
  • Post information: Posts with many likes, shares, comments and saves signal relevance to users with similar interests or locations.
  • Interaction history: Your interactions with an account’s posts and frequency influence the appearance of their content in your feed.

Instagram Stories

Stories is an in-app feature that allows users to post photos or videos that disappear after 24 hours. Here’s what it looks like:

Screenshot of an series of Instagram Story bubbles.

The ranking factors for stories are quite similar to those of the IG Feed. Stories use engagement signals such as:

  • Viewing history: Frequently viewing an account’s stories would result in its prioritization.
  • Engagement history: Liking or responding to stories is an engagement metric that impacts story rankings.
  • Closeness: The algorithm considers your relationship with the story’s creator, including mutual follows, shared locations, and DM interactions.

Instagram Explore

Explore simplifies the discovery of new posts without needing active search. Here’s what it looks like on Instagram:

Screenshot of three different Instagram Explore feeds placed side-by-side.

The grid comprises content recommendations from accounts you don’t follow but Instagram believes you might enjoy. Signals Instagram considers include:

  • User’s past interaction: Content is ranked based on previous engagements with posts.
  • Post popularity: The number of likes, comments, shares, and saves influences visibility.
  • User’s explore activity: history of a user’s interaction on the Explore page, including liked posts and similar content.
  • Account information: the frequency of interaction with the account in the past few weeks.

Instagram Reels

Reels are designed for users to explore new content from accounts they don’t follow, similar to Explore. Key signals for Reels content include:

  • User’s activity: Recent interactions with Reels, such as likes, saves, shares, comments, and engagement.
  • Interaction history: Your interaction history with accounts, even if you don’t follow them.
  • Relevance: The content’s relevance is determined by popularity signals like likes, saves, and comments.
  • Account information: An account’s popularity, including follower count and engagement level, informs content recommendation.

TikTok algorithm

TikTok’s algorithm is a recommendation system designed to curate the For You Feed for each user considering the following signals:

  • User interactions: Your likes, views, shares, comments, searches, and interactions with accounts shape your feed.
    Accounts you follow or suggested for you
  • Location: Recent and popular content in your region impacts your feed.
  • Video details: TikTok uses video quality, captions, sounds or hashtags to recommend content.
  • Device and account settings: This includes the language, device type and country.
  • Watch time: The number of replays and completed videos influences your feed.

YouTube algorithm

YouTube’s algorithm considers many signals to rank videos on its homepage, including:

  • Video performance: YouTube video performance is measured in terms of engagement metrics such as likes, shares and comments.
  • Click-through rate: YouTube’s algorithm assesses the likelihood of user interaction with a video to recommend it to other users.
  • Watch time and retention: Videos with longer watch time indicate quality content that retains viewer attention.
  • Recency: Newer videos are promoted to subscribers who interact with the channel.
  • User watch history and actions: Video watch time and post-interaction actions, like liking and commenting, signal relevance to the algorithm.
  • Search history: What has the user searched for? Is it a recurring search?
  • Demographics and location: Videos uploaded by creators in a particular location are pushed to local viewers before broader promotion.

LinkedIn algorithm

LinkedIn’s algorithm uses several ranking signals that contribute to the success of a post on the platform. Here are some to watch out for:

  • Quality over quantity: LinkedIn’s algorithm filters posts into three categories: spam, low-quality and high-quality.
  • Relevance: The algorithm assesses post relevance based on keywords, hashtags, and comments.
  • Engagement probability: LinkedIn uses machine learning models to predict post engagement, especially within the first hour.
  • Personal connections: LinkedIn’s algorithm prioritizes posts from your 1st-degree connections and those you engage with.
  • Consistency: The algorithm rewards pages that post regularly with increased visibility.
  • Credibility: Author expertise, insightful content and meaningful comments enhance post ranking.
  • Recency: Recent posts hold significance for LinkedIn’s algorithm.
  • Content type: The algorithm loves short-form videos and well-structured long-form content.

