Social Media and Content Marketing: Better Together
Let’s get one thing sorted straight away: content marketing and social media marketing do not have to be mutually exclusive.
We’ve even given it a name: social synergy.
Ahh, now doesn’t that have a nice ring to it?
Since we’re throwing out this fancy alliteration, allow us to define it for you. Social synergy refers to the phenomenon that, when two different forms of marketing are married together, they actually have the potential to increase the magnitude of overall performance.
This is due in part to the fact that content and social media have similar functional objectives.
Content marketing is an umbrella term that includes different styles of educational and entertaining content, meant to spark interest amongst a targeted audience. Think: blog posts, newsletters, infographics, etc.
Social media offers the opportunity to curate and post visual content in a way that allows you to engage with your social following with the goal of creating a memorable experience with your brand.
Although the style differs on the surface, this pair fulfills complimentary consumer needs. Let's take a dive into the science at play here.
The Common Goal
At first glance, social media and content marketing may not strike you as you comparable platforms. After all, they both materialize and reach the consumers in different ways.
However, when you step back and analyze the motivations behind these two formats, the similarities start to make themselves known.
Commonality 1: Value to the Consumer
On a basic level, the subject matter should fall in line with the interests of the intended audience. There is nothing worse than clicking on an article or content piece that seems interesting, only to find that the content is shallow and dull. Always focus on providing as much value as you can for your customer in all of your content marketing. This encourages the likelihood that a post will generate more meaningful engagement amongst the individuals that matter the most.
But, it goes deeper than that.
Content and social media strategy should provide more value than mere aesthetics. Whether it’s a post intended to educate the consumer on a meaningful issue or its focus is on selling a product that will benefit the user, this created value serves as the core motivation behind both content and social.
Looking at it from this perspective, doesn’t it make sense to combine two forms of marketing that are looking to achieve similar objectives? (The answer is yes).
Commonality #2: Accessibility
Social media and content marketing platforms are arguably the most accessible outlets for any business trying to reach their customers.
In most cases, users are actively searching for the value created by these two forms of marketing -- either via a search engine or taking a scroll down their social feed.
When it comes to interacting with consumers from these platforms, this means that a notable percentage of this traffic is already warmed up to what you can provide for them. As a result, content pieces and social campaigns are hotbeds for driving leads.
If your content strategy and social strategy are both aligned, this essentially doubles the amount of potential exposure that your business can receive from highly valuable traffic.
More exposure = More leads = More success for your business
Commonality #3: Intended Audience
More often than not, social media and content marketing are set up in a way that targets a similar pool of consumers. While your strategy may pivot slightly across platforms, chances are, it’s still tailored to the unique needs of your audience.
Under this assumption, aligning your content and social efforts will likely yield success across your cross-channel audiences. After all, you’re providing valuable content to them, just on a different platform.
Since we’re discussing the similarities between the two, it’s important to acknowledge that each platform has its own unique strengths. While these differences don’t overrule the other, it something that needs to be considered as you prepare to plan out your social synergy.
The Advantages of Social Media
Full Control of Voice
As the account owner, you have full control of the style of content that you decide to post; you choose the visuals that get curated, you get to pick the tone of your brand’s voice, you’re in charge of the brand image that you’d like to create.
In a world increasingly dominated by social media, the impact your account makes is an important first impression. It’s more than just aesthetics; to the individuals viewing your page, it’s a glimpse into the identity behind your brand.
Close Audience Contact
Social media creates a unique opportunity to engage with your audience on a personal level. No longer are they kept away at an arm's length but are experiencing your brand right alongside you.
This enables you to build meaningful relationships with your followers and stay in line with what they value the most. In addition, these platforms allow you to directly solicit valuable feedback in real time.
Cater to the Masses
These days, everyone and their mother... and father, and grandpa, and sometimes even the dog have a social media account. By sheer numbers alone, for most businesses, this is often the platform that has the largest audience.
With more people around to view your content, this naturally leads to a much higher rate of exposure.
