Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Flipboard 2 The social media marketing landscape has matured and become very complex over the years, and 2016 will prove to be especially challenging for business owners and marketers. I have compiled the top five questions I was recently asked as a social media speaker at an industry conference and am sharing my answers with you to ensure that you arm your own social teams with what they need to succeed in 2016. TOP FIVE SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING QUESTIONS FOR 2016 1. What social media tactics will not be effective in 2016? The benefits of advertising on social as a SMB have changed. For example, if you’re used to having a $500 budget per quarter, that’s not going to cut it anymore. CPMs and CPCs have risen dramatically, so you will need to increase your advertising budget to get the same results because social networks are favoring bigger advertisers. Example: on LinkedIn, I saw a Peapod ad in my feed because they’re trying to target business owners for catering. This is something Stop & Shop has never done before, so it’s interesting to see advertisers trying new things in social media marketing. 2. What can I do to improve Facebook page performance in terms of content? Do I need to invest in boosted page posts, or do I need to change my content strategy? The answer is not simple and anyone who says otherwise is lying. There are multiple reasons why your content isn’t driving engagement. One big reason is that you’re being too self-promotional. A consistent stream of self-promotional content will only reach your most loyal fans. Even if you boost this type of content, it’s not going to increase reach by much as you will still be reaching the followers that are already engaged. Boosting could work if you focus on an offer but not for a regular post. When your page performance stagnates, you need to reconsider your content strategy, execution, and audience. Your current strategy is probably incomplete, and therefore, you can’t execute it properly. Your social media marketing audience includes your target audience, current customers, influencers, and the media—remember you need to create content and serve all types. 3. What is the best way to build a good following? The best way to build a following is to have a follower strategy. Follow your peers, coworkers, and immediate network. Social media marketing is about listening, so ask yourself: “Whom should I follow?” “Whom do I care about?” “Who are my influencers on social media?” If you get your admirers to admire and follow you on social media, they will be your best advocates and worth so much more to you than buying followers. 4. What about influencers? What role do they have in my overall strategy? Be mindful of your budget. Having a program that utilizes influencers is very beneficial. However, the known influencers in every industry know this and they are expensive. So first, you need to envision how you can utilize an influencer. Would they be part of an ad campaign? For example, I was involved with the team that supported TigerDirect’s launch of the Kevin O’Leary “Ask Kevin” campaign. TigerDirect hired him to produce a series of videos where he would answer questions in a series of videos for IT managers. They had a plan to use Kevin as an influencer in a campaign that complemented their IT product sales. They had a digital marketing strategy to use the influencer instead of just paying and praying. The other route is to find targeted influencers that support specific audiences that don’t cost that much money. Talk to your agency to find other options and see whom they already work with. An example is my agency working with specific influencers in the video game and music market (and they don’t charge an arm and a leg!). 5. How can I bring in more business with social media in 2016? I call 2016 “The Age of Individualism.” It’s going to be all about building yourself up as a social brand. Because if you can build yourself up as an influencer, you will have inherent value as an audience. So you must assess yourself as a leader and your market position and develop a plan to make your brand strong. You can read all about Social Branding or Personal Branding Online in my Blog, where I provide tips and examples of powerful personal business brands. These are just five of the ways you can begin to arm yourself and your Social Media Marketing teams for success in 2016. Social Media Marketing is ripe with business development and marketing opportunities for you if you have the right strategy and tactics. Feel free to ask me any questions here in the comments section. I am happy to answer and best of luck with your social media marketing programs for 2016. MENG is the indispensable community of executive level marketers who share their passion and expertise to ensure each member’s success. Learn more — Apply for Membership Twitter Tweet Facebook Share Email This article originally appeared on MENG Blend and has been republished with permission.Find out how to syndicate your content with B2C Author: Jay Leonard Jay is a UK-based cryptocurrency expert, specialising in fundamental analysis and medium to long term investments. Jay has a great deal of hands-on experience in analysing financial markets and performing technical analysis. Jay is currently focusing on the institutional adoption of cryptocurrency and what it means for the future of … View full profile ›More by this author:Cameo CEO Steven Galanis Wallet Hacked – $231k Worth of NFTs StolenMastercard CFO sees Growth Opportunities in CryptoMarvin Inu Trending on Twitter – Is Tamadoge Next to Pump?