Hello, reader, and welcome to the domain of personalized marketing on social media!
Just imagine this article started with your name instead of “reader.” Wouldn’t you be pleasantly surprised? Wouldn’t it provoke an outburst of other positive emotions?
These are pretty much the feelings your social media audiences experience when they encounter tailored marketing messages. Actually, 88% of consumers report that personally relevant content positively impacts how they feel about brands.
Yet, this is not the utmost role of personalization in social media marketing. Delve deeper into the article and discover everything you need to know about it. We’ve also asked company leaders and marketers to share their best personalization strategies for social media marketing. Keep going through the article, those are coming up!
What Is Social Media Personalization?
Clearly, you already know what personalization implies for digital marketing in general. Now, let’s see its meaning for social media in particular.
Social media marketing personalization involves targeting your audiences with content that appeals to their distinct wants and needs on social channels. In the simplest terms, it is targeted marketing in its finest form. And it brings the highest possible results via social media.
Why Should You Personalize Marketing on Social Media?
One customized marketing message is worth thousands of random posts thrown into the social space.
Here’s why.
It drives engagement.
Personalized social media posts stimulate customer engagement on social platforms: liking, commenting, sharing, etc. They strike a chord with users and drag them into interactions because they relate to them.
Statistical proof: People are usually 50% more engaged when interacting with personalized content.
It strengthens customer relationships and loyalty.
When creating unique experiences on social media, your customers feel you are on the same wave. You perfectly understand each other and feel more bonded. In this way, personalization promotes customer loyalty.
Statistical proof: In Twilio Segment’s report, 62% of brands cite higher customer retention as a major benefit of their personalization efforts.
It lifts revenues.
In turn, stronger customer relationships result in amplified profits. Buyers who feel connected with brands usually return for further purchases. They also recommend their preferred brand to their family members, colleagues, or friends and bring word-of-mouth referrals (read more about retention marketing).
Statistical proof: An average customer spends 2.6 times more on personalized services and products, while brands generate 25% of revenue solely from targeted marketing.
It sharpens innovative and competitive edges.
At this point, businesses should write a huge “thank-you” note to AI (artificial intelligence). It is one of the revolutionary marketing automation trends that enables hyper-personalization on social media while processing customer data and adjusting strategies in real-time, whether these are AI-generated posts or AI-targeted ads.
Statistical proof: Roughly nine in ten companies (source: Twilio Segment) turn to AI-driven personalization for business growth.
How to Leverage Personalization in Social Media Marketing
Segment your audience
Never leave social media users unsegmented!
Segmentation is the foundational phase of personalized marketing via social media. Define your target market segments referring to such criteria as:
- Demographic: gender, education, income, age, nationality
- Geographic: region, city or metropolitan area, weather, cultural or linguistic differences
- Psychographic: social class, life attitudes, passions, leisure activities
- Needs-based: requirements, struggles, concerns
- Behavioral: regular, occasion-driven, or impulse purchases
- Technographic: preferable social media platform, type of digital device
- Firmographic: business niche, company’s age and size, revenue
Additionally, Jim Pendergast, Senior Vice President at Michael Nemeroff, Co-founder & CEO at RushOrderTees, recommends visualizing your buyer personas, fictional representations of your ideal customers on social platforms: “With your buyer personas in place, you can cater your social media content to appeal to their specific preferences and needs.”
Use local and regional hashtags
Hey, local business folks, get ready to roll out your hashtagging tactic!
As you may already know, the success of your social media marketing efforts also hinges on properly chosen hashtags. Just look at the hashtag statistics over social platforms: a single hashtag can improve your LinkedIn post’s visibility by roughly 30% and drive 12.6% more engagement on Instagram.
When it comes to local marketing in particular, Stanislav Khilobochenko, VP of Customer Services at Clario, suggests using your business location as a determining factor in hashtagging your social media posts. He says, “If you want to connect with your local community on a more personalized level via social channels, you can’t neglect geography-driven hashtags. Always add proper hashtags to your posts whether you participate in community events or celebrate local holidays.”
Customize your communication tone and style
Does your communication style coincide with that of your target audience? What is it: formal or relatively informal?
