20 Social Media Marketing Tips from the Experts

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2018 is the year when social media marketing will become a more pivotal strategy than it ever was. One reason for this is the change in the decision-making process of consumers, particularly among millennials. One study shows that 70% of millennials base their decision to buy a product based on recommendations made by their peers – particularly on social media.

Social media changes constantly. And, with the recent update to the Facebook newsfeed algorithm (again limiting how often your brand’s content is shown to Fans), it’s critical that you know what works, what doesn’t, and how to get the results you expect.

That’s why I’ve put together a list of 20 social media marketing tips that you can immediately apply.

From Guy Kawasaki to Mari Smith, Gary Vaynerchuk, Sunny Lenarduzzi, and many more, the social media tips you’ll read here come from some of the most successful social media thought-leaders out there.

These inspiring men and women have not only built thriving enterprises online but have earned that much-deserved title of social media influencers.

Our friends over at Venngage have created an awesome infographic which gives you all these social media tips. Check it out by clicking on this text.

Common Takeaways

While they may share different points-of-view, they also agree in a lot of social media marketing best practices. In fact, many of them share similar pieces of advice.

Here are some of the takeaways they share:

  • Videos are a must for social media marketing. With videos expected to receive 80% of internet traffic in the next four years, it’s only logical to start incorporating these into your social media marketing campaigns.
  • Even if you use social media automation tools for your campaigns, don’t get tempted to be on every social media network. Focusing on a handful of social media sites is the best way to go to reach your goals quickly.
  • Mix up your content by incorporating photos and even good old-fashioned texts. Not only will this bring diversity and keep your audience guessing on what you’ll be giving them next, but also ensures that you are providing them content that they’ll appreciate.
  • Quality content is (still) king. Even if you post excellent videos and beautiful photos, if they’re not providing your target audience with valuable information, it does you no good.

Whether you’re a brand new startup planning out your first social media marketing campaign or you’ve been in business for some time and are looking for creative and more efficient ways to take your brand to the next level, these tips in the next section will be beneficial for you.

20 experts share their social media tips for 2018

With that, let’s get into the different tips from social media experts starting off with Apple’s former chief evangelist, Guy Kawasaki.

1. Guy Kawasaki

Now serving as an adviser for Motorola, Guy Kawasaki blurted out this statement during a recent seminar: “Never trust a social media expert who has fewer followers than you.”

Sounds arrogant? Not quite.

After all, the proof is in the pudding, so they say. If you want to become successful in social media marketing, get insights and tips from someone who’s done it and got the numbers to prove it.

2. Mari Smith

Dubbed as the “Queen of Facebook,” Mari Smith has helped businesses stay updated on the frequent changes the social media site is doing on its algorithm.

Right before the end of 2017, Facebook updated (yet again) their algorithm to demote posts that they classify as “engagement bait.” Simply put, these are posts that directly encourages visitors to engage on the post: liking, sharing, tagging, or commenting.

While she did mention in her blog post that Facebook hasn’t released an official list of acceptable words to use, she did recommend focusing on the quality of the content you share on social media.

Make sure that your audience finds your content relevant, meaningful, and authentic. When your audience sees your content valuable, you don’t need to convince them to engage with it. They’ll just do it.

3. Pat Flynn

I’m a bit of a party animal, so when I came across a post where Pat Flynn suggests treating social media marketing like you’re going to a party, it got my attention.

Just like in a party, don’t just go around posting about your brand and product at once. That’s very much like approaching a group of people in a party and introduce yourself using your sales pitch.

Instead, pay attention to what your target market is talking about first. Add value to the conversations already happening within your niche. Ask them questions on they want to know, and then give it to them freely. Eventually, people will begin to take notice and want to find out more what you have to say.

4. Ben Dronkers

Ben Dronkers is the founder of Sensi Seeds. In one of our chats, he gave me this advice on social media marketing that I will never forget:

“Be as specific and focus when you set your social marketing goal for the year. It not only makes it easier to align your content calendar to use in line with your campaign but also more achievable.”

5. Lewis Howes

In one of his blog posts, Lewis Howes recommended not to focus on yourself if you want to have a successful social media marketing campaign. Instead, start off by curating content from influencers and brands that you support.

Believe it or not, social media influencers like those on this list still pay close attention to how their content is performing. The more you share their content, the more likely they start to take notice of you. This can blossom into a fruitful relationship with them that can lead to a chance to collaborate with them in the future.

