‘Digital marketing’ covers a broad spectrum of ever-evolving disciplines – that’s one reason we love it so much here at Method!
One way we keep up-to-speed with best practice is through internal lunch and learn đ„Ș đ„Â sessions run by our digital subject matter experts. In this post we’ve packaged up 10 helpful tips and recommendations on the topic of social media content optimisation.
With so much content shared on social media (there was a 60% increase in LinkedIn content last year) every organisation must work hard to get their message to ‘cut through’. When pharmaceutical companies post on social media they are competing (like everyone else) against a plethora of ‘other content’ in their target audience’s newsfeed; from friends, colleagues, interest groups and other organisations.
When we factor in the fact that people typically open their social networking apps to browse instead of search, the need to make content that’s audience centric is key.
With that context, here are 10 tips to help social media content stand out in the crowd:
1. Will the reader care?
It’s so easy to concentrate what we want to deliver ahead of a message the audience is likely to want to consume. Are we saying something that’s adding value to their day?
2. Talking in the imperative
The right tone makes all the difference, especially when coupled with the right trigger words. We find the likes of ‘Exclusive content’â, ‘Expert-led webinars’ and ‘Get the latest insights’ work well.
3. Are we talking about timely topics?
Social media is a fast moving space, which means content with some form of timely reference immediately stands out. An archive blog post can be given a new lease of life with a timely twist in a social media post.
4. The first 125 characters
Cut straight to the point, more like a traditional headline. Then expand with the nitty gritty.â
5. Focus on one messageâ
It’s so tempting to try and squeeze in one more point, one more benefit, one more idea into a social media post. Keep it focused and don’t ask the reader to do/think about more than one thing at a time.
6. Pop supporting details in the visual
Keep the description section (the word!) of the post neat and tight… details such as dates and times can go in the supporting visualâ.
7. Never mention product
We all know this, but with pharma brand content we must never reference product in social media content, nor link directly to web pages that include it.
8. Keep it moving
Video gets 10x more in-channel engagement than still images on Twitter, so try and get some animation in the mix when that’s your goal.
9. Pick a format aligned to the post objective
Is the post format you’ve chosen (e.g. a link post, a video card) the best for encouraging the user to do what you want? Always make sure they’re matched.
10. Using the humble hashtag
Particularly for organic content they can aid discoverability and give certain words standout (typically they get bolded). But don’t get spammy; the social networks are downgrading posts that include very broad hashtags (no more #love I’m afraid!)
What are your top tips for creating social media content that cuts through the noise?
One of social mediaâs greatest strengths is conversely something that ties many organisations in knots â the fact itâs free and takes minutes to setup. With such a low barrier to âentryâ itâs oh so tempting to create new accounts without due consideration. At best this can result in activity which is surplus to requirements and at worst a series of fragmented communications that can damage brand reputation.
In this blog post Iâll be talking about how we wrestle with this often sensitive topic and work to keep clientsâ temptation at bay!
If you’re after a good example of something ‘ubiquitous’, how about the use of hashtags in brand marketing? These days the humble hashtag is everywhere, but a couple of recent conversations got me thinking that the various ways of using them across different social networks was worthy of a post.
Towards the end of the summer Facebook and Twitter both lifted the lid on how advertisers are using paid ads on their platforms. In short this means anyone can see all of the active ads that are currently live, including unpublished or âdarkâ posts which donât appear directly on advertisersâ Facebook pages. This is big news for anyone involved in social media planning as it offers up new insight into what other brands are doing in this space. Iâve used the fashion industry to see what observations we can make. Read more “How Facebook and Twitter have unlocked a goldmine of insight into your competitors đ”→
Social video, pharma’s best and worst content format ???
Video has arguably become the dominant format across social media in the last 18 months, with each social network evolving their platform’s capabilities in this space. From Instagram video Stories to Facebook Live and even native LinkedIn video, it’s a hot topic.
Furthermore, and of real interest for brands and publishers, video offers the added bonus of being one of very few digital formats to offer a sense of how much time was spent with it.
Although, thatâs not to say measuring it isnât without its challenges. This post outlines what can make measuring video tricky, and suggests some approaches to simplify.
Social video: much to measure
Videos are not all created equal
When we talk about âvideosâ there are so many variations to bear in mind.
