How to run SMM in 2019: 17 diagrams from Neil Patel
- Transfer
It is difficult to get traffic from social networks if you do not spend money on advertising. The average number of sharing dies year after year. However, we cannot ignore Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, or any new social network that is gaining momentum because they simply have huge traffic. How to regain organic reach and increase sales, says Neil Patel, one of the best marketers in the world, in the “ 17 Charts That Show Where Social Media is Heading ” column . 19 billion people visit
Facebook every month . According to Similar Web, other platforms have monthly traffic like this:
It turns out that we like their algorithms or not, we simply have no choice but to be on these social networks, because they attract just tons of traffic.
But what do we do with organic reach in social networks? How to deal with algorithms to generate profit, because advertising prices continue to rise?
Neil Patel interviewed 183 companies with annual revenues of $ 5 million to $ 1.7 billion to show where social networks are moving and how we can succeed in promoting them.
Average number of reposts
Since 2015, the number of shares has been reduced. Social networks specifically reduce organic reach so that companies pay for the amount of traffic that they are used to and are counting on.
Now let's see the share of advertising on social networks in the total volume of online advertising. It has been growing since 2016 significantly. For example, there were so many advertisers on Facebook in mid-2017 that CPM and CPC bids increased significantly.
The share of advertising in social networks in the total volume of online advertising
But, just as in the case of SEO, marketers figured out how to return the dying smm traffic. Since 2017, organic traffic has been increasing slightly. Of course, this will not last forever, but so far there is a chance. Have you already guessed how they did it?
Organic traffic share
Almost 75% of the companies surveyed ask employees to share their content in order to receive likes and comments. Neil Patel did it too, but it's a useless way.
Do you ask employees to respond to content on social networks?
Then Neal stopped because he realized that no one wanted to share the content of the employer. In other companies, the same thing. For the first couple of times, employees agree, but when it becomes a regular practice, they simply ignore such requests.
Do employees share your content on social networks?
Companies spend different time creating each type of content. Here's how it is distributed:
What percentage of the time do you spend creating different types of content?
Everyone loves to post images and text because they are easy to prepare. But these formats do not bring high involvement. Better to do live video broadcasts and just videos.
Which formats bring maximum engagement?
Social networks are trying to compete with television or online platforms such as Netflix. To get maximum engagement, shoot a video. Ideally, it’s live, but the recordings are also suitable. They will bring new subscribers and will certainly be viewed, unlike pictures and text. Another reason in favor of video is that videos keep visitors on social networks, and do not redirect them to the company’s website, so the video gets more organics. And for users to go to the site, use chat bots.
What brings you the most organic traffic?
More than 40% of companies received traffic through chatbots. To get people from social networks, for example, Facebook, get a bot in the messenger - Mobile Monkeyor others. Messengers are very effective. So far, not every social network has them, but Neal suggests that things will change soon.
Both sites and smm must become global. The number of non-English-speaking visitors is growing, so it's time to think about creating multilingual content.
Share of SMM traffic from English-speaking countries
Many have already noticed a trend and publish content in other languages:
In how many languages do you publish content?
This trend will only intensify, because SMM in non-English speaking countries is more profitable. To get the most out of SMM traffic and advertising, post content in multiple languages. For example, on Facebook, you can target by region, however, on Twitter and Instagram yet.
Advertising is expensive in the USA, Japan, Canada, Great Britain, Germany, but in Latin America and Asia it is cheap.
Just like in content marketing, don't expect instant conversions from visitors. On average, traffic from social networks is converted after three visits.
The average number of visits from social networks before the user becomes a customer.
If you need sales, you need to try to keep people coming back. This is a long game. The easiest way to turn visitors into customers is to set up remarketing. However, there are other solutions that few use.
How do you convert a visitor from social networks to a buyer?
It’s best to combine channels because one will not be enough. And be sure to include sms. Neal suggests that few people use SMS marketing. But 68% of the recipients respond to his SMS mailing. If you think this is a lot, then Neil adds that this is not the proportion of those who opened the message, but the proportion of those who answered it!
Neil advises increasing conversions using the tools: Hello Bar - for email and Subscribers - for push notifications.
There are several ways to increase sales through social networks - chat bots and videos. Of course, just updating the status is easier than shooting videos, but algorithms prefer them.
What proportion of organic traffic came for each type of content?
Sales have a complicated formula. To get the full picture, see where and how the first and last touch of your customers takes place. A first touch will show how potential customers find you. They do not buy right away, but this is the point at which they learn about the company and its product. The surveyed companies lead Facebook.
In which social network does the first touch occur most often?
The place of the last touch before the purchase is different from the first, but the leaders are still Facebook. However, YouTube is in second place and WhatsApp in third. This is not surprising, because text messages have a high share of opening and clicks, so think about whether you can work through WhatsApp too.
Which social network most often has the last touch before buying?
YouTube and WhatsApp are great channels for closing a deal, but there are still few companies using them:
Which social network benefits your company?
The algorithms for both organic reach and advertising will become even tougher, and companies are constantly faced with problems in social networks related to fake news, privacy and politics. But this does not mean that you need to abandon SMM.
What proportion of customers found out about you on social networks?
Facts say social networks are on the rise. They no longer grow fast, but this is only because most users are already registered with them. Social networks are effective because people trust their information. And trust will only increase as the problems of fake news and the like are resolved.