Pinterest algorithm

The Pinterest algorithm ranks content using key ranking signals such as:

  • Topic relevance: Keywords, hashtags, and user interactions determine content relevance to users.
  • Pin quality: Your pin’s level of engagement, such as likes, saves and comments defines pin quality.
  • Domain quality: Website safety and visitor engagement impact Pinterest rankings. If visitors feel safe on your website, Pinterest ranks your content highly.
  • Account quality: Pinterest assesses your account credibility and posting consistency as a ranking signal. If you’re considering Pinterest marketing, then ensure your account is on the good side.
  • Recency: The algorithm considers how recently a pin was published and how recently it was updated.

Reddit algorithm

Reddit’s algorithm is designed to rank content based on what’s Hot and Best, guided by key signals like:

  • The number of upvotes, downvotes and total votes it gets. Reddit uses votes as a signal to determine post relevance.
  • Recent posts gain more traction and visibility. If you’re marketing on Reddit, ensure you consistently post valuable content.
  • The types of comments it gets. For example, a comment with nine up-votes and two down-votes will rank higher than a comment with one-up votes and no-down votes.

Tumblr algorithm

If you use Tumblr for marketing, here are some signals to watch out for:

  • User interaction: Tumblr considers likes, reblogs, comments and follows to expand content reach to a broader audience.
  • Post content: The algorithm uses tags, text, images and multimedia to understand the post context and make recommendations.
  • Post timing: Newer posts receive higher visibility and are prioritized over older ones.
  • User preference: Past user interactions, content engagement and followed blogs influence content recommendations.

10 tips for staying ahead of the algorithm and optimizing your content

To stay ahead of the algorithm and leverage its potential for business growth, you must understand how it works and its governing rules. Through trial and error, we’ve learned several ever-green principles to help you stay ahead of the algorithm.

1. Ask questions and encourage comments from your audience

Social media algorithms favor highly engaging content with tons of comments, shares and likes. More engagement equals better chances of going viral. To encourage comments, ask questions that resonate with your audience. Ask their take on trending topics or go bold with thought-provoking inquiries to spark conversations.

Screenshot of Instagram's official Twitter account Tweeting a question to their audience.

While a question-based CTA is great for encouraging conversations, doing it right is what matters. Avoid controversial or offensive questions to foster positive discussion.

Screenshot of a LinkedIn post that uses a strong question CTA to draw engagement.

2. Tag other accounts in your posts

Tagging on social media involves mentioning someone by their username (or handle) in a post, comment or image, creating a clickable link to their profile. For example, a fashion curation account on Instagram may post several looks and tag the content creators or designers.

Tagging accounts in your posts boosts collaboration, brand exposure and visibility. On platforms like Instagram, tagging someone in a picture gets it featured in their “Photos of You” section, expanding your reach to their followers.

It’s good practice to reach out to accounts you tag and explain why before doing so. Ensure you have an established relationship with the account and, more importantly, that the post is relevant to the audience.

3. Tack on the right hashtags and keywords

Hashtags categorize posts and boost post discoverability to a wider audience.

Screenshot of a LinkedIn post that uses hashtags to draw engagement.

Use hashtags strategically; don’t go overboard. Stick to 3-5 hashtags to avoid overwhelming your audience and hurting visibility. Also, skip overly saturated hashtags and opt for focused ones. For example, rather than using hashtags like #InteriorDesign with 175M posts on Instagram, substitute for a smaller hashtag like #InteriorDesignTrends with 484,000 posts.

Screenshot of a list of Instagram hashtags that relate to Interior Design and the different hashtag post volume.

To find hashtags, use the autocomplete function on the social media platform you’re posting on. A better way is to use a social media management tool like Sprout Social. With Sprout, you can use social listening to monitor trending hashtags and select the best ones for your brand based on performance, sentiment and demographics.

