Finding the right balance for your social media campaign in the constantly changing world of shifting demographics is challenging. The rules and recommendations that prevailed pre-pandemic may no longer be the right match for your arts business or non-profit.
In a marketing landscape that was once dominated by Facebook, the world of social media has been steadily tilting toward aggressive “newcomers.” To increase and maintain engagement, you can not rely on what worked for you last year, or in the recent past. Take some time to review your social media calendar and critically assess when and why you are posting, and how you can include the standard “old-timers” with potentially advantageous new options.
Stay Focused on Your Industry & Audience
It is important to periodically ask yourself why you are using social media and who you want to attract, then create your posting strategy in an effort to further those goals. Do not post just for the sake of posting. While there are recommended formulas for how many times a day or week a business should post on each platform, different types of businesses interact with their followers on very different terms.
For example, a retail business that sells jeans to a young demographic should post often and creatively across all platforms, to engage their followers and enthusiastically entice them to BUY NOW! But an arts-focused business should curate their postings the same way they curate their art by focusing on quality, not quantity.
A Few Simple Scheduling Tips
Plan Ahead: All of the experts recommend making a social media calendar and sticking to it. By ensuring that what you want to promote, when you want to promote it is scheduled well in advance, you will be better positioned to maintain consistency and engagement.
Dates: When scheduling the dates and times of your posts, remember not to post on the date of a major holiday – especially sentimental ones like Mother’s Day when attention is not being paid to business but rather – mothers! On Mother’s Day, Instagram is bursting with mom and kid images, and your post about an upcoming exhibit or performance will get lost among the millions of posts of toothless smiling babies.
Timing: The time of day you post can matter too. Be mindful when your followers are likely paying the most attention to their devices. One helpful tip from marketing experts is not to post around “rush hour.” The end of any workday typically finds your followers, too busy, too distracted, or too tired to happily engage.
Knowing who your followers are and what they want, will help you stay relevant but not redundant. The decision to “unfollow” can be caused by any number of variables, but at the top of the list is over-posting. Posting too much can dilute your messaging and quite simply be annoying. It’s important to have a large and loyal following for when it really matters. Don’t risk driving followers away when you will need them to pay attention and show up for the big performances, gallery openings, debuts, holiday sales, and fundraisers
Consistency is the key to social marketing success. Endeavor to maintain a rhythm that your followers like and expect. Don’t lapse and become lazy. Stay vigilant and active. If your social media feeds become dormant and dusty or wildly inconsistent, having a social media account can actually work against you.
Where To Next?
One of the best things you can do to increase the scheduling effectiveness of your social marketing campaign is to STAY CURRENT. Set aside time to google! Stay on top of the trends. Read and research what the industry pundits are reporting and predicting and adjust your scheduling accordingly. As Facebook continues its decline, Tiktok is meteoric – expanding into multiple markets and surprising demographics.
Tiktok
According to The Economist:
Tiktok is not just for lip-syncing teenagers. The video-sharing app, best known for viral dances and trends, recently hit 1bn monthly active users. And it did so at a record pace. It took Facebook roughly nine years to hit the billion-user mark, around eight for Instagram and seven for each of YouTube and Whatsapp. TikTok, launched in 2016, managed to reach the milestone in just five years.
And, recent studies reveal that more than 30% of Tiktok users are over the age of 40!
Tiktok wants your marketing business and has an established, innovative, and constantly evolving Business Division geared at assisting newcomers to Tiktok. The sharp visual appeal of videos could be the perfect match for your arts-focused business. Should you be on board?
WhatsApp
And, quickly and steadily gaining ground in the social media arena is WhatsApp. As of 2021, WhatsApp is the most popular global mobile messenger app worldwide with approximately two billion monthly active users, outranking Facebook Messenger at 1.3 billion and WeChat at 1.2 billion users. Following Facebook and YouTube, it is the third most popular social network worldwide.
With its extensive social features, including messaging, profile creation, photo/video sharing, status updates, stories, and more, WhatsApp is definitely categorized as a social media platform. How can WhatsApp help your business?
In Conclusion
The social media strategy that worked for you in the past, might not be the best formula now, or in the near future. Social media platforms are constantly competing for followers by promoting new services and features to attract wider audiences. While there will always be tried and true recommendations for targeting your specific audience, the fast and furious race to attract and engage followers demands that you stay abreast of social media’s most current tactics and trends or risk getting left behind.
ARTS SPARK is a division of IMC, Interactive Media Consulting, LLC a full-service website and digital marketing firm located in Saratoga Springs, NY. Services include website design and programming (including eCommerce database and custom software integrations), branding, content creation, print collateral materials, and hosting.