The Beginner's Guide To Social Media Marketing v.1

The beginner's guide
to social media
marketing
articulatemarketing.com
Table of contents
The proof is in the pudding 4
Inform your strategy 6
Share your content 11
Share other people’s content 17
Stand out 21
Be human 30
Analyse, make changes, repeat 34

The proof is in the
pudding
After over a year-and-a-half of experimentation, we’ve
created a simple strategy that works. The results speak for
themselves:
Start of April 2015
300 Twitter followers
100 website visits per

month from social
media
End of October 2016
4,500 Twitter followers
4,000 website visits per

month from social
media
Want the same for your business? Read on.
PAGE 4 | THE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

Inform your strategy
Some businesses dive right into social media and attempt to
strike it lucky on every platform available. The problem is, just
like any form of marketing, you can’t succeed on social media
without a solid strategy.
Before you jump in, you need to think carefully about where
you post, your tone of voice and how often you share your
content. So don’t share anything just yet.
Know your persona
If you’re unsure what a buyer persona is: familiarise yourself.
They’re a very important part of your marketing strategy.
Buyer personas (sometimes referred to
as marketing personas) are fictional, generalized
representations of your ideal customers. Personas help
us all -- in marketing, sales, product, and services --
internalize the ideal customer we’re trying to attract,
and relate to our customers as real humans.
- Hubspot
For more information on personas, see here.

Put yourself in their shoes
Once you have a better idea about the process, consider the
following questions:
How busy are your personas? Do they
have time for content-heavy platforms
such as Tumblr or Google+? If not, Twitter
(with its bite-size content) might be a
better place to reach them. Or perhaps
a more visual social media platform, such
as Instagram or Pinterest.
Where are they most likely to spend their
time? A sociable, family-and-friends
loving persona is likely to spend their time
on Facebook, but don’t assume that this
social network is strictly for consumer
brands. Facebook is also a great platform
for B2B companies to network and find
potential customers.

What form of content do they want?
If you’re trying to target a CEO of a
business, a more formal and business-
orientated platform like LinkedIn might
be more suitable. If your business can
share lots of interesting images
that will attract your customers, you’ll
want to use Instagram and Pinterest,
which are especially effective for B2C
organisations.
When are they likely to be active? Test
different publishing times and see which
time frame is the most active. This is a
hard question to answer before you start
sharing, but make sure you experiment
with different times and see when you’re
getting the best results.

Choose your channels
You don’t need to post content to every single social network
out there. Social media marketing across multiple networks
can take up far more time than you might think, so figure out
which ones work best for your personas and focus on those.
For guidance, we’ve honed our social media efforts to four
platforms to reach different personas:
TWITTER
FA C E B O O K
LINKEDIN

Share your content
The ultimate aim of social media marketing is to direct people
onto your website where you can convert them into leads
and customers. In order to do that, you need to create and
share your own content.
Start a blog
If you haven’t already got a blog, you’ll need to create one. It’s
the backbone of any basic social media strategy.
• Post informative content on your blog.
• Share blog posts on social media to link people to your
website.
That’s the strategy in a nutshell, but we’re not going into
depth here. If you want more details of how to make your
website marketing run on autopilot, read our complete guide
to website marketing.

Share away
Every social media platforms is, well, social. But they’re social
in different ways. Because they differ in format and purpose,
they each have their own unique ‘marketing rules’.
Let’s have a look at the top three social platforms and how
you should post to them:
Facebook
• Aim to share two pieces of your content
per week on Facebook.
• Use two hashtags at the end of each
post text to link it to the relevant
subject area.
• Re-share your posts to make sure
they get seen. We re-share a piece
of content two months after we first
promoted it, using a different piece of
text promotion, so that we don’t look
like spammy robots.

Twitter
• As Twitter is such a fast, pithy social
network, you can generally post as often
as you’re able to. After all, it’s much
harder to catch the attention of your
audience on their fast paced feeds. We
share three to four of our own pieces of
content per week.
• Use at least two hashtags and add ‘by
@yourtwitterhandle’ to make sure any
re-tweets are directing people to your
Twitter feed.
• You can also re-share your content
more on this social media platform,
because only a small percentage of your
followers will see each individual post.
We share a post six times on Twitter
with three different promotion texts
to mix it up. We also try to use three
different images.

LinkedIn
• LinkedIn is much less tolerant of spam
than Twitter. We aim to make sure that
we share only two of our pieces of
content here per week.
• We still re-share posts up to a total of
four shares, but we make sure to write
different promotion text for each share
and space them out to avoid spam.
Whether you want to follow a similar schedule to ours or not,
make sure you don’t post too little or too much.
You want to be a reliable, constant source for your audience,
but you also don’t want to annoy them or clog up their
newsfeeds. When scheduling out re-shares, make sure you
wait at least a week between each re-post. Trust me; no one
wants to see the same post on Facebook four times in a
week.

