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Author: Ashley Andreis

Top 3 Social Media Management Tools

A strong social media presence can help your business in a multitude of ways, but keeping up with posting on multiple social platforms can be a chore. Thankfully, there are social media management tools out there to make the job easier and help you manage every one of your social profiles and pages in one place, so you can spend more time on other aspects of your business. These tools are designed to save you time and help you build an audience.

In this post we compare the top 3 social media management tools, Sprout Social, Buffer, and Hootsuite, if you need help deciding which may be the best fit for you.

What makes a good social media management tool?

Buffer, Sprout Social and Hootsuite all cater to a broad range of social networks. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn – the four most popular social channels are compatible with all 3 of these social media management tools.

People mainly turn to social media management tools for the convenience of scheduling posts which makes it extremely easy and convenient when coordinating multiple campaigns.

Given the ability to schedule and post across all of your social networks at once is going to save you a lot of time- especially when you wear many hats within a business. If the convenience of posting to all of your social accounts at once isn’t enough, you also have the ability to tag locations on Facebook and add hashtags on Instagram posts.

Top 3 social media scheduling tools

  1. Buffer

Buffer is the most straightforward tool to use for scheduling your social media posts and also allows you to measure your performance on social sites, create reports, and gain insights to grow engagement.

Buffer supports the 4 most popular social channels: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and Pinterest updates can be scheduled for pro users.

Buffer is great for collaboration within teams – but only if you are willing to pay for a more expensive plan.

Buffer’s free version includes one user, 3 social media accounts and 10 posts per profile. Their Pro plan is ideal for those who are just getting started. This plan is $15/month and includes one user, up to 8 social accounts and 100 scheduled posts. An option for growing brands would be the Premium package ($65/month) where you can add up to 8 social accounts, schedule 2,000 posts and have 2 users. Now, Buffer has an ideal option for larger teams coming in at $99/month that includes up to 25 social accounts, 2,000 scheduled posts and 6 users on the account.  

  1. Sprout Social

Sprout Social is a great all in one tool for managing and scheduling all of your social media accounts through one platform. 

Sprout Social stands out for its ability to handle team interaction. Several team members can collaborate on drafts and you can distribute permissions or request approval before posts are published. Sprout Social also makes it easy to assign tasks to other team members. Although Sprout Social is the best management tool for team-based social media management, you have to pay the monthly fee per user.

Sprout Social offers a free 30-day trial. After that, prices start at $99/user per month for up to 5 different social profiles. They offer additional plans that include more profiles and features.

  1. Hootsuite

Hootsuite is the best management tool for scheduling as well as analytics. With this tool, you can connect 35 social networks including the top 4 – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. 

If you are looking to make use of the analytics feature, Hootsuite is the tool for you. Hootsuite will help you understand the results generated from your social posts to measure your performance. From there, you can generate reports to use within your organization.

Hootsuite works great for individuals as well as teams. You can assign access to team members and customize permissions for each individual user. You can even assign specific tasks to your team members (like responding to comments or incoming messages), then approve the outgoing responses before they’re sent.

There are 3 different plans available that include unlimited scheduling, where the difference lies in the amount of users and number of social profiles that can be connected. Professional plan allows one user and up to 10 social profiles. Team plan allows 3 users and up to 20 social media profiles. Business plan allows 5-10 users as well as up to 35 social media profiles.

Which social media tool is best for you?

Hoostuite takes the cake at being the all-in-one tool that has the biggest list of compatible networks. It offers more analytical tools that go just beyond scheduling your own posts. The business plans are moderately priced, so if you’re looking to use it within a large organization it’s likely worth it. For no-frills social media management, Buffer is the most straightforward tool that focuses on sharing your posts while it allows for simple team interaction. Buffer is ideal for your typical business that is just getting started and doesn’t have a ton of resources to devote to social media. Sprout Social ranks #1 as it has the best collaborative features of the three but it comes at a premium price point.

5 Social Media Marketing Secrets Nobody Has Told You About

Surely and quickly, social media marketing is becoming one of the most important ways for businesses to reach their target market. But why? 

How does social media provide such incredible benefits? It wasn’t too long ago that social platforms were only used to connect with family & friends.

The truth is, over the past few years, things have changed… A lot! Today, over 90% of marketers have noticed how social media has significantly increased their exposure. And this can only mean 1 thing: if you’re not using social media to your advantage, you’re missing out on an incredible marketing opportunity. 

That in mind, here are 5 “secrets” about social media marketing that no one’s telling you about: 

1. Social Media Marketing can help your SEO

What does social media have to do with search engine optimization? The idea is simple: search engines know which pages on your website are getting traffic and which ones aren’t. This means that, each time your content is shared on social media, traffic will be sent to your website that tells the search engines your website is still relevant, helping you to maintain your rankings or climb faster in the search engine results pages. The more shares you have on social media, the more opportunities people have to see your content and link to it.

2. Social Media helps you know your target market

By taking an interest in your “fans” on social media, you can easily find out who your target market is! By simply looking at their profiles and seeing what other brands they follow, you can learn what products they buy, what their hobbies are and maybe even what they like most about other brands. The more you know about your audience, the better you can market your products or services.

3. A Social Media presence helps you increase your brand awareness

People don’t look at Facebook or Instagram and see a marketing platform. They see a social network! That in mind, the more you interact with everyone, the sooner you can start building a relationship with your audience and grow as a brand. Social media is a great platform for brands to maintain customer relationships, while also having the opportunity to be found by new leads. 

4. Social platforms allow you to target and RE-target to your audience

Did you know you can narrow down your audience on social media and target only your ideal customers? Not only that, but Facebook allows you to retarget your products and services to anyone who was “this close” to becoming your client! If someone visited your website, but left before making a purchase, you can add that person to your list of “almost clients” and deliver your ads to them in the hopes that they convert.

5. Social Media Marketing is cost effective and fair

Did you think you’d have to spend a fortune to market your business on social media? Creating a business profile is free and so is being active. And if you decide to advertise on Social Media, you can always start small if you don’t know what to expect.

One of the best things about social media is that it’s a fair way to market your business. Sure, bigger brands have some advantages like bigger marketing budgets and better name recognition. But everyone can create a social account for free and dedicate their time to engage with their audience.

 

If you need help with social media or even just want it done for you.. contact us at IFTS!

Visit our website for more information!

How To Define Your Target Audience

Marketing isn’t just the practice of placing ads, rather it’s a method of attracting new business. You have to know exactly who you want to target with your marketing – your target audience will not simply be “everyone”. Your task in defining your target group is to identify and understand your particular niche so you can dominate it. 

The better you understand your target market, the easier you’ll be able to target them with relevant content that will stand out. 

In this guide, we’ll walk you through a few steps that will help you to understand who is already interacting with your business (and competitors) and use that information to develop a clear target group.

What is a target market?

A target market is a specific, defined segment of consumers that a company plans to serve with its products or services. These are the people who are most likely to purchase your products or services and have common characteristics such as demographics and behaviors. Identifying your target market is an essential step in the development of products, services, and the marketing efforts used to promote them.

Market segmentation is the process of dividing a market of potential customers into groups, or segments, based on these different characteristics. The segments created are composed of consumers who will respond similarly to marketing strategies and who share traits such as similar interests, needs, or locations.

There are 4 types of market segmentation:

  1. Geographic segmentation –  involves grouping potential customers by country, state, region, city or even neighborhood.
  2. Demographic segmentation – divides a market through variables such as age, gender, education level, family size, occupation, income, and more.
  3. Psychographic segmentation– focuses on the intrinsic traits your target customer possesses. Psychographic traits can range from values, personalities, interests, attitudes, lifestyles, and opinions.
  4. Behavioral segmentation– focuses on specific reactions and the way customers go through their decision making and buying processes. Attitudes towards your brand, the way they use it, and their knowledge base are all examples of behavioral segmentation.

Marketers can use segmentation to prioritize their target audiences. If segmentation shows that some consumers would be more likely to buy a product than others, marketers can better allocate their attention and resources. The purpose of segmentation is that you are able to introduce a more tailored message that will be received successfully. 

What is a target audience?

A “target audience” is more narrow than a “target market”. It refers specifically to the group of consumers targeted by marketing messaging. A target audience is a group of people that has significant potential to respond positively to a brand message. Your target audience may or may not be the end users of your product, but they are the people you plan to direct your marketing to. 

To communicate effectively with your target audience, you need to understand who they are and what their true needs and desires are. 

How to define your target audience

  1. Know the value of your product/service

When identifying your target audience, it is important to determine the features of your product or service. What needs does your product or service fulfill for a potential customer? How does your product or service differ from others in your industry? Is your product more affordable? Is it more effective? These are some things that need to be taken into account before figuring out who will be on the receiving end of your marketing efforts. Think about those who may be interested and who might benefit from your product or service. These are the people that will make up your target audience.

  1. Get to know your existing audience

When trying to figure out who wants to buy from you, a great first step is to identify who is already using your products or services.

How old are they? Where do they live? What do they do for work? What social networks do they use? Do they scroll through their feeds on a mobile device or the computer? These are all questions that you need to be able to answer about your current customers, and once you understand their characteristics, you can go after more people who fit the same mold.

One way to start is by gathering whatever information you have about your existing customers. Some data points that you may want to consider are:

  • Age: This is one area that doesn’t need to be too specific. Whether your average customer is 23 or 27, it won’t really make that much of a difference. Rather knowing which decade of life your customers are in, or their generation can be much more useful.
  • Stage of life: are your customers college students? Parents of young children or teens? Retirees?
  • Interests: what do your customers like to do? What other businesses do they interact with?
  • Location and time zone: Where in the world do your existing customers live? If you’re based in the PST time zone and have followers in the EST and GMT time zones you might find posting at 8 a.m. PST works best because it hits the workday in both other regions. Understanding where your customers are located geographically is so important when deciding what time you should post to ensure best visibility. 
  • Spending patterns: How much money do your current customers have to spend? How do they approach purchases in your price category?
  1. Check in on Your Competition

Now that you have a better idea of who is already interacting with your business, it’s time to dig a little deeper and see who’s engaging with your competitors. 

Looking into who is interacting with your competition can answer some key questions: are you and your competitors both going after the same market segments? Who are they currently targeting? Are they reaching segments you hadn’t thought to consider? 

You won’t be able to get detailed research about the people interacting with your competitors, but you’ll be able to get a general sense of approach they’re taking and whether that is allowing them to create engagement online.

Define your target market and revise as needed. You shouldn’t think of your target market as set in stone. As you learn more about your customers, how you define your target market will most likely change. So, work to understand who your business serves, and why they should care. 

As your business grows, your target audience may change, and finding this specific group of people should be a continual effort.