Facebook every month . According to Similar Web, other platforms have monthly traffic like this:
- LinkedIn - 917 million;
- Twitter - 3.62 billion;
- YouTube - 22.77 billion;
- Pinterest - 722 million;
- Instagram - 2.86 billion
It turns out that we like their algorithms or not, we simply have no choice but to be on these social networks, because they attract just tons of traffic.
But what do we do with organic reach in social networks? How to deal with algorithms to generate profit, because advertising prices continue to rise?
Neil Patel interviewed 183 companies with annual revenues of $ 5 million to $ 1.7 billion to show where social networks are moving and how we can succeed in promoting them.
Expect less traffic from your social network, even if you pay for it.
Average number of reposts
Since 2015, the number of shares has been reduced. Social networks specifically reduce organic reach so that companies pay for the amount of traffic that they are used to and are counting on.
Now let's see the share of advertising on social networks in the total volume of online advertising. It has been growing since 2016 significantly. For example, there were so many advertisers on Facebook in mid-2017 that CPM and CPC bids increased significantly.
The share of advertising in social networks in the total volume of online advertising
But, just as in the case of SEO, marketers figured out how to return the dying smm traffic. Since 2017, organic traffic has been increasing slightly. Of course, this will not last forever, but so far there is a chance. Have you already guessed how they did it?
Organic traffic share
Do not expect help from employees
Almost 75% of the companies surveyed ask employees to share their content in order to receive likes and comments. Neil Patel did it too, but it's a useless way.
Do you ask employees to respond to content on social networks?
Then Neal stopped because he realized that no one wanted to share the content of the employer. In other companies, the same thing. For the first couple of times, employees agree, but when it becomes a regular practice, they simply ignore such requests.
Do employees share your content on social networks?
Need to do a chat bot
Companies spend different time creating each type of content. Here's how it is distributed:
What percentage of the time do you spend creating different types of content?
Everyone loves to post images and text because they are easy to prepare. But these formats do not bring high involvement. Better to do live video broadcasts and just videos.
Which formats bring maximum engagement?
Social networks are trying to compete with television or online platforms such as Netflix. To get maximum engagement, shoot a video. Ideally, it’s live, but the recordings are also suitable. They will bring new subscribers and will certainly be viewed, unlike pictures and text. Another reason in favor of video is that videos keep visitors on social networks, and do not redirect them to the company’s website, so the video gets more organics. And for users to go to the site, use chat bots.
What brings you the most organic traffic?
More than 40% of companies received traffic through chatbots. To get people from social networks, for example, Facebook, get a bot in the messenger - Mobile Monkeyor others. Messengers are very effective. So far, not every social network has them, but Neal suggests that things will change soon.
It is necessary to begin global expansion
Both sites and smm must become global. The number of non-English-speaking visitors is growing, so it's time to think about creating multilingual content.
Share of SMM traffic from English-speaking countries
Many have already noticed a trend and publish content in other languages:
In how many languages do you publish content?
This trend will only intensify, because SMM in non-English speaking countries is more profitable. To get the most out of SMM traffic and advertising, post content in multiple languages. For example, on Facebook, you can target by region, however, on Twitter and Instagram yet.
Advertising is expensive in the USA, Japan, Canada, Great Britain, Germany, but in Latin America and Asia it is cheap.
Ways to Increase SMM Revenue
Just like in content marketing, don't expect instant conversions from visitors. On average, traffic from social networks is converted after three visits.
The average number of visits from social networks before the user becomes a customer.
If you need sales, you need to try to keep people coming back. This is a long game. The easiest way to turn visitors into customers is to set up remarketing. However, there are other solutions that few use.
How do you convert a visitor from social networks to a buyer?
It’s best to combine channels because one will not be enough. And be sure to include sms. Neal suggests that few people use SMS marketing. But 68% of the recipients respond to his SMS mailing. If you think this is a lot, then Neil adds that this is not the proportion of those who opened the message, but the proportion of those who answered it!
Neil advises increasing conversions using the tools: Hello Bar - for email and Subscribers - for push notifications.
There are several ways to increase sales through social networks - chat bots and videos. Of course, just updating the status is easier than shooting videos, but algorithms prefer them.
What proportion of organic traffic came for each type of content?
Focus on specific social networks to boost sales
Sales have a complicated formula. To get the full picture, see where and how the first and last touch of your customers takes place. A first touch will show how potential customers find you. They do not buy right away, but this is the point at which they learn about the company and its product. The surveyed companies lead Facebook.
In which social network does the first touch occur most often?
The place of the last touch before the purchase is different from the first, but the leaders are still Facebook. However, YouTube is in second place and WhatsApp in third. This is not surprising, because text messages have a high share of opening and clicks, so think about whether you can work through WhatsApp too.
Which social network most often has the last touch before buying?
YouTube and WhatsApp are great channels for closing a deal, but there are still few companies using them:
Which social network benefits your company?
so
The algorithms for both organic reach and advertising will become even tougher, and companies are constantly faced with problems in social networks related to fake news, privacy and politics. But this does not mean that you need to abandon SMM.
What proportion of customers found out about you on social networks?
Facts say social networks are on the rise. They no longer grow fast, but this is only because most users are already registered with them. Social networks are effective because people trust their information. And trust will only increase as the problems of fake news and the like are resolved.