Amplifying Your Social Media Content in 2022

A few years ago social media was mostly made up of a few static images, a simple status and limited engagement. When MySpace and Facebook were first introduced to the public, we all viewed these platforms as a simple place to chat to friends and family and share our thoughts on a personalized forum. Who would’ve thought that in such a short amount of time we would be able to use a variety of social media platforms to amplify a brand message and make more sales? 

Today, the social media landscape is vast and consists of influencers, videos, creativity, a multitude of platforms and paid advertising options. Social media platforms offer a place for brands to reach their target audience and portray their brand message in a more creative way than ever before. However, the content that brands create is only as valuable as the target audience seeing it. You see, there is nothing more frustrating than spending time and money creating and crafting social media content that is only viewed by a few people or worse - a lot of people who are not in your target market! This is a problem many marketers are facing - so how do you make sure that your content reaches the right audience, at the right time? 

This is where social media content amplification comes into play. Amplification refers to the strategy you use to increase your brand reach and visibility across the social and digital landscape. 

In this article, we take a look at the value of social media content amplification and how you can use this strategy to better your marketing efforts.

It is important to note that social media amplification is on the rise and will need to be a part of your social media marketing strategy for 2022. 

The Value of Social Media Content Amplification

As stated previously, content amplification is about ensuring your content reaches your target audience. The problem is that organic reach on social media is difficult (and that is an understatement). This is because more than half of all social media content posted gets zero shares and a mere .1% of posts are shared more than 1000 times. With this in mind, if you want to get your content seen by the right audience, you need to implement a social media content amplification strategy that reaches across newsfeeds, platforms and target audiences. This is how you will get your brand message across effectively - and reap the real rewards. 

So, how do you create a powerful social amplification strategy for the remainder of 2021 and the beginning of 2022? Let’s take a look. 

Creating a Social Media Content Amplification Strategy in 2021

1. Create an advocacy marketing program

Before we dive into why an advocacy marketing program is a great way to build your brand, let’s take a look at what this concept actually means. To put it simply, advocacy marketing is a form of marketing that makes use of your happiest customers and turns them into enthusiastic advocates for your brand. This is done by encouraging them to share their positive experience with your business through a variety of digital channels - including social media. 

You can create an advocacy marketing program by getting your happiest clients to sign up to receive your latest brand news and give them the opportunity to share this news directly to their personal social media platforms. (This can be done through email newsletters, videos and more). By encouraging your “fans” to share your content you are sure to gain greater reach than by just sharing your content on your personal business social pages. This is because personal social media profiles achieve significantly greater reach than brand-owned social platforms. 

Now, you may be asking yourself what value your advocates get from sharing your content? Once you have identified your ideal candidates, you need to determine what motivates them as clients. For example: are you able to provide them with discounts or coupons in exchange for sharing your content? You see, in order to keep your advocacy program going, your advocates or top fans should be encouraged to share your content and gain value from sharing your content. If you are still unsure of whether or not this kind of content amplification is for you, give it a try and analyze the success of the campaign to decide whether it is working for you, or what needs to be amended going forward.

Take a look at the following KPIs when initiating an advocacy marketing program for your social media content strategy:

• Sharing Rates
• Earned Media Value
• Total Audience Size
• Total Program Reach

Once you understand your KPIs, you are able to determine what it takes to make the most of your advocacy campaign and better your social reach significantly.

2. Invest in social media influencer marketing

Advocacy marketing is different to influencer marketing because a brand advocate will usually reach 500 - a few thousand people while influencer marketing can reach well over 10 000 fans across social networks. Influencer marketing is a new-age way to amplify your social media presence and content and through this strategy, you are ensuring thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of views. 

Today, social media influencers are celebrities and beloved by their audience on their particular social channels. These are people who have built a reputation and are viewed as a trusted source of online information. With this in mind, when an influencer shares your brand on their platform, you can be sure that a large portion of their followers will end up sharing that same content. This means greater reach, increased brand awareness and of course, more sales. 

Choosing to work or partner with an influencer can be tricky and it is important to keep the following in mind:

• An influencer is an ongoing partner who can amplify your content over a long period of time
• Influencers expect some sort of compensation for their efforts
• Make sure to track the success of your influencer campaigns and report on how they have been driving traffic and sales. This is not only about content reach and engagement - you want to see results. You can do this by using unique URL UTM codes to track campaign success. 

At the end of the day, whether you like or loathe influencers, they are quickly becoming an important part of brand marketing and are not going away anytime soon and it is important to jump on this opportunity before your competitors do. 

3. Make use of multiple social media platforms

This should go without saying but some businesses have remained “stuck” in the social media landscape. It is important that businesses don’t become stuck and investigate the multiple social media content distribution channels that are available to them and their target audience. Today, the most popular social media platforms are: Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Snapchat. Of course, you don’t have to create a presence across every single platform - you need to be present where your target audience is present.

Amplification is about making as much social “noise” as possible and by publishing your content on a variety of platforms you are increasing your brand exposure online. Again, you don’t want to waste your time on platforms that do not align with your business, so do the relevant research. For example: if you cater to a Gen-Z audience, Facebook and LinkedIn may not be the platforms for you. However, TikTok and Twitter and some smaller platforms such as Reddit and Discord may offer powerful social media reach. 

But the key is to not stay stuck (especially as we head into 2022)- experiment, share and reach your audience where they are present and active. 

4. Look into native social media advertising platforms

Today social media platforms offer advertising opportunities to brands. Whether through promoted posts, pre-roll video ads or sponsored content, you have the opportunity to reach your social media audience through paid advertising. 

Paid social media advertising should be incorporated into your social media content amplification strategy, but make sure to keep the best practices in mind:

• Promote content in a way that supports the buyer's journey and sales funnel. This means that your promoted content should have a strong call to action, be it through website links or lead forms, for example. Remember, you want to use promoted posts to see a return on investment. This isn't just about likes and shares.
• Make sure that your promoted posts are aimed at your ideal target audience. Promoted posts give you the opportunity to select your ideal audience through demographics, likes, and online behaviors. This will help you cut through the noise and reach your ideal audience. 
• You can also use promoted posts for remarketing purposes (that is, you can reach leads you already have in your database). This means you can create posts to help guide a lead through the sales funnel while keeping your brand top of mind at all times. 

Paid ads can be cost-effective when implemented correctly. And when you place emphasis on tracking your ads, you are sure to see a greater return on investment. 

The Wrap Up

The social media landscape has changed since its inception and continues to evolve with the times. But one thing is for certain - brand social media content matters and you need to amplify your content to get the best results. And this is especially important for 2022. 

If you are ready to begin amplifying your social media content, we are here to help. Contact the Nexa digital marketing and social media experts today or fill in the form below.

Don't get left behind in 2022! Time to amplify!