Sprout Social Twitter Analytics Report with most popular topics and hashtags

4. Optimize your post timing to encourage engagement

When you post matters as much as what you post. Timing is a key ranking signal for many algorithms to rank a post. This means that a high-quality post, created for a defined audience, can underperform if posted at the wrong time.

The best posting times vary based on your audience, industry and platform, but generally, aim to post when your audience is online for maximum visibility and interaction. In our research, we found that the best time to post on social media generally is between 9 a.m. to noon.

Data chart showing the best times to post on social media during the weekdays, according to Sprout Social data.

Using Sprout’s ViralPost® takes out the guesswork about the best time to post for your industry. ViralPost analyzes your individual audience data and suggests optimal timing for each social platform you use.

Screenshot of Sprout Social dashboard publishing calendar and compose box with the Optimal Send Times feature highlighted.

5. Figure out your publishing frequency

There’s no universal answer to how often you should post on social media. It depends on several factors, but one thing is certain: Growing on social media requires consistency. Instagram’s algorithm, for example, prioritizes the recency of a post as a key signal for ranking content.

A personal philosophy is to post only when the content is relevant to avoid overwhelming your followers. Use a social media calendar to plan your content and schedule your posts to stay organized. Sprout Social gives you the flexibility of planning and streamlining your workflow without much hassle.

A screenshot of Sprout Social's monthly Publishing Calendar that demonstrates an at-a-glance view of a campaign.

6. Publish more video content across all networks

Video outperforms text-based content on social media platforms because it’s easier to understand, conveys messages quickly and adds a personal touch.

When creating a social media video marketing strategy, creativity is key. Share behind-the-footage of your product, create how-to videos or share an office tour with your audience—find your best mix of content. Make it exciting and engaging to watch, so your audience has a reason to stay.

Optimize schedule, and promote your video using a management tool like Sprout. For example, Sprout’s YouTube publishing options let you fine-tune categories, playlists, privacy settings and thumbnails. Manage and schedule your posts conveniently from your social media calendar for optimal timing.

A screenshot of Sprout's compose window where you can write and schedule posts right from your content calendar.

7. Craft relevant and engaging captions

One principle that stands the test of algorithmic changes is creating content that’s highly relevant to your audience. Social media platforms prioritize engaging, high-quality content that elicits positive reactions.

Creating engaging captions depends on your audience and the platform, which guides posting times and content choices. For example, while long-form captions work for LinkedIn’s professional audience, shorter captions work best on Instagram. It’s best to test and learn.

Screenshot of a LinkedIn post that is a longer caption organized with bullet points, emojis and a strong CTA.

Start your post with a strong hook. Aim to educate, entertain, promote or interact with your audience. Be concise, provide value and avoid unnecessary jargon. Conclude with a call-to-action (CTA) encouraging reader interaction.

Test multiple content types—videos, text or images—to determine what resonates with your audience and track the social metrics (think: impressions, clicks and views) to identify top-performing posts.

8. Experiment with different types of content (template)

If there’s one thing for certain, it’s that there is no absolute when it comes to what is successful on social media; it all depends on what works for your audience. Experiment with different types of content, like videos, photos or live streams, to see what resonates with your audience. In our recent Content Benchmark Report, we found that consumers found short-form videos the most engaging.

linkedin most engaging types of in-feed social content comparison table

Run A/B tests on your content types at different times and track the analytics for engagement using Sprout analytic and reporting tools. Once you find the right combination, replicate its success. Stay creative and remain open to exploring other content types.

Screenshot of the Sprout Social Post Performance Report showcasing impressions, potential reach, engagement and engagement rates of each post across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

9. Measure performance

Don’t forget to monitor your content’s performance. Define clear goals and KPIs aligned with your business objectives. Ensure your goals are specific, measurable, achievable and relevant to your business’s objectives.

Track common metrics like reach, impressions, engagements, likes, shares and mentions. Use Sprout’s analytics feature to track metrics in real-time and generate reports.

A screenshot of Sprout's TikTok Performance Report that demonstrates the number of published posts, views and engagements from one TikTok account.

10. Embrace new features

Embrace newly released features to showcase your creativity and adaptability. Platforms reward creators who experiment with their new features. They want more people to use these new features, so early adopters are often rewarded with higher visibility.

AI’s role in social media algorithms

The fact is, without AI, social media wouldn’t exist in the first place. AI has played a significant role in developing and curating algorithms to learn about users and make deliberate decisions based on the collected data.

Here are some ways AI plays a role in social media algorithms:

1. Flagging of misinformation and fake news

Social media platforms use AI to detect fake news and filter out offensive, harmful and disrespectful content. For instance, Twitter uses machine-learning models, AI-driven algorithms, user reporting and human moderation teams to identify and flag misinformation. The algorithm analyzes the tweet content and account history to fact-check the accuracy of the information shared.

2. Moderate content for user safety

It’s fair to say that social media can be unpleasant due to trolls who engage in offensive behavior, such as making hateful comments and, in worse situations, harassment.

To maintain quality discussions, platforms employ content moderation tools to identify suspicious posts and comments. For instance, Reddit uses machine learning models to spot suspicious comments, which are further reviewed by human moderators. Likewise, Facebook uses an AI tool to detect abuse and fraud in posts, images and videos, with human reviewers stepping in when needed.

3. Personalize content delivery

AI-driven algorithms segment users based on explicit (follows and likes) and implicit (video-watching time) details to personalize content recommendations. Users can select preferred keywords, follow hashtags or hide inappropriate words in their Feeds and DMs.

User data, including feedback, actions and behavior informs content recommendations and suggests related posts with similar keywords.

Machine learning-based smart search engine flowchart
Source

4. Provide real-time analytics

AI algorithms have the capacity to collect, process and analyze data as soon as it is generated. Platforms like Facebook, which records billions of daily users, use generative AI for rapid predictions, understanding user relationships and addressing security issues in real time.

When users log into Facebook, the AI algorithm immediately tracks their in-app behavior, including user engagement, content performance and trending topics, to offer personalized recommendations.

Start mastering the algorithms

The key to winning with algorithms is understanding how they work. Understand the best practices for satisfying the algorithm and you’ll be on your way to increasing your engagement and growing your audience base.

If you want to learn more about how businesses are harnessing social media for growth, read our report on The 2023 State of Social Media: AI & Data Take Center Stage.

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]]> https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-algorithms/feed/ 2 [Template] Create Better Buyer Personas https://sproutsocial.com/insights/templates/buyer-persona-template/ Wed, 25 Oct 2023 14:07:34 +0000 https://sproutsocial.com/insights/?post_type=templates&p=178377 Buyer persona documents are an essential part of delivering effective marketing, sales and social media strategies. They enable all customer-facing teams to empathize with Read more...

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]]> Buyer persona documents are an essential part of delivering effective marketing, sales and social media strategies. They enable all customer-facing teams to empathize with the pain points and challenges of your target audience, so you can develop messaging and solutions that resonate.

But with so much consumer data available, it can be hard to know what intel is most important. We created this collection of B2B, B2C and industry-specific buyer persona templates to simplify persona building. With these personas on-hand, your team will be empowered to:

  • Make quicker, more strategic decisions
  • Craft better-performing content
  • Accelerate customers through the sales cycle

Download these templates to gain a deeper understanding of your customers—no matter your business type or industry.

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]]> SMS marketing 101: What is SMS Marketing (+ examples) https://sproutsocial.com/insights/sms-marketing/ Mon, 23 Oct 2023 19:09:12 +0000 https://sproutsocial.com/insights/?p=161094/ Everyone reading this has something in common: you all own mobile phones. So do all your prospective and current customers. With over 6.71 billion Read more...

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]]> Everyone reading this has something in common: you all own mobile phones. So do all your prospective and current customers. With over 6.71 billion people already using mobile phones, there’s no doubt this is one of the best ways to spread the word about your business. SMS marketing is here to stay, and with a few insights, you’ll discover how to use this to improve your digital marketing efforts.

