Personalizing Social Media Content for Better Engagement

If social media marketing has you working your fingers to the bone with meager success, it’s time to rethink your content and jump on the personalization trend.

More than ever, prospective customers are tuning out generic marketing messages. If they don’t feel like you are talking to them, then they aren’t interested in what you’re saying. Social media marketing is about reaching the right people with the right message – and that’s where segmentation comes in.

Find Your Audience

By dividing your audience into smaller, more focused groups, you can create targeted content that resonates better and performs stronger. Here's how to set up simple social media segmentation and measure how it’s working so you can tweak your strategy:

Most social platforms give you data about your followers, such as age, gender, location, interests, and so on. You probably have customer data you can pull in as well. Use this to create two to four basic segments that describe the personas of your best customers.

For example, start by grouping your social media audience. Segments to try include:

• Age
• Gender
• Location
• Interests or hobbies
• Repeat customers
• Content with the most “Likes”

Create Your Content

Next, create content that is tailored to each group. Use specific language, visuals, and Calls To Action that speak directly to each segment’s needs and preferences.

If you set up ad campaigns on social media platforms, you will be able to create custom audiences that align with your segments, which means you can post directly to those groups. But even it you aren’t running ads, you can use segmentation.

Hashtags are one way to direct your message to specific groups, but today’s algorithms also help.  People will be shown content that, according to the algorithms, meets their needs and interests, so the more specific you are when creating your marketing message, the greater the chances that the right people will see it.

Measure Your Success

Check the metrics of you social media platforms to see how well your marketing campaign is doing. Engagement rates are the first measurement to check. Are more people liking and commenting on your posts than before? Are you resonating with the groups that you intended to reach? See if your follower numbers are growing, and in which segment.

Engagement is encouraging, but that’s not your ultimate goal. Check to see if people are clicking on your Calls to Action. What happens after that? Are they following through to buy or sign up or whatever CTA you asked of them?

The data tools on your social media platforms may not be enough, so consider using Google Analytics, which is free, or another tool to monitor what social posts are driving traffic and conversions on your website.

Big corporations use social media segmentation, of course, but smaller organizations can use this technique, too. Start small and keep your groups manageable. Focus on your perfect customer groups and create content that speaks to them. Test what works, and over time, you’ll learn which messages connect best. Personalized posts will mean stronger engagement with your audience and better results for your business.

Looking for help with your social media or need to set up a buyers’ journey on your website? The Sprocket team is ready to lend a hand – just ask!

Photo by Avni Jain

This article is an update to “Increase Social Media Marketing Productivity” dated 11/16/2016.

Kate GingoldKate Gingold

I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.

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Full biography

I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.

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