6. Sue B. Zimmerman

Hailed as the Instagram Expert, Sue B. Zimmerman is the founder of the Insta-Results course and author of Instagram Basics for Business.

Not surprising, her social media tip is on Instagram, particularly with its latest feature—Instagram Stories.

In her blog post, Sue recommends that even though Instagram Stories videos are gaining more traction now, that doesn’t mean that’s the only content you make.

The best way to maximize your Instagram account is to mix up your content shared on Instagram by alternating between videos and photos. That way, you keep your narrative interesting, encouraging your followers to keep on checking your account for what’s new.

7. Adam Steele

Loganix Citation Building’s founder Adam Steele is known for being the guy to go to when it comes to local search optimization.

In line with this, his social media tip is to maximize all the options and features available on social media ads and sponsored post on your chosen network.

“It’s a shame that many businesses aren’t really maximizing all the options available to them,” he told me when I interviewed him for this article. “Social media sites offer different features and options you can use for their paid ads. But they have one thing in common: they’re designed to make your social media ads get you results. So use them, especially if you’re using social media ads to get more customers to visit your brick-and-mortar establishment.”

8. Jeff Bullas

Jeff Bullas’ blog is one of those that I religiously follow because of the immense amount of tips he shares in his posts, especially when it comes to social media.

One social media tip he shared on his blog that really stuck with me was about integrating SlideShare into your social media account, specifically LinkedIn.

If you don’t know what SlideShare is, it’s a platform where you can upload, share, view, and download content that’s presented in a slide format.

Sharing SlideShare presentations on your LinkedIn profile is a creative way for you to repurpose those PowerPoint presentations. At the same time, it gives your target audience that perfect mix of high-quality information and visuals in one place.

9. James Scherer

The editor at Wishpond (the blog you’re reading right now), James Scherer, is widely recognized as a bit of a social media expert himself. I reached out to him for his thoughts on the state of social media marketing and what he recommends.

Here was his answer:

I’ll just focus on Facebook for this, as it’s far and away the biggest and most-influential platform.

I don’t think I’m alone in my frustration with the fall in organic reach for brands on Facebook (especially with the announcement from the platform in January of 2018).

Despite their altruistic statements about addressing the concerns over fake news and making the platform more conducive to what their users want, most social media marketers are acknowledging that this is also a major push for publishers to move towards paid advertising.

And I’m okay with that, Facebook Ads can be a fantastic way for businesses to drive quality traffic and engagement. The challenge, of course, is knowing how to play the game Facebook is making publishers play.

My recommendation for modern Facebook marketing is this: continue to publish high-quality, engaging content (content which creates conversation within your community), but also acknowledge the truth of the matter: Facebook Ads are the only way for your business to expose your content to a large, targeted audience on Facebook.

So learn how to make it work. ‘Cause we ain’t going back.

10. Ariel Chiu

As the Principal Planner of Wonderstruck Events, Ariel Chiu understands how vital appealing to the emotions of a potential client can be when selling an idea or concept. When I asked her what the one social media tip she can share is, she told me: “appeal to the emotions of your audience.”

“That’s why those cute kitten gifs and videos get loads of likes and shares,” she said. “Even if you’re a dog lover, you can’t help but blurt out an ‘awww’ when you see those.”

“The same thing is true with promoting your products on social media. Create content that captures the heart of your target audience. What do you want your audience to feel about your brand and your product? Cool? Sophisticated? Safe? Confident? You do that; eventually, you’ll start connecting with them.”

11. Gary Vaynerchuk

Gary Vaynerchuk is more than the author of #AskGaryVee, a New York Times bestseller that contains a collection of the most intriguing questions he answered in his show of the same title. He’s also a well-respected wine critic, and one of the angel investors that supported highly successful startups including two of the most popular social media sites: Facebook and Twitter.

In an excerpt of his audiobook, he shares the secret behind the success of his Youtube show, Ask Gary Vee: “The Ask Gary Vee show is not a platform from which I talk about what’s important to me. It’s a platform from which I talk about what’s important to you.”

By doing this, Gary grew his audience and credibility because he got his audience to realize that he is someone that they can ask any question, and expect that he will answer it.

12. Amy Porterfield

Amy Porterfield is the co-author of the first edition of the book, “Facebook Marketing All-in-One for Dummies,” and the host of the Top Rated podcast, “Online Marketing Made Easy” where she teaches entrepreneurs different strategies to take their business to the next level, many of which involve using Facebook.

That said, the social media tip from Amy worth noting is this: Don’t go for perfection!