In this article, we’ll discuss SMS marketing, including the types, benefits, best practices to follow and examples of marketing strategies that will take you ahead of your competitors.

What is SMS marketing?

SMS marketing (or text marketing) is a form of mobile marketing that allows businesses to send text messages to customers and prospects. This involves using a short message service (SMS) to send messages like promotional offers, discounts, appointment reminders and shipping notifications.

SMS marketing has many advantages over other marketing strategies, such as email marketing. One advantage to SMS marketing is a 98% average open rate, which is 5x that of email (20%), meaning there’s a higher chance your audience will see your text message than your email. SMS marketing also boasts a 9.18% click-through rate compared to email’s 2.5%.

SMS marketing is a great way to reach your target audience with a concise and clear message. You can use it to inform your customers about a weekend sale or promotion and advertise your business with a higher chance of receipt and action.

Types of SMS text marketing campaigns

There are many types of SMS marketing campaigns, from simple to complex. Here are three of the most effective forms:

1. Promotional SMS marketing campaigns

Promotional SMS marketing campaigns are designed to generate interest in a product or service. They can include discounts, coupons and other special offers. Everyone loves an incentive, and freebies have always been a great way to grab attention and drive more people to your store. This works even better with a compelling call to action (CTA).

Take a look at this SMS marketing example from Jenni Kayne, a fashion brand featuring a personalized coupon code and a direct link to their shop page.

Screenshot of an SMS marketing text from brand Jenni Kayne offering the subscriber 20% off with a code for subscribing to texts.

2. Transactional SMS marketing campaigns

Transactional SMS marketing messages are sent in response to an event or action. These campaigns offer time-sensitive information to the customer, such as appointment reminders, shipping notifications, password resets, or product releases. Because these messages are timely and relevant, they have a high open rate and can effectively drive conversions.

An example of a transactional SMS campaign is an order confirmation from an e-commerce purchase. Here’s an example from Baking Steel that includes order confirmation, tracking information and an unsubscribe option.

Screenshot of an SMS marketing text from brand Baking Steel providing order details and updates to the text subscriber.

3. Conversational SMS marketing campaigns

The major difference between conversational SMS marketing and other conventional SMS marketing methods is that it involves text responses as prompts. This two-way SMS marketing campaign mimics human conversations, with automated back-and-forth responses between your brand and the customer.

Conversational SMS blends natural language processing for lifelike digital chats, combining human agents and automated texts for effective customer engagement and retention.

Benefits of SMS marketing

With 7.3 billion people estimated to have smartphones by 2026, wouldn’t you rather use this to reach your target audience? Here are five benefits of SMS marketing:

1. Reach customers faster

If you have time-sensitive information to share, SMS is the right medium, as 95% of text messages are opened within three minutes of receipt. For example, if you’re running a limited-time offer, you can use SMS to inform your customers.

2. Increase response rates

Unlike other marketing channels, SMS allows you to reach customers directly on their mobile devices, and customers are 134% more likely to respond to an SMS than an email. Because text messages have a much higher response rate, they can keep your customers engaged with your SMS marketing and open opportunities for further offers.

3. Complement other marketing channels

While an SMS marketing strategy is strong on its own, it can also be used to enhance other marketing channels. For example, you could use SMS to promote a contest or sale on social media or increase your email newsletter subscribers. You could also use SMS to remind customers of an upcoming event or webinar to increase signups.

4. Build customer loyalty

SMS marketing can help you build customer loyalty by sending personalized messages and offers to individuals. This is a great way to make your customers feel valued and increase their chances of returning to your business.

5. Increase revenue

SMS marketing platforms can boost revenue by driving traffic to your store or website. You can use SMS messages to promote special sales and events and remind customers to complete their cart purchases. This mobile commerce approach takes advantage of the accessible nature of texts and seamlessly integrates into your brand’s marketing efforts.

