How to Test Your Content Marketing Strategy with Social Media
Social media is a vital marketing tool. According to PostBeyond, In 2021, 4.48 billion people were using social media. Not only does social give you a window into the largest addressable market online, but it shows you what actual people talk about or like.
You can quickly and easily connect with other people or your audience. However, you do need to experiment to find the right formula. Social testing means testing your content to see how it is performing.
Social testing can give you measurable and structured results. It breaks down a ton of data and lets you know which practices are effective.
You can use this information to inform your social media marketing strategy. Social testing can help you identify precise components of your social media campaigns and give you a clear path to success.
What is A/B testing?
A/B testing is a methodology that will compare two or more variants of something. It is often used to test the user experience. It will measure which variant performs better.
A/B testing, also known as Split Testing, has been around long before the internet. James Lind used A/B testing to conduct a clinical trial over 300 years ago.
Google famously used A/B testing to decide which shade of blue they should use in their ad campaigns. They showed each shade to 1% of their users.
A/B testing has also been used for newspaper and TV ads. A/B testing would often start weeks or months before an ad campaign is officially launched.
With modern technology and online analytics, it is possible to test pretty much any element of your content marketing strategy. It is essential to know how to carry out this kind of testing and what features you should be focusing on, especially if it is a B2B content marketing strategy.
See also: How to Make Your Social Media Marketing Plan Support Your Business’s Goals
Why do A/B testing on social media?
The purpose of A/B testing is to determine what works for your specific context. A lot of studies have been conducted to determine what are the most effective marketing strategies.
Although general rules are a great place to start, best practices aren’t always the best in every situation. It is possible to turn general ideas into specific results for your brand by doing your own tests.
Your audience’s likes and dislikes can be determined through testing. You can also learn about differences between certain sections of your audience.
People who follow you on Twitter might not have the same preferences as people who follow you on LinkedIn.
A/B testing can be used for any type of content, not just advertisements. You can also test your organic content to determine which content is worth paying for.
As you gain experience on each social network, you will gain insight into what works best for you.
In spite of this, you should continue to test small variations, even if you think you have a winning formula. Your understanding will improve as you test more.
See also: Top 9 Instagram Growth Hacks for More Engaged Following
How to carry out social testing
When it is broken down, social testing is pretty simple. There are a few steps that must be taken to complete social testing.
• Decide which variables you want to test
You can hypothesize which variable will perform better and then test it. For example, maybe you think posts with images will get more clicks and comments.
• Choose which type of test to run
In a standard A/B test, you would run two (or more) posts and see which one performs the best. Multivariable testing uses the same basic principle, but you would swap out several different elements at once.
• Choose your platform, variables, and duration
Set a time limit. Pick the variables you want to test and post on your chosen platform. There are some easy-to-use platforms that let you create and analyze social tests, such as HubSpot. OptinMonster, Optimizely, etc.
They are a great choice if you want to test functions outside of social media — landing pages, emails, or other marketing activities. But, if you want to test functions inside of social media, such as Facebook social testing, Twitter social testing, etc.
• Run the test
Post your content. You can pick a time and then, run your tests. Also, you can run two ad campaigns targeted at a different audience, or you could try two variations of the same paid ad and see which one results in better conversions.
• Get the results and analyze them
After running the test, take a look and see what your results are. See which post got the most engagement. You can analyze and share the results and new ideas.
You should analyze your results, identify new opportunities, and distill the insights into a document you can keep.
Working with a team or requiring your manager’s approval for further testing makes it even more important for you to hone your communication skills and make sure you provide all these insights to your entire team.
See also: How to Create Instagram Content That Pops [2022 Guide]
Elements of your marketing strategy
Let’s talk more about the different elements you can experiment with during social testing.
• Find your target audience
The process for this testing is unique as you won’t change anything about the ad or social media post. Instead, you will show the same content to different audiences.
In this way, you can see who is engaging with your content. This is your target audience.
• Experiment with hashtags
Using too many hashtags might be annoying to your audience. Buddy Media’s research also showed that the volume of hashtags bears monitoring: one or two hashtags appear to be the max.
When you use more than two hashtags, your engagement actually drops by an average of 17 percent. However, using just the right amount could drive more engagement.
Rather than just testing a post with hashtags against a post with no hashtags, you can try other variables. Try testing a post with multiple hashtags against a post with one hashtag.
You can also try placing hashtags within the post rather than at the end.
• Test various ad formats
Different ad formats include image ads, video ads, carousel ads with multiple images, product ads, text ads, and interactive ads. Other ads will inevitably work better with different kinds of products or services.
Different ad formats will also appeal to diverse audiences. It’s essential to try several formats and see what works best for you.
• Experiment with the post text
This is probably the most common way people carry out social testing. There are many elements of your post which may affect engagement.
This can include the post length, the tone of voice, the use of emojis, the style, the use of numbers or lists, etc. Make sure you always proofread your content.
Your audience will expect your content to be flawless. A slight mistake can make you look very unprofessional.
• Try different videos and images
It is generally the case that social media users prefer posts with videos or images. However, it’s still essential you carry out some research in this area. Users of different platforms are likely to have varied preferences.
For example, social testing has shown that Twitter users often prefer gifs to regular images. There are many variables you can test in this area.
• Use different CTA’s
Your call-to-action is an essential part of your content marketing. Based on Paldesk, CTA is a key element on your website, it allows the user to know what to do next.
It is estimated that the CTAs will be read by 90% of people who look at a website. Different demographics will respond to different types of CTA’s. It would help if you found what works for your target audience.
Test several kinds of CTA’s and see what gets the most engagement.
• Play around with headlines
Headlines are vital to social media posts because according to Neilpatel, Headlines are worth 90% of the advertising dollar – The post title is possibly your only interaction with your audience.
They are very prominent and will be seen immediately. Play around with the length of your headlines, the use of numbers, style, etc.
See also: How to Rescue Your B2B Content Marketing Strategy
Best practices for A/B testing to keep in mind
You can generate a lot of data about your audience using social media marketing tools, but data isn’t the same as insight. These best practices will help you
Know what your social media goals are
It is important to understand that A/B testing is not an end in itself, but a tool. By using social testing, you can move your brand towards goals that are relevant to your overall business strategy.
Have a clear question in mind
A/B tests that answer a clear question are the most effective. Think about “why I am testing this particular element?”
Learn the basics of statistics
Even if you don’t have a background in quantitative research, knowing the math behind your social testing will help.
Understanding concepts like statistical significance and sample size will help you interpret your data more confidently.
See also : 5 Best Tools for Creating Graphics for Social Media
Test your content marketing strategy with social media
Social media can be a fantastic way to copy-test your content marketing strategy before paying for ads. It can also be helpful if you intend to carry out your whole marketing campaign on free social media.
Social testing allows you to gather vital information to enable your posts or ads to be successful, driving leads and engagement. A/B testing is the most common way of carrying out social testing.
You can use social media to test your content marketing strategy and many different variables. You can use it to find your target audience, experiment with hashtags, test various ad formats, etc.
It would help if you first decided which variables you want to try. You can then choose which type of test you would like to run. Then select your platform and the duration of the test.
After the test is done, you can analyze the data and inform your marketing campaign.
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Hey, I’m Amy. I’m a writer living in New York. I am a fan of entrepreneurship, design, and writing.”