First off, a video can of course be of any duration. Comparing a five-second video with a four-minute piece is unlikely to offer a fair comparison.
Secondly, the way video is presented in different social networks shapes how it’s consumed:
On Twitter and Facebook, videos must work hard to capture audience attention in rapidly scrolling newsfeed environments
Snapchat and Instagram ads pop up between other Stories in a more disruptive style
And on the grandfather of video, YouTube, content is typically sought out by the viewer, with episodic content of 10-20 minutes being far more prominent
(There are of course many other formats, and Facebook noticeably is now getting into the longer form space with its Watch tab feature).
Finally, and most importantly when it comes to assessing performance, we must consider different objectives. Was the video trying to get people to click through to a website? Was it to encourage people to tell their friends about it and, by extension, the brand?
Thereâs plenty to measure
Speaking of measuring performance, there certainly isnât a lack of metrics. Some of the most prominent include:
Views: to understand how many people actually saw a video (see note below)
Watch time: total amount of time all viewers spent watching a video
Percent completion: what percentage of a video the average person watched
Views with sound on: how much the video drew in the viewer and encouraged them to be more immersed in the creative
However, this is where more of the nuance comes in. A couple of key things to consider are:
Different social networks define âa viewâ in different ways, and thereâs a whole debate as to what fairly constitutes a view. Should 3 seconds of a video that auto-plays without sound be deemed as a view? (discuss!)
Facebook provides some measures for organic video (e.g. 3 sec, 10 sec, 95% completion), but then further metrics are only available for paid videos, which makes it more difficult to compare apples with apples.
But look, a doctor comparing apples!
When things can start to get a little messy
Having all of these options means you can get right into the detail of what happened around an individual video. However, when you start trying to take more of a macro view, the amount of variables can become problematic. Weâve already discussed different objectives, different social networks, paid vs organic, video length and a host of different metrics⊠and weâve not even touched on different audience groups!
To have a chance of seeing the wood for the trees and understanding how well different types of video are performing, some sort of barometer or benchmark is required.
Being brutal about variations
Thereâs no one-size fits all approach, but here are a few ideas on simplifying these variations from a reporting perspectiveâŠ
Keep social networks separate: trying to group performance across different social networks is very problematic, itâs best not to combine them as they are just too different
Video length: can you group videos into perhaps two groups â short (under 15 seconds) and long (over 15 seconds)? The first delivering short sharp bursts of information versus longer form âstoriesâ, such as a how-to guide or recipe
Video metric: will something like 50% video completion work as a common measure for all videos? If someone gets through half of a short video, theyâve arguably taken on board much of the information itâs trying to convey. And if someone watches at least 50% of a long video, it shows theyâve decided to spend a chunk of time (by social network browsing standards) with your brand
The above might be considered too simplistic. Or you might feel that different completion percentages are appropriate for longer/shorter pieces of content. But hopefully what it can do is free you from drowning in data by trying to assess too many variables⊠and subsequently extracting no insights.
Finding patterns
Beyond the above approach, youâll of course want to run more in-depth analysis around the way different video styles are performing (e.g. person speaking to camera, vs hands in shot demonstration). By filtering on the style of video content first and then analysing performance across your chosen metrics should help you extract some actionable insights.
A couple of further considerations
Assess the ratio of paid to organic video views⊠this can be an effective way of further illustrating the impact of different creative
Consider different types of media-buy for video against different âviewability standardsâ, such as a 2 second view, completed views or just impressions. Itâs certainly one to watch as social networks and media agencies grapple with it
In summary
Video is great because you get a sense of time spent with the brand
However, there are many nuances around measuring it
The most important thing is having a clear understanding of the videoâs objective
Simplify your reporting and analysis to spot patterns
Is video critical to your content marketing plan? Which metrics do you use for measuring it?
We know the pharma industry can present robust compliancy challenges for marketers attempting to reach audiences online. Fortunately, in their efforts to monetise themselves through their âcustom audienceâ features, the social networks have given the industry a useful means of addressing this. This post explores how these custom audience features have developed, what they include and best practice advice for pharmaceutical marketers.