6 SMS marketing best practices to follow

Now that we’ve gone over how to do SMS marketing for your business, let’s look at some best practices to get the most out of your campaigns.

1. Only send texts to those who opted in

Only send texts to those who have permitted you to do so. The best way to do this is to include an opt-in form on your website or other online channels.

Even if you have an opt-in, it’s a good idea to send an initial text thanking a new subscriber and asking them to confirm opt-in with a simple reply of “Yes” or “No.” A great example of this is the opt-in message from Flexispot, which states their business name, to alert who is texting before confirming subscriptions to marketing and promotional messages.

Screenshot of an SMS marketing text from brand Flexispot, who opens the text by stating their brand name and asking the recipient to confirm subscription to recurring automated texts.

2. Make it easy for customers to opt-out

Make it easy for customers to stop receiving your texts by including an unsubscribe option. This could be as simple as replying “STOP” or “Unsubscribe” to the text. Opting out of your SMS marketing campaign.

Screenshot of an SMS marketing text from brand Rain City Games, who welcomes subscribers to text alerts and a link to review account details.

3. Identify your brand early

Keep your messages concise. When you have your target audience’s phone number, introduce your brand immediately. This makes recipients more receptive to your message from an unknown number. Start with your brand name, followed by an irresistible offer within the second sentence. Instant brand recognition and brevity are key.

4. Keep messages short and to the point

For SMS marketing success, keep it within the 160-character limit. Eliminate unnecessary content to boost message open rates and clicks. An effective framework for SMS campaigns is usually in this format:

  1. company name
  2. customer name
  3. enticing offer or brand promotion
  4. conditions for opting in
  5. a strong call-to-action, and
  6. an opt-out option

Providing opt-out options makes consumers feel more relaxed since this is presented as a choice, not a requirement. If needed, include a shortened link for additional information.

5. Create a consistent SMS marketing strategy

As with any type of marketing effort, consistency matters. Find the right balance of messages you can send within a reasonable timeline. Don’t overwhelm subscribers with too many messages, but don’t go silent either. Striking this balance keeps your brand relevant without becoming a nuisance.

6. Adhere to privacy laws and regulations

Finally, ensure you comply with Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) privacy laws and regulations for SMS marketing. Obtain express written consent, always include your business name, provide clear terms and conditions, offer an opt-out option during business hours, and respect consumer privacy and rights. Adhering to these regulations saves you from legal issues and protects consumer privacy.

SMS marketing strategies (with examples)

Ready to ramp up your SMS marketing? Here are some creative SMS marketing strategies, along with examples, to get you started:

1. Send welcome messages to new subscribers

Once a customer subscribes to your SMS marketing campaign, send them a welcome message. This will ensure they know they’re subscribed and allow you to engage with them immediately. Plus, it sets the tone for future interactions.

Welcome messages don’t have to be long or complex. A simple “Thank you for subscribing!” will do. You could even include a coupon code or special offer to sweeten the deal.

2. Announce new product releases

Another smart use of SMS advertising is to announce new product releases. Share the excitement with your subscribers to create buzz and re-engage customers who haven’t shopped with you in a while.

You can also drive traffic to your store or website by including a link in your SMS campaign to entice people to check out your latest offering. For example, texting “Check out our new arrivals” with a direct link to your website can boost traffic and give people a reason to visit your site.

3. Follow up on abandoned shopping carts

The average cart abandonment rate for e-commerce businesses is 70.19%. That’s a lot of potential revenue that’s left on the table. SMS marketing can help you recover some of that lost revenue by sending abandoned cart messages to customers who have left items in their online shopping carts.

4. Inform customers when products are back in stock

As a consumer ourselves, it’s frustrating when desired items are out of stock. SMS marketing offers a solution to notify customers when products are back in stock, ensuring they don’t miss out on a restock opportunity. You can also alert customers about similar or related products that may go on sale.

