UPDATED: The 80/20 Rule and social media marketing

One of the most most common mistakes that companies make on social media platforms is oversharing and overpromoting their own products and/or services! Social media is a powerful and vital tool for companies from niche startups to Fortune 500, but the thing is, there needs to be a strategy behind every single post that is being shared on social media platforms. 

While 86 percent of consumers follow brands on social media, 60 percent will unfollow a brand if they consistently see promotions. It is tempting to constantly share the latest products and services, promotions codes and every wonderful customer review that comes in, but it isn’t what consumers are looking for. 

With this in mind, one of the oldest and most effective ways to continue to build a following and sell products and/ or services on social media platforms is with the 80/20 marketing rule! 

What is the 80/20 marketing rule?

This marketing strategy for social media marketing efforts explains that 80 percent of the content that is shared on social media channels needs to be informational, industry leading and authoritative content that positions your company as a trust-worthy industry leader. 

The 20 percent of the content that is shared is the promotional pieces that show, “wow, look at how great we are.” This is the content that is promoting the latest products and services or that holiday shopping promotion code. 

While the ratio does change a bit for each company in every different industry, our experts try not to go more than 60/40 on the ratio scale. Our social media marketing Omaha experts notice that this can start to sway the line between the “too much promotion” and “just enough promotion” a bit too often. 

If done correctly, it provides the same wonderful outcomes as the 80/20 rule, but it has to be done a bit more gracefully and strategically. 

Marketing strategies for social media pertaining to the 80/20 rule!  

The 80 percent 

Social media is about creating a community, developing and fostering relationships and being yourself. This is done through several different ways in the social media marketing industry, but it is important to create and maintain that relationship with customers. 

First, you must build your company’s relationships, which in return helps to grow your company’s audience and loyal following. It is about creating and sharing relevant content that your consumers want to read and engage with. If you are sharing content because anyone within the company finds it relevant without it actually being a FAQ or other types of relevant information for your audience, this is already a bad start. 

It is never about “you” per se, but is always first and foremost about the audience. 

With the 80/20 rule in social media marketing, 20 percent of your strategy will produce 80 percent of your results. To elaborate, 80 percent of your marketing content should be entertaining, educational or informative geared toward your particular audience. This content should be your best effort at building the relationship and trust between you and your following.

When you deliver great, informative content, your company is building a trustworthy foundation your audience needs to identify with you. (Aka branding). 

While it is important for your audience to know your services, it is important for them to know your brand’s personality as well.

The key to mastering leads generations and sales with the right marketing strategies for social media marketing is to avoid sounding too much like a “cheesy car salesman” too often. As a whole, we can agree that audiences enjoy content that is interesting and provides value to them.

It is important to share content that encourages your audience to react and engage. Not only because that is the content that your audience wants and needs, but social media platforms also love content that gets great engagement.  

What kind of content should you share? Who is the most reputable company or personal brand without your industry? Start there. For our social media marketing Omaha experts, it would be someone like Neil Patel for SEO. The content that is coming from Neil is relevant to our audience and is credible. 

The 20 percent

Only 20 percent of your social media marketing should be self-promotional. This includes the products and services you offer, discounts, specials, etc. Your content should be compelling, persuasive, and use a call to action, telling your audience what their next step is.

Take the extra time to review your past posts to identify which are driving the most traffic, likes, shares, and overall engagement. By sharing similar content, you will start bringing in positive results with your marketing efforts.

Utilize posts that are performing well by recreating similar content or pinning it to the top of your social media channels. Repurposing popular content into new forms is also an excellent way to introduce your products and services with added success.

Overshooting the 20 percent on a regular basis can be the kiss of death on social media. Not only will it bore your visitors, but also ruin your sales efforts before they even get started.

The main takeaway with the 80/20 rule is not to be too self-serving. Be of value to your audience with useful information, and you will become a trusted source of information as well as goods and services. Create a community and only promote when necessary.

Are you utilizing the 80/20 rule in your social media marketing strategy? To start building a trustworthy foundation with your strategy, fill out the form below and contact us today!