Facebook’s Custom Audiences
Burden of Proof: Social Media Marketing and Return on Investment (ROI)
In the late noughties, Facebook and the other major social networks were aware they needed to show advertisers clearer ROI in order to demonstrate their worth as a serious alternative to established media. As the new kid on the block, there was arguably greater scrutiny and âburden of proofâ to demonstrate this than with traditional channels.
To address the challenge, Facebook launched âCustom Audiencesâ in 2012. Twitter followed suit with âTailored Audiencesâ (in 2013) and LinkedIn with âMatched Audiencesâ (2017). Each of these effectively offers the same thing.
Custom Audiences 101
The theory behind Custom/Tailored/Matched Audiences is very simple – enable organisations to target social network publishing to customer specific segments. This is done by matching the profile an organisation holds about a customer with that customerâs social media profile(s) using data points, such as email address or mobile phone number.
The organisation can dice and slice its customer base as it wants (e.g. by specialty, seniority) and share great content â relevant, timely, actionable â to them.
Clearly this raises a number of data protection points, which the social networks had to address. These include processes to stop the social networks from actually seeing which customers are being targeted and requiring a minimum size of audience to target.
Significantly, these products have helped social networks move from being âjust another channel for reaching peopleâ to a starting point for sophisticated customer relationship management.
Pharma Industry Compliance
Clause 9.9 of the 2016 Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) Code states, âThe telephone, text messages, email, telemessages, facsimile, automated calling systems and other electronic data communications must not be used for promotional purposes, except with the prior permission of the recipient.â
Consequently, you will need the explicit consent of your target audience to serve them content using Custom Audiences (regardless of industry this is the right approach to take). Ultimately this means if youâve established a diligent process for using Custom Audiences, youâll have pharma compliance-proofed it. Handy.
The way in which you actually capture those permissions has been discussed in our content marketing article, and weâll discuss it again in future posts. But in terms of persuading people that itâs worth their while to opt-in⊠well, a promise of contextual, timely and useful content is a good place to start!Â
These Custom Audience products have evolved significantly over time, becoming much more straightforward to use than when they first launched. However, regardless of how simple they are to use, unless you have some interesting customer data upon which to create an audience segment, youâll be limited to what you can do.
Letâs assume youâve collated a list of healthcare professionals (HCPs) whoâve all opted in. Now, what else do you know about this group that you can use to segment and serve up different content? This presents an interesting question for the point of data collection. What additional information will you ask for? Whatâs the minimum viable amount while still having enough to make meaningful segmentation? Like most things, itâs important to have some clear objectives before you begin.
Telling a Better Story
None of this is to say that using targeted audiences is all plain sailing. The matching process will never be close to 100%. In fact, depending on how much information youâve collated about your audience, it might be significantly less. To be clear, that doesnât mean you might reach the wrong people, just that you wonât reach all of the people that youâd like to.
What I really like about using targeted audiences is the ability to tell each audience a better story. By building a picture of both who they are and what they do (i.e. the content they respond to and engage with most) you can get smart with what you tell them next, hopefully building a stronger relationship. Weâll also talk more about website retargeting in future posts.
Which Networks to Use?
Now that this audience targeting feature is available across Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, pharmaceutical marketers have many options. In targeting HCPs, Twitter and LinkedIn are pharmaâs preferred networks; however, given the scale and ubiquity of Facebook it shouldnât be ruled out. Of course, every sub-section of an industry and every audience is different, so a test-and-optimise approach is advised. Start small; identify what works and what doesnât; do less of what doesnât and more of what does.
LinkedIn’s Matched Audiences Service
A Final Thought on Diluting Brand Value
Much of this post has been about the benefit of reaching target audiences, in the channels theyâre using, with contextually relevant and valuable content. Content that addresses the needs of the audience first and supports business/brand goals second.
This is important, because when I see companies, or brands publishing irrelevant, unhelpful, self-serving content, theyâre in danger of brand dilution. By this I mean, each piece of poorly targeted/frequently repeated/boring content erodes audience interest/trust/consideration for that brand (even if just a tiny amount).
Respect your audienceâs time, inbox and feeds. Offer them great content thatâs relevant, timely and actionable. Put their needs first. Thatâs how you build relationships, earn their trust, and enhance your brand value.
Have you considered using these types of targeting options through social media?
Do you see content in your own newsfeed from a brand you shop with that feels hyper-relevant?   Â