Your shared way of speaking should serve as a gateway to mutual understanding and personalization on social media. When crafting your messages, regard such aspects as age, profession, or subculture, and be super careful about slang or jargon. It may be unfamiliar or even off-putting to some user cohorts. On the contrary, it’s like honey to the ears of others.
Informal tone
As Max Tang, CMO at GEEKOM, puts it, “If you target younger generations, it’s better to talk with slang and colloquial expressions to sound more casual. You should also use playful language with jokes, memes, and emojis.”
Formal tone
Murtaza Oklu, Owner of OMO Transfer emphasizes the importance of adopting a professional tone to build trust and credibility.
"Our clients value clarity and professionalism in their financial transactions, so we maintain a formal tone to reflect our commitment to reliability and excellence in service."
Publish video replies to users’ comments
Using videos is a tremendously successful tactic in any marketing nook. So, let’s not dismiss the potential of video content, specifically video replies, for your personalization strategy on social media.
Grant Aldrich, Founder of Preppy, says, “Video replies humanize your interactions with social media users. They see and hear a real human from your company replying to their question and develop a stronger personal connection. They also understand that your brand dedicates time to respond to their comments with personalized video messages and, therefore, feel more attached and devoted to your brand.”
Showcase user-generated content (UGC)
UGC is organic and authentic content created by actual customers who have interacted with a brand or tried its product or service. It may become one of the most remarkable customer engagement scenarios worth a “play” for personalization.
Why not personalize your social media interactions with those who produce UGC?
“Every showcased UGC piece translates a diverse voice and individual perspective from your customers. Such personalization positions your brand as more inclusive and relatable on social media,” explains Julia Doak, Franchisor at Bedpost.
Consider collecting UGC pieces like these:
- Photos
- Text or video stories
- Unpacking experiences
- Case studies
- YouTube videos
- Testimonials, etc.
But where can you get user-generated content?
You may collect UGC, like customer reviews and testimonials, from your website surveys or feedback forms. Another innovative trick to do that is social media monitoring. For example, Glossier tracks brand mentions and tags to capture customer feedback and share it later across the company’s social accounts.
Launch targeted (and retargeted!) ad campaigns
Let’s begin with some stats here. 71% of customers expect brand advertising to be tailored to their interests and buying habits, and 87% believe personalized ads must be delivered at the exact time when they are looking to purchase products.
Considering this, you’d certainly want to improve your ad targeting and achieve total customization of your social media promotions. Remember we’ve discussed segmentation? It applies to social media advertising, too.
You may try AI-powered ad targeting, a revolutionary technique implemented by Facebook. Here’s an example of such a sponsored post after the user showed interest in plant care tips on the platform.
Facebook retargeting ads may be your next, even bigger step in driving personalized social media campaigns. You can segment contacts and sync this data to place the right ad in front of the right user on Facebook. Suppose a potential customer browsed your product but didn’t buy it. Should that occur, you can personalize the customer journey on social media with an automatic retargeted ad.
Be there for your customer via DMs
For Chris Aubeeluck, Head of Sales and Marketing at Osbornes Law, a personalized customer experience heavily depends on communication in direct messages (DMs) on social media. He notes, “It’s always about giving 110% of your effort and going above and beyond for users when they DM you on social channels. Strive for fast replies, ideally within a few hours, to demonstrate that you value their time and prioritize their needs.”
Airbnb, an online marketplace of rentals and homestays, does a superb job at this in the following DM on LinkedIn. The brand responds to the user’s concern about safety.
First, Airbnb’s marketing team replies within a few minutes. Second, they address the user by name. Third, they demonstrate commitment to the homestay guests’ safety and share additional tips to travel without apprehension.
Besides, you can also reward those who DM you on social media with exclusive discounts or special offers to show your appreciation and retain customers by encouraging future interactions with your brand.
Innovate and Personalize Your Social Media Campaigns
Time to make your mark with personalization in the social media landscape.
Stay personalized. Stay innovative and boost your efforts with marketing automation software by sending customized messages via any channel and campaign: Facebook retargeting, email, Google Ads, website, SMS, and more!