In one podcast episode, she points out that what separates successful social media marketing campaigns from the rest. Of course, mistakes will happen. But that shouldn’t discourage you. Be willing to change and tweak things around until you find the right blend that resonates with your audience.

13. Ben Larcey

Ben Larcey is the founder of StoreKit, a startup that provides cost-effective POS system solutions.

When I asked him what his top tip on social media marketing was, he told me to create a social media plan that is channel specific.

“Each social media channel is unique,” he said. “Although they have similar features, each caters to a specific segment of your target audience who prefers a particular content format. Study the way how users of one channel consume content, and create your plan based on that.”

14. Noah Kagan

When it comes to social media marketing, AppSumo’s founder Noah Kagan’s top tip is to use infographics and list form posts.

Why these two?

Well, as he explained in his interview with Success Agency, both infographics and list form posts get more shares than other types of content because they are easy to skim, visually appealing, and provides a lot of information.

15. John Lee Dumas

John Lee Dumas is the Founder and Host of EntrepreneurOnFire, a top-rating podcast where he interviews leading and rising entrepreneurs from different industries.

His number one tip for businesses today is not to spread yourself too thin on social media by trying to be on each and every single site. Instead, he recommends focusing on no more than four channels where engagement within your niche is the highest. That way, you get to focus more on engaging with your audience and build a strong social presence.

16. Eric Ritter

When I asked Eric Ritter, Founder & CEO of Digital Neighbor, what the one social media marketing tip he can share to businesses is, this is what he shared:

“Set the right benchmarks and key performance indicators so that you know whether or not your campaign was successful. Make sure they align with your goals. For example, if you want to produce more leads, monitor click through rates and site traffic.”

17. Matthew Barby

Matthew Barby is the Global Head of Growth and SEO at Hubspot. His tip for business owners when it comes to social media marketing is to be patient and stay focused.

Like any inbound marketing strategy, social media marketing takes time. In fact, in the first few months, expect that things will be slow. But if you stay focused and consistent in your campaign, you’ll eventually start seeing results.

18. Aaron Haynes

Aaron Haynes is the Founder of Fenix Pro. For his social media marketing tip, he recommends taking time to “listen” to your audience.

“It amazes me how much brands tend to downplay what their customers are saying about them, especially since you can do this easily with most social media automation tools,” he points out.

“Brands need to put just as much emphasis—if not, more—on looking at how their target audience views them. This can significantly increase brand loyalty among your customers.”

19. Sunny Lenarduzzi

Hailed as the Social Broadcaster, Sunny Lenarduzzi is a top-rated marketing consultant and the host of The Sunny Show.

Since she uses social media not just to promote her business, but that of her clients, it’s not surprising that she’s got a ton of Youtube videos where she shares different tips on social media marketing. Of these, the one that struck me most was her tip to plan out your content beforehand.

In her blog post on social media time savers, Sunny points out that this is one of the most significant time wasters when it comes to social media marketing. Creating a content calendar for your social media posts is the best way how to deal with this.

20. Eden Mogese

After just a few months of starting her Instagram account and blog, Makeup by Eden, Eden Mogese is now one of a rising micro-influencers.

I asked her how she did it, and here’s what she shared:

“Focus on creating content that’s not only relevant to your audience but also actionable and highly informative. That way, you’re not just giving answers. You’re setting yourself as an authority in your niche. When your audience gets results because of something you wrote about, they’ll start coming back to you, and slowly you get to earn their trust.”

My personal social media marketing tip

In this post, I’ve shared a lot of social media marketing tips from the experts to help you attain your 2018 marketing goals.

Now, here’s my personal tip I do for my business and for my clients: If you mention a brand or influencer on your post, make sure that you tag them in the post. This will not only alert the influencer or brand that someone is talking about them on social media, but also tagging will put your post on their feed, making it visible to their followers.

With this technique, I’ve been able to grow my followers on my different social media accounts. It’s also significantly helped me connect and build relationships with other influencers in my niche, and get more clients.

On their own, these social media marketing tips will slowly bring in results for as long as you remain consistent. Combine these, and it quickens the pace of you reaching your goals.

Now over to you! What is the one social media marketing tip shared with you that’s been pivotal to growing your business on social media? Share it in the comments below.

About the Author:

Kevin Payne is the Founder of Kevintpayne.com, an inbound marketing agency and HubSpot Partner that helps tech startup founders implement inbound marketing campaign sprints to increase their qualified leads.

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