Screenshot of an SMS marketing text from brand IKEA, who sends a product restock notification to a specific product at a specific store location to text subscribers.

5. Collect customer feedback

Customer feedback is essential for business improvement. SMS surveys collect customer feedback quickly and easily. You can create a short survey using tools like Google Forms or SurveyMonkey and send the link via SMS. Or, ask customers to reply with a rating (from one to five) and follow up with those who give a low rating to uncover areas for improvement.

Screenshot of an SMS marketing text from brand Refresh Financial asking the recipient to rate their experience.`

6. Provide text-based customer service

You can use text messages to provide customer service. This is especially useful for businesses with a mobile workforce, like plumbers or delivery drivers.
If a customer needs to get in touch with someone, they can simply send a text rather than making a phone call. This can save the customer time, and it can also be less disruptive for the business.

Here’s an SMS marketing example from U-Haul, which offers customers the opportunity to check in and out via text:

Screenshot of an SMS marketing text from U-Haul alerting the recipient of their rental reservation return time and location.

7. Ask for production or service reviews

Many companies use SMS marketing services to gather reviews about their service or staff. You’ve probably seen this from companies like Uber, asking customers to rate drivers after their ride to get feedback on their experience and identify improvement areas.

According to the Sprout Social Index™, 83% of consumers recommend a brand they follow on social media to friends and family. Consider displaying these reviews on your website, social media pages, and SMS marketing messages.

8. Promote online and in-person events

Promoting your upcoming events through SMS marketing can get people excited and engaged. Your SMS event reminders can include:

  • Date, time and location of your event
  • A CTA to encourage people to buy tickets or sign up
  • A link to your website or event page
  • Details about what attendees can expect
  • Hashtags to promote on social media
  • Emojis to increase engagement

If you have a limited number of spots available, be sure to include an RSVP link in your text so subscribers can reserve their spots right away.

Screenshot of an SMS marketing text from BeachSide CrossFit alerting the recipient of a virtual event and of safety precautions of their gym locations.

9. Start a VIP program

A VIP program encourages loyalty among your customers and subscribers. People love to feel like they’re part of an exclusive group, so make them feel special by offering VIP-only discounts, early access to sales and new products and other benefits.

To promote your VIP program, include a signup link in your SMS messages when customers purchase a product. You can also promote your VIP program on social media, your website or in-store. Use the right SMS marketing service to send relevant messages to different groups within your target audience and increase your conversion rate.

SMS marketing software to try

Rather than spend more time and effort on traditional SMS marketing methods, leverage SMS marketing software to streamline your strategy for greater success. Here are some standout options:

1. Attentive

With an intuitive and easy-to-use interface, Attentive ranks high as an effective SMS marketing software for sending personalized messages to your brand. You can integrate this with your email subscriber list and provide targeted messages for diverse groups.

2. SlickText

Integrate SlickText seamlessly with your brand’s existing software using its global API platform to get the best SMS marketing experience. Overall, this SMS marketing software features core features like text message scheduling, two-way text messaging, analytics and tracking reports for monitoring user engagement.

3. Klaviyo

Say hello to an omnichannel platform with automation and advanced segmentation capabilities. Klaviyo contains specific features that allow you to target specific consumers based on preferences and behavior. You can leverage this to increase conversions, especially with other marketing channels.

4. Birdeye

You don’t have to be technically inclined to use Birdeye. An amazing feature that makes Birdeye stand out is its easy integration with social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. This means you can easily incorporate a visual aspect into your SMS marketing campaign and spread your success across multiple platforms.

Take advantage of SMS marketing

SMS marketing can help you reach your target audience and increase engagement. By marketing to your customers where they are most active, you have a better chance of keeping their attention.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with different types of SMS strategies at the start. Some customers may prefer discounts or deals, while others may be looking for customer service support through order confirmation or shipping updates. By incorporating SMS marketing into your overall marketing efforts, you can further refine and define your social media marketing strategy.

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