Use scheduling applications
No one is motivated enough to remember, rework and
schedule every single social post. You’d have to set multiple
alarms every few hours and keep every social media tab open
constantly. Let’s face it: that would be annoying. Thus, you’ll
be better off using a scheduling application like CoSchedule
or Buffer.
Scheduling apps allow you to easily manage your social posts,
apply templates and create an editorial calendar. These
calendars are handy if you want to make sure that you don’t
go a day without posting content.

Share other
people’s content
Why would you do that? After all the whole point of social
media marketing is to get people to your website, right?
Right. But sharing other people’s content is a proven way of
increasing the number of people that go to your website.
Content curation
Sharing other people’s content on social media is called
content curation.
It’s best explained by a hypothetical scenario. Say you’re a
marketing agency and buyer personas want help with social
media marketing, here’s what you’d do:
You search Feedly and Alltop to find useful,
popular advice on the topic.

You find one of the articles genuinely useful
and share it via twitter including the relevant
hashtags and attributing the original author of
the content by mentioning their twitter handle;
@Social.
A few people see your post when searching
#socialmedia and share it because they enjoyed
the article. Since they appreciate your taste in
content, they also decide to follow your Twitter
account.
Meanwhile, @Social gets a notification
on Twitter because they see that you’ve
‘mentioned’ them. They want to make sure
you share their content again. They navigate
to your Twitter page and re-tweet a post you
shared earlier in the day promoting one of your
own blog articles.
An article from your blog has now been
shared to all of @Social’s followers. Nice!

The more businesses you curate from, the larger your
potential audience becomes. So, by helping out your
customers by providing them with helpful content from
credible sources, you’re also helping your marketing strategy
and reach.
A ShareThis study suggested that 31 percent of website
referrals are from the social sharing of your content. If
content curation can improve the chances of other people
sharing your own content, it’s well worth doing.
How often?
There is a lot of differing opinion on how much of your own
content you should share compared to other peoples.
We aim to follow a 4:1 ratio. That’s four posts from curated
posts to every one of yours. That might sound like a lot, but
it’s a big part of our winning formula.

Stand out
By now you’re probably thinking, ‘That’s great, but what if I
spend time sharing all this content and no-one sees it?’
Well, that’s where our ninja social media tactics come in.
Use images
Images are a sure way to direct attention to your social media
content. No matter which platform you use, it’s vital that
you include images with your social posts. Images help your
content stand out amongst the crowd.
They also make your content easier to read. Think about it:
how often have you read something because the image next
to it caught your eye? It’s scientifically proven that content
is more attractive when an image is included. It’s also much
easier to remember; you’re 55 percent more likely to retain
a piece of information if there’s an accompanying image.

There are many forms of images you can choose.
• Use relevant images. This goes without saying, but it’s
important to remember. If you’re social post is about IT
security, promoting it with an image of a kitten probably
isn’t the best idea. It’s necessary to use relevant images
because they help to drive interest to your content.
Research shows that people are 94 percent more likely
to view your content if it contains a relevant image, so
start being picky with the images you choose. There are
many free sites that allow you to download copyright-free
images, such as stocksnap.io.

• Create infographics. If you have some nice statistics
you want to show off, try to create a visually appealing
infographic to draw attention to them. These tend to
be very shareable images on social media. Sites such as
Canva allow you to create infographics for free.
• Comics/memes. Be funny! Social network users love
sharing funny, relatable content. If you can find an
entertaining comic or meme that relates to your topic,
there’s no harm in using it. Or, create your own unique
memes using a meme generator.
• Videos. Alternatively, try to create short and shareable
videos to post to your social network accounts. These can
be ‘how-to’ videos, live videos or short educational videos
that could be of use to your followers.
Find more copyright-cleared image sources here.

You’re 80% more likely to
read a piece of content if it
contains colourful visuals.
PAGE 24
4 | | THE
THEBEGINNER’S
BEGINNER’SGUIDE
GUIDETO
TOSOCIAL
SOCIALMEDIA
MEDIAMARKETING
MARKETING
Keep it short and punchy
We have very short attention spans. To be precise, our
attention spans are only eight seconds long.
Because of the ever-growing accessibility of mobile
information, we now desire short and consumable content
that we can read quickly. That’s what makes social media so
addictive – we can read a limitless amount of new content at
the click of a button, whenever we like.
Unfortunately, this means that it’s much easier for people to
completely miss or skim-over your social content in favour of
reading something else. You can’t let that happen. Give your
audience what they want and create content that’s easy to
consume and checks all the right boxes.

• Write concise sentences. Short and simple works best
when you want to grab someone’s attention on a social
post. Don’t write lengthy posts with unattractive ‘see
more’ buttons; tell your audience what they’re going to
get quickly and they’ll choose whether they want to click
on your content or not.
• Use short, easy words. Replace complex words with
simpler ones: they’re much easier to read. Plus, there’s
nothing worse than having to research a definition of a
word half way through a text.
Read here about how you can create content worthy of the
share button
Hook the reader
We’ve already discussed the difficulty of attracting attention
on social media. That’s why you need to make sure you hook
the reader and stand out from the crowd:
• Give instructions. People respond to
being told what to do. Imperative verbs
are very persuasive, so if you use these
verbs at the beginning of your posts,
you’ll grab the attention of your readers
from the get-go. For example, instead
of writing ‘Here are some helpful social
media marketing tips’, try ‘Use these
helpful social media marketing tips’.
• Ask questions. If you begin a social
post with a rhetorical question, the
chances are it’ll entice, or influence,
your followers to think about your
chosen topic. This will encourage them
to investigate further and read your
content.