The Advantages of Content Marketing
Ability to Go More In-Depth
There’s no character limit when it comes to content marketing. This platform provides a canvas to expand upon ideas and draw conclusions in a way that isn’t possible with other styles of marketing.
Since content is more substantive, this allows your business to delve into deeper meanings and create a more valuable experience for your audience.
Opportunity to Create Open Dialogue
Content allows you to discuss more complex topics with the individuals engaging with your brand, often possessing great meaning to the people you are conversing with.
In addition to helping build rapport with your audience, this can also present itself as a learning opportunity for your business. Through an open dialogue, you can gain a deeper understanding of the beliefs these individuals possess and tailor your strategy accordingly.
Tracking Performance Metrics
There are less random factors when it comes to tracking the performance of content. Since the post is positioned in a very specific way (ie: on a blog, as an infographic, etc.), it’s much easier to draw trends that can often be obscured on social platforms.
Having this clear cut picture will enable you to draw more meaningful conclusions in terms of what your audience responds well to and what could, ultimately, yield a more valuable return.
How to Align them Successfully
Okay, so let’s review: we’ve defined social synergy, discussed what makes content and social so similar, and extrapolated on the unique advantages of each. All that’s left to do is discuss how to actually make them work together in a way that is successful.
As we’ve discussed, content and social marketing have their own unique strengths. Your goal is to maximize the effect of your strategy by utilizing the strengths of one to make up for the weaknesses of another.
In order to combine social and content successfully, it’s up to you to map out the roles that social and content play in the user experience.
For example, let’s say you want to make a post supporting local business. In this situation, you can create a two-part strategy that uses both social and content to make a deeper impact.
On social media, you could reshare a post from a local brand that, not only falls in line with your account’s branding, but also is an account that falls in line with your followers’ interests. While the social post can be light-hearted and witty, social synergy can be incorporated to make the post more impactful.
Once the post is on social, you can link back to a blog post that explains the greater purpose behind supporting small business. Since this form of content is more long form, you have the liberty to convince your followers on why they should find this topic important, in addition to sharing your favorite local shops or tips to support small.
By using a two-part approach, this synergistic approach fills in the gaps where the other has holes. The final result is a user experience that is dynamic, engaging, and memorable. \
This is probably the most clear cut method of social synergy. But, with a little thinking outside of the box, you’ll start to see where this strategy can fit in best with your business.
Say you’re trying to expand your newsletter list and your stream of leads has dried up. This would be an excellent opportunity to tap into your social audience.
As we’ve discussed above, the users interacting with your social accounts would, more likely than not, find value in subscribing to your newsletter - they may simply be unaware that it’s out there.
In this instance, you could create a Instagram story campaign that includes a swipe up link to a landing page that prompts the user to sign up for the newsletter.
Not only would you make this other audience aware of relevant content that they would enjoy, but you are making the journey down the funnel incredibly convenient for them. The same thinking can be applied when it comes to social advertising.
For this example, let’s say that you’re putting out valuable, meaningful content. You’ve done your homework on social synergy and have gotten your followers in the loop. But, you’re looking to get more exposure.
Enter, social advertising.
Now that Facebook and Instagram have linked up, it’s become easier than ever to generate new target audiences that have a potential interest in what you’re offering. They’re called “lookalike audiences.”
Lookalikes are fairly simple to build out - Facebook takes into consideration the demographics, interests, and purchase behavior of your current followers, throws it into a fancy algorithm and creates a new audience that looks just like the followers you already. See what they did there?
So, back to the example. Say you have a free, downloadable PDF that your current followers are loving. Based on the positive feedback, you could create a lookalike based upon this audience and feel confident that your social ads would perform well.
Better yet, since you integrated a synergistic approach at the beginning of the buyer journey, your new audience of followers will not only have contributed to the success of your PDF, but are also much more involved with your brand. This makes them much more likely to stick around for a while and continue to engage with your content across channels.
Look at you go ;)
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