• Demonstrate the value. We like being
told why something is useful to us. Try
to demonstrate how your blog post,
webinar or other piece of content will
be valuable to your audience.
• Show your statistics. Numbers are very
consumable. People enjoy seeing clear,
believable and proven facts. They help
to build the credibility of your content.
• Quote. Using a quote from a popular
personality or influential person can
grab the interest of your readers.
To learn how to make your writing more memorable, read our
blog on writing with anecdotes.

Be human
People like to talk to people, not spam bots. Thus, it’s critical
that you try to breathe some life into your social network
accounts.
Engage in real conversations
Human responses on Twitter are especially important. In
a recent study, it was found that only 50 percent of UK
companies respond to mentions. If you leave queries or
messages without responses, you can upset your leads and
customers and destroy brand trust.
For example, in 2013 the Bank of America sent a stream of
automated Twitter responses to customers who had genuine
concerns and queries. These responses were off-point and
didn’t serve any real purpose (apart from making them look
like uncaring robots).

To help avoid falling into the same situation, follow these
helpful human tips:
• Don’t use automated responses. It’s very frustrating to
reach out to a business and receive a robotic response.
Like the example above, if these automatic and robotic
responses aren’t genuine enough, you could run the risk
of losing leads and customers.
• Respond ASAP. Not every Facebook comment or tweet
requires a response, but the more you can engage
with your leads and customers, the better. Try to listen
intently, personalise your responses and be as helpful and
informative as you can.

• Use your buyer’s language. People like it when you talk in
a language that they can understand. Don’t use technical
jargon that they can’t relate to: it’ll put them off. Instead,
opt for helpful, simple language that engages your
readers.
Read here about the importance of being human

Analyse, make
changes, repeat
Before you can put your social media strategy into action,
you’ll need to take a step back and set yourself some SMART
goals. These are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant
and Timely goals. In other words, you need to be clear about
what you’re aiming for. For example, a SMART goal would be
‘to gain 50 followers by the end of x week’.
Set some KPIs (key performance indicators) to help you
measure your social media success. These can be your
audience growth, the number of clicks to your site, the
amount of social shares and the number of leads/customers
generated from your social media profiles. Keep track of your
numbers to see whether you’re reaching your targets or not.

Don’t be afraid to make changes to your social media
marketing strategy. These changes can be as small as
shortening your written content on Facebook or as big as
trying out a new social network. Make a note of what works,
what doesn’t and optimise your social media marketing
strategy to suit your business.
Just remember: social media marketing takes time. Unless
you’re as famous as Beyoncé, the chances are you aren’t
going to gain a million followers in a week. But that doesn’t
mean that you should be discouraged– if you put in the time
and effort, social media will help you grow your business.

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The beginner's guide

The proof is in the pudding 4

Inform your strategy 6

Share your content 11

Share other people’s content 17

Analyse, make changes, repeat 34

created a simple strategy that works. The results speak for

Start of April 2015

300 Twitter followers

100 website visits per

End of October 2016

4,500 Twitter followers

4,000 website visits per

Want the same for your business? Read on.

PAGE 4 | THE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

strike it lucky on every platform available. The problem is, just

like any form of marketing, you can’t succeed on social media

without a solid strategy.

content. So don’t share anything just yet.

Know your persona

If you’re unsure what a buyer persona is: familiarise yourself.

They’re a very important part of your marketing strategy.

Buyer personas (sometimes referred to

as marketing personas) are fictional, generalized

representations of your ideal customers. Personas help

us all -- in marketing, sales, product, and services --

internalize the ideal customer we’re trying to attract,

and relate to our customers as real humans.

For more information on personas, see here.

How busy are your personas? Do they

have time for content-heavy platforms

such as Tumblr or Google+? If not, Twitter

(with its bite-size content) might be a

better place to reach them. Or perhaps

a more visual social media platform, such

Where are they most likely to spend their

time? A sociable, family-and-friends

loving persona is likely to spend their time

on Facebook, but don’t assume that this

social network is strictly for consumer

brands. Facebook is also a great platform

for B2B companies to network and find

PAGE 7 | THE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

If you’re trying to target a CEO of a

business, a more formal and business-

orientated platform like LinkedIn might

be more suitable. If your business can

share lots of interesting images

that will attract your customers, you’ll

want to use Instagram and Pinterest,

which are especially effective for B2C

When are they likely to be active? Test

different publishing times and see which

time frame is the most active. This is a

hard question to answer before you start

sharing, but make sure you experiment

with different times and see when you’re

getting the best results.

PAGE 8 | THE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

You don’t need to post content to every single social network

out there. Social media marketing across multiple networks

For guidance, we’ve honed our social media efforts to four

platforms